How do you sleep?

Look at these six sleeping positions. Which position do you sleep in?
Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, analysed six common sleeping positions and found that each is linked to a particular personality type.
• The Foetus: This is the most common sleeping position. Those who sleep in the foetus position are described as tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. They may be shy when they first meet somebody, but they soon relax.

• Log (15%): Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being popular, and who trust strangers. However, they may be gullible.

• The yearner (13%): People who sleep on their side with both arms out in front are said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely to change it.

• Soldier (8%): Lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They set themselves and others high standards.

• Freefall (7%): Lying on your front with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. These people don't like criticism, or extreme situations.

• Starfish (5%): Lying on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don't like to be the centre of attention.

Your sleeping habits
How many hours do you sleep every night?
Do you usually have a siesta?
Do you studying the night before an exam or do you get up early to study on the morning of an exam?
Do you go to sleep with the television/radio/MP3 on?


Take that power nap - you could end up smarterIt may not make you popular with your boss but a snooze in the middle of the day dramatically boosts your brain power. Medical researchers have shown that snoozing for just one hour during the day is enough to increase the brain's ability to learn new facts in the hours that follow.
Many sleep researchers argue that the British habit of trying to stay awake from morning until night is inherently unhealthy. They point to countries such as Spain where most people traditionally go for a post-lunch siesta.
Researchers split 39 healthy students into two groups and asked them to carry out a learning task - linking faces with names - intended to tax the region of the brain that helps store facts. At 2pm, half the group took a 90 minute siesta, while the rest stayed awake. At 6pm, the students were asked to carry out a new round of learning exercises.
Those who had a siesta performed much better than those who remained awake throughout the day. The researchers say sleep is needed to clear the brain's short term memory and make room for new information.
Using ECG tests of the brain's electrical activity the scientists found that this memory-refreshing process takes place in a period between deep sleep and the dreaming state known as REM, or rapid eye movement. The average person spends half their sleeping hours in this transitional sleep period, which is known as Stage 2 non-REM sleep. The same study also found that students who have all-night revision sessions in the run up to exams, reduce the brain's ability to cram in new facts by a staggering 40 per cent.

Question 1 Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text:
a) If you sleep for one hour at some point each day, you will be able to study better later.
b) In Britain, people do not normally sleep during the day.
c) The 39 people who took part in the study all had to learn the same things.
d) Students who study during the night before an exam will improve their marks by 40 per cent.

Question 2 Answer these questions in your own words:
a) What did the 2 groups have to do?
b) How does sleeping help us to remember things?

Question 3 Find a word or phrase in the text that means the same as:
a) improve par.1
b) series par. 3
c) amazing par. 5

Question 4 Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning
a) Researchers split 39 healthy students into two groups and asked them to carry out a learning task intended to tax the region of the brain that helps store facts.
39 healthy students ………………………………..……..intended to tax the region of the brain that helps store facts..
b) Those who had a siesta performed much better than those who remained awake throughout the day.
Students who remained awake throughout the day ……………………………………. .
c) Students who have all-night revision sessions in the run up to exams, reduce the brain's ability to cram in new facts by a staggering 40 per cent.
If students ………………………….. in the run up to exams, the brain’s ability to cram in new facts ………………………………………………………………. .

Question 5 Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
• Nowadays, many people say that we do not look after our bodies properly. Do you agree?