Too much light makes you heavy

Bob

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Sleeping in a room with too much lighthas been linked to an increased risk of pilingon the pounds，a study shows.

A team at the Institute of Cancer Researchin London found women had larger waistlinesif their bedrooms were“light enough to seeacross" at night.

However，they caution there is not enoughevidence to advise people to buy thickercurtains or turn off lights.

The study of 113，000 women was publishedin the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The women were asked to rate theamount of light in their bedrooms at night as：

Light enough to read; Light enough to seeacross the room，but not read; Light enough tosee your hand in front of you，but not acrossthe room; Too dark to see your hand or youwear a mask.

Their answers were compared to severalmeasures of obesity. Body Mass Index，waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference were allhigher in women with lighter rooms.

Prof. Anthony Swerdlow，from the Instituteof Cancer Research，told the BBC：“In this verylarge group of people there is an associationbetween reported light exposure at night andoverweight and obesity. "

But there is not sufficient evidence 3 toknow if making your room darker would makeany difference to your weight.

"There might be other explanations forthe association，but the findings are interestingenough to warrant further scientific investigation. ”

Body Clock

One possible explanation is that the lightis disrupting the body clock，which stems fromour evolutionary past when we were activewhen it was light in the day and resting when itwas dark at night.

Light alters mood，physical strength andeven the way we process food in a 24-hourcycle.

Artificial light is known to disrupt the bodyclock by delaying the production of the sleephormone melatonin.

Prof. Derk-Jan Dijk，from the Surrey SleepCentre，said there would be no harm in tryingto make bedrooms darker.

He told the BBC：“People in generalare not aware of the light present in theirbedrooms. I think people should assess theirbedrooms and see how easy it would be tomake them darker. "

Street lights，some alarm clocks andstandby lights on electrical equipment such astelevisions could light a room，he said.

“Overall this study points to the importanceof darkness，" he concluded.

Cancer

The study was funded by BreakthroughBreast Cancer and the findings emergedfrom a long-term study to understand the riskfactors for breast cancer. Obesity is known toincrease the odds of the disease.

Dr Matthew Lam，from the charity，commented：“It's too early to suggest thatsleeping in the dark will help prevent obesity，a known risk factor for breast cancer，but theassociation is certainly interesting. ' ”

“Whilst we are learning more and moreeach day about the environmental，geneticand lifestyle factors that affect breast cancerrisk，it is not yet possible to predict who willget breast cancer，and for women who havebeen diagnosed with the disease，we can't yetsay what caused it. "

阅读理解

1. Which statement is RIGHT according to a study？

A. Researchers have enough evidence to advise people to turn off lights at night.

B. A study proves that a room with too much light has led to obesity.

C. Researchers haven't enough evidence to prove too much light can enlarge waistlines.

D. “Light enough to see across" at night is the key element of obesity.

2. When rating the amount of light in bedrooms，the researchers considered thefollowing aspects EXCEPT

A. reading in the room

B. seeing your hand only in front of you

C. wearing masks

D. watching TV in the room

3. What's the meaning of the underlined word "warrant"？

A. Assure.

B. Stop.

C. Increase.

D. Change.

4. Which statement about Body Clock is RIGHT？

A. Body Clock results from our evolution when we were active during the day and restingat night.

B. Light changes every part of our bodies and even the ways we act.

C. Artificial light increases the production of the sleep hormone melatonin to affect BodyClock.

D. For Body Clock darkness is as important as daytime.

5. According to Dr. Matthew Lam，we can infer that.

A. the environmental，genetic and lifestyle factors lead to breast cancer

B. it is not certain that obesity is associated with darkness

C. sleeping in the dark will help prevent obesity

D. Obesity is known to increase the odds of the disease

答案与解析

1. C。细节理解題。根据文章的前三段可以看出However后面的内容是重点，而这一点正是与C项吻合的内容。

2. D。细节理解题。第五段中提到女性被要求按卧室亮度级别评定，其中三项和A、B、C三选项吻合，所以D项是除外的。

3. A。词义推测题。根据表语的interesting enough可以推测A项的assure“保证”更符合“warrant”的词义。

4. A。细节理解题。在“Body Clock”部分中提到：生物钟源于人类进化的过程，当有光线时活跃，在黑暗的时候休息，这和A项符合。其他选项都有细节错误。

5. B。细节推断题。根据Matthew Lam博土的说法“在黑暗中睡眠有助于防止肥胖的说法还为时尚早，但是这种关系很有意思。”可以知道。A、C有误，D项不是推断出来的。

长难句分析

1. One possible explanation is that the light is disrupting the body clock，whichstems from our evolutionary past when we were active when it was light in the day andresting when it was dark at night. 一种可能的解释是，光线干扰生物钟。生物钟源于人类进化的过程，让我们在有光线时活跃，在黑暗的时候休息。

这是个复合句。主句是主系表结构，表语是that引导的从句，在这个表语从句中which引导定语从句修饰the body clock;第一个when引导定语从句修饰evolutionarypast，第二和第三个when都是引导时间状语从句。英语中的关系副词有三个：when，where和why。

when引導的定语从句时，其先行词往往是表示时间的名词，也可以转换为“介词+which”引导的定语从句。例如： I still remember the time when（during which）I livedin the countryside.

where引导的定语从句时，其先行词往往是表示地点的名词。可以转换为“介词+which”引导的定语从句。例如： The hotel where（at which）we stayed wasn't clean.

如果定语从句分别修饰point，situation，stage，condition和case等表示抽象意义的词，常用where引导，意思是“到了某种地步，在某种境况中”。例如： I've come tothe point where I can't stand him.

why引导的定语从句时，其先行词往往是表示原因的名词，例如： excuse ;explanation; reason等，可以转换为“for+which”引导的定语从句。如：①We can'taccept the excuse why you were absent. ②This is the reason why（= for which）Ididn't come here.

2. Whilst we are learning more and more each day about the environmental，geneticand lifestyle factors that affect breast cancer risk，it is not yet possible to predict who will getbreast cancer，and for women who have been diagnosed with the disease，we can't yet saywhat caused it. 虽然我们对诱发乳腺癌的环境、基因、生活习惯等因素了解地越来越多了，但我们还不能预测哪些人会患乳腺癌，对于那些已经被确诊患乳腺癌的女性来说，我们也不能明确是什么因素引发的。

这是个并列复合句。whilst “有时，当……的时候”同英国英语中的while，可引导时间状语从句也可引导让步状语从句。句中it is not yet possible…是主句部分，其中it是形式主语，后面的不定式是真正主语，and之后是另一一个并列的主句，其中who引导定语从句修饰介词for后面的宾语women，主句中what引导的名词性从句做动词宾语。