美国国家公共电台 NPR Stressed-Out High Schoolers Advised To Try A Nap Pod

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Preventing yawning in teenagers - and one way to do it is to take a nap at school. And there's some public high schools in New Mexico actually providing napping pods for students. Here's NPR's Patti Neighmond.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE¹: They look like egg-shaped space capsules.

HANNAH VANDERKOOY: You lay in it, and it starts to recline.

NEIGHMOND: That's Hannah Vanderkooy, a senior at Las Cruces High School.

VANDERKOOY: The shell comes over, and it just kind of envelops² you in like a really nice darkness. But it's not too dark - you know? And they have, like, little soft lights behind you and, like, soft music that plays.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

NEIGHMOND: Legs elevated, lower back relaxed - all designed to induce calm and hopefully a little sleep. The 20-minute interlude in a very busy, stressful day is a welcome relief for Hannah, who typically gets only four to five hours of sleep a night.

VANDERKOOY: Being a senior, I have to apply for scholarships. And I have to do my homework, and I have to do all this. And so my sleep cycle has just kind of become this night owl³ life, and it's just kind of the new normal.

NEIGHMOND: Hannah says she's not alone. Lots of her friends are on a similar schedule. Dr. Nitun Verma is a sleep specialist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He says a nap can't substitute for a good night's sleep, but it can certainly help.

NITUN VERMA: A short nap for a teenager can give a boost to memory and attention during the day. It can increase school performance.

NEIGHMOND: Nurse practitioner⁴ Linda Summers works with Las Cruces high schools. It was her idea to apply for a federal health grant to buy pods for four schools. They cost $14,000 apiece. She says they're worth it because lack of sleep makes students more easily upset, anxious and even angry. In these cases, she will often write a prescription⁵ for the napping pod.

LINDA SUMMERS: You need to do this twice a week. You need to do this before you have a fight with somebody or you have a test and you haven't slept.

NEIGHMOND: And, Summers says, teachers also recommend students take a short nap.

VANDERKOOY: I was falling asleep in one of my classes. And my teacher, instead of scolding me, he was like, you really, really need to go and take a nap - because it's not really like me.

NEIGHMOND: After 20 minutes in the pod, Hannah says she returned to class refreshed.

VANDERKOOY: And I came back. And I was awake and attentive⁶ and took my notes and, (laughter) you know, just like a normal class.

NEIGHMOND: Teachers and school nurses report the pods are a big success, sort of a therapeutic⁷ study hall that helps students focus better when they're in the classroom. And nurse Linda Summers says the pod experience just makes the kids feel better.

SUMMERS: If you don't fall asleep - if you just zone out, which a lot of the kids say they - that happens to them, they also feel refreshed and calm.

NEIGHMOND: Summers is also a researcher at New Mexico State University. She recently did a study asking 100 students who said they were agitated⁸ or upset about something how they felt before and after spending 20 minutes in the napping pod.

SUMMERS: They all felt more rested. They all felt happier or more in control of their emotions - after just 20 minutes.

NEIGHMOND: So not only are the pods a place to catch up on sleep, they also provide a small oasis⁹ of calm for stressed-out students. Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 envelops   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He glued many envelops yesterday. 他昨天用胶粘了许多信封。 来自辞典例句
• Ask your friends or mother and father to save used envelops for you. 让你的朋友或父母为你留下用过的信封。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

3 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

4 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

5 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

6 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

7 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

8 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

9 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。