I have several questions for all parents of school-age children: Do you know how much your children sleep? Do you know how much sleep they really need? And do you know what their biological clocks are telling them about when to go to sleep and when to wake up?

Although young children are likely to arouse their *groggy parents every morning, with no respect for weekends, after *puberty the tables turn. Every day, it's a ( A ) to get the kids up and out to school on time. Many youngsters and most teenagers do not get enough sleep, which can result in serious consequences, (1)impairing school performance and even rasing the risk of depression and other mood disorders.

While it's true that sleep needs vary from one person to another, there are some very reasonable, science-based guidelines to help you determine whether your children are getting the sleep they need to function at their best in school and at play and to get along well with friends and relations. And if you are a parent of teenagers, you may come to a much better understanding of why they have so much ( B ) getting up on school mornings in time to wash, dress, eat breakfast and get to class on time.

In years past, television got all the blame for curtailing the sleep of younger set. Now, the modern devices that were meant to (2)enhance communication and save us so much time have created nearly endless days. There is no longer a “sacred" hour beyond which a child cannot contact someone, search for information or shop online. And for far too many, sleep takes a back seat to ( C ) .

According to the National Sleep Foundation, newborns should sleep 12 to 18 hours 〔X〕of every 24 - every new parent hopes - with a gradual reduction to 12 to 14 hours for toddlers aged 1 to 3; 11 to 13 hours for preschoolers 3 to 5; and (yes!) 10 to 11 hours for schoolchildren aged 5 to 10. I suspect, though, that that relatively few fourth and fifth graders get 10 hours of shut-eye a night. My grandsons, at 10, were lucky to sleep eight or nine hours, even on weekends. Researchers at Stanford University have reported that 9- and 10-years-olds need only about eight hours a night.

But things get really challenging at puberty and throughout adolescence. [ Y ] only do teenagers need more sleep than adults - eight and a half to nine and a quarter hours a night. says the sleep foundation - but the times at which they get sleepy and are able to awaken naturally and feel rested shift in a way that does not *mesh with the start times at most schools. The typical teenager, sleep studies have shown repeatedly, does not fall asleep readily before 11 p.m. or later, ( D ) many have to get up by 6 a.m. or earlier. More than a few (3)doze off during that class, and often the next one as well. In one study, more than 90 percent of teenagers reported sleeping less than nine hours a night, and 10 percent said they slept less than six. As James B. Maas, a Cornell University psychologist and sleep researcher, has observed, most teenagers are “walking *zombies” because they get far too little sleep.

Even in1998, before cellphones could be blamed for teenagers' sleep deprivation, a study of more than 3,000 adolescents by two specialists. Amy R. Wolfson of the College of the Holy Cross and Mary A. Carskadon of Brown University, found that high school students who got poor grades slept an average of 25 minutes less than those who got A's and B's.

In a laboratory study of 40 high school students, Dr. Carskadon and colleagues found that nearly half the students who began school at 7:20 a.m. were "*pathologically sleepy" at 8:30 a.m. Calling such early start times “abusive," she said, “These kids may be up and at school at 8:30, but I'm convinced their brains are back on the pillow at 〔 Z 〕."

(*)Sleep deprivation results in "three strikes against learning," Dr. Carskadon said in an interview. “Students are not awake enough to attend to information they're supposed to be learning their knowledge acquisition is impaired and their ability to *retrieve information is (4)reduced. What is learned during the day is consolidated during sleep.”

After five nights of too little sleep, many teenagers try to ( E ) on the weekends. But Dr. Carskadon said, that solution can *backfire because it further distorts their biological clocks and can make it even harder for them to get up on time during the school week.

Other consequences of sleep deprivation in youngsters include “an (5)erosion of happiness - an increased risk of depression and other mood disturbances" in those with an underlying *vulnerability. School districts that have switched to ( F ) start times for high school student have noted an improvement in grades, a decrease in dropouts and a reduction in traffic accidents.

(Jane Brody “To sleep, perchance to dream? Forget about it; Most children don't get the rest they need to deal with life and school." International Herald Tribune, May 25, 2011)

注)
• groggy: ふらふらの
• puberty: 思春期
• mesh with: ～とかみ合う
• zombie: 死んだように生気のない人
• pathologically: 病理学的に
• retrieve: 引き出す
• backfire: 裏目に出る
• vulnerability: 脆弱さ

• 問1 文中の空欄( A )~( F )に入れるのに最も適切切な語句を、 それぞれ(イ)~(ニ)の中から1つずつ選び、 その記号を書きなさい。
  • ( A )
    • (イ) pleasure
    • (ロ) struggle
    • (ハ) thought
    • (ニ) work
  • ( B )
    • (イ) energy
    • (ロ) pleasure
    • (ハ) time
    • (ニ) trouble
  • ( C )
    • (イ) getting up early
    • (ロ) reading books
    • (ハ) staying in touch
    • (ニ) work at school
  • ( D )
    • (イ) because
    • (ロ) however
    • (ハ) so
    • (ニ) yet
  • ( E )
    • (イ) catch up
    • (ロ) dress up
    • (ハ) keep up
    • (ニ) sit up
  • ( F )
    • (イ) earlier
    • (ロ) later
    • (ハ) no
    • (ニ) quarter
• 問2 文中の空欄[ X ]~[ Z ]に入れるのに最も適切な英語1語を、 それぞれ本文中に入れる形で書きなさい。
• 問3 文中の下線部(1)~(5)の単語の文中での意味を表すものとして最も通切なものを、それぞれ(イ)~(ニ)の中から1つずつ選び、その記号を書きなさい。
  • (1)
    • (イ) create
    • (ロ) harm
    • (ハ) improve
    • (二) raise
  • (2)
    • (イ) cancel
    • (ロ) prevent
    • (ハ) produce
    • (ニ) strengthen
  • (3)
    • (イ) fall asleep
    • (ロ) fall off
    • (ハ) pass out
    • (ニ) stay up
  • (4)
    • (イ) increase
    • (ロ) keep
    • (ハ) lessen
    • (ニ) recount
  • (5)
    • (イ) doubting
    • (ロ) emergence
    • (ハ) evasion
    • (ニ) wearing away
• 問4 本文中の下線部(*)の意味として最も適切な文を(イ)~(ニ)の中から1つ選び、その記号を書きなさい。
  • (イ) Sleep deprivation is caused by excessive learning.
  • (ロ) Sleep deprivation is caused by pleasant learning.
  • (ハ) Sleep deprivation makes learning a sheer pleasure.
  • (ニ) Sleep deprivation makes learning extremely difficult.
• 問5 本文全体を読み、その趣旨に合致している文を1つ選び、その番号を書きなさい。
  • 1. 子供たちの睡眠不足は一般的にそれほど深刻な結果をもたらすことはない。
  • 2. 子供に必要な睡眠時間は個人差が激しく、その科学的な目安は存在しない。
  • 3. 筆者の孫は幸い週末にはだいたい十分な睡眠を確保できていた。
  • 4. 13歳から19歳までのほとんどの若者たちは睡眠不足気味である。
  • 5. ある調査によれば、高校においては相対的に成績の良い生徒の方が成績の悪い生徒よりも睡眠時間の平均が短くなっている。