英语精听材料:Later School Start Time Leads To Better StudentsA half-hour delay in school start time led 201 Rhode Island high school students to be better behaved and happier. Cynthia Graber reports.& p$ h- V. [8 z! Q+ T7 r" _
4 a. o4 Q% S8 r7 V; f# ]Teachers get exasperated at students—they don’t pay attention, they’re sleepy, they have bad attitudes. But improvement could be a matter of timing—just start school later. That’s according to a study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. [Citation to come.]
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$ J5 J, p# S! C3 b# SBeginning at adolescence, kids have what’s called a delayed sleep phase, where they start sleep later and sleep later in the morning. And they need plenty—about nine-and-a-quarter hours a night.
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The researchers evaluated 201 Rhode Island high school students whose school pushed back its start time from 8 to 8:30. The kids completed a sleep habits survey before and after the time change. ) G: I- f, H' y# b+ }+ e
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After the delayed start, the percentage of students who said they got at least eight hours of sleep a night jumped from about 16 to 55 percent. Class attendance improved, and there were fewer visits to the health center for fatigue-related complaints. Plus, the number of students who said they felt unhappy, depressed, annoyed or irritated dropped significantly. . m% n1 ^% v* X" u. d
) ` T& M; {1 o/ o( h3 o N8 RBefore the study, teachers, coaches and administrators all resisted the later start. After, nearly all voted to keep it in place. A half-hour change for happier, better students? Seems like a good time for all. |