Text 1  Getting Enough Sleep? Dream On

Information related to the text

1)      Biological Clock

A biological clock is not like all clocks : it doesn't measure time passively like a sun dial and it doesn't measure a single interval and then stop like an hour glass. A biological clock is a self sustaining (i.e. it doesn't run down and need winding up like some watches and unlike the sundial will carry on telling the time even in the dark) oscillator that is linked to the environment around it and can be reset by it. Its most important function is that it times or controls an overt biological rhythm (such as the sleep-wake cycle) or some other form of biological timing (such as controlling when to enter hibernation or when to breed). Biological clocks then are physiological systems that enable organisms to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, such as the cycles of day and night and of the seasons.

2)      the ravell'd sleeve of care

It comes from William Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act II, Scene II):

MACBETH
Methought I heard a voice cry "Sleep no more!
Macbeth does murder sleep," the innocent sleep, (2.2.33)
Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care,
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, (2.2.36)
Chief nourisher in life's feast,--

LADY MACBETH
What do you mean? (2.2.37)

MACBETH
Still it cried "Sleep no more!" to all the house:
"Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor
Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more."

Language notes

1) Another patient went to great lengths to obtain a 50-yard-line ticket to a crucial San Francisco 49ers play-off game....

（还有一位病人费了九牛二虎之力才弄到一张五十码线的门票，观看49淘金人协会在旧金山队举行的一场至为关键的加时赛......）

Go to any/some/great, etc. lengths (to do sth) means to be prepared to do anything, something, a lot, etc. (to achieve sth) (为达到某目的)不顾一切,不遗余力。

e.g. They went to absurd lengths to keep the affair secret.

     There are no lengths to which an addict will not go to obtain his drug.

     She even went to the length of driving me home.

2) Societal pressures to work more and at odd hours have reduced our sleep time over the past century by about 20 percent.

（过去的一个世纪，迫于社会压力，我们不得不加班加点，因而睡眠时间减少了约20％。）

Odd here means not regular, or fixed; occasional.

e.g. I take the odd bit of exercise, but nothing regular.

     Do you have an odd minute to help me with this?

3) It's a timepiece of such astonishing precision that people often wake up a few minutes before their alarm clocks go off.

（这种时钟准确得如此惊人，我们往往就在闹钟响前几分钟就会醒来。）

To go off means to make a sudden, loud noise; be sounded.

e.g. The thieves ran away when the burglar alarm went off.

4) You may have paid off those sleep-deprived stretches when you got sick shortly afterward and sleep 18 hours at a stretch.

（或许你不久后病倒了，一睡就是18个小时，这样的话，那些因剥夺了睡眠机会而造成的种种紧张感就被一扫而光。）

At a stretch means without stopping; continuously.

e.g. She worked for six hours at a stretch.

5) After years of further research, the original results still stand:

（经过多年的深入调查，起初的结论依然成立：）

Stand means remain unchanged; remain valid.

e.g. My offer still stands.

Text 2  Three Hours to Save Your Life

Information related to the text

1)      a CAT scan

CAT comes from Computed Axial Tomography. CAT scans take the idea of conventional X-ray imaging to a new level. Instead of finding the outline of bones and organs, a CAT scan machine forms a full three-dimensional computer model of a patient's insides. Doctors can even examine the body one narrow slice at a time to pinpoint specific areas.

2)      FDA

The Food and Drug Administration is a team of dedicated professionals working to protect, promote and enhance the health of the American people. FDA is responsible for ensuring that: Foods are safe, wholesome and sanitary； human and veterinary drugs, biological products, and medical devices are safe and effective； cosmetics are safe； and electronic products that emit radiation are safe. Regulated products are honestly, accurately and informatively represented. These products are in compliance with the law and FDA regulations； noncompliance is identified and corrected; and any unsafe or unlawful products are removed from the marketplace.

3)      9-1-1

The first use of 9-1-1 took place in Haleyville, Ala. in January 1968. The town had a population of approximately 4 500 and was serviced by the Alabama Telephone Company (ATC). The 9-1-1 number was intended to be an easy-to-remember, no-coin method of reaching the correct law enforcement, fire and EMS agencies. Congress had declared that 9-1-1 should be the national emergency number just weeks before and a man called Bill Frye, an ATC engineer, quickly made some changes to the company's small telephone system to accept 9-1-1 calls. A debate broke out about where 9-1-1 calls should be routed - to the police, fire department, or local hospital. Officials settled on the Haleyville police, and a red telephone. There was no ANI/ALI service with this first installation. The first 9-1-1 call from Haleyville was made by Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite on February 16, 1968 to Tom Bevill, a U.S. Representative. Later, the two said they exchanged greetings, hung up and "had coffee and doughnuts."

Language notes

1) Had Zanes Cypress suffered a stroke a few years earlier, the outcome would have been far grimmer, for doctors could have done little to help him.

（倘若赞恩斯•塞浦瑞斯几年前中风的话，结果可能就会可怕得多，要知道当时医生几乎无能为力。）

这是由if引导的非真实条件句,表示可能,能力或允许,与过去事实相反。 从句用had done,主句用would/ should/could/might﹢have done.当if省略时,从句倒装。

e.g. If our documents had been in order, we could have left at once.

2) ...then let nature take its course and focus on recovery.

（......然后听其自然，关注病人康复。）

To take/run its course means to develop as is usual; proceed to the usual end.

e.g. We can not cure the diseases; it must run its course.

     The decision can't be reversed; the law must take its course.

3) One reason is that most people… are still not aware that the damage of a stroke can often be reversed, provided the victim gets immediate care.

（原因之一，大多数人，包括医学行业的一些成员，尚未意识到只要患者得到及时的护理，中风的损伤常常是可以治愈的。）

Provided (also provided that, providing, providing that) means on the condition or understanding that.

e.g. I will agree to go provided my expense.

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