Cambridge English Empower C1
Unit 2 Going to extremes
1 SPEAKING
a How much do you know about sleep? Work in pairs
and answer the questions.
1 How much sleep do we need a day?
2 Who needs more sleep: a teenager or a seventy-year-old?
3 It is possible to ‘sleep’ with your eyes open. True or false?
4 At what age are people most likely to sleep walk?
5 What could it mean if you fall asleep in less than five minutes?
2 VOCABULARY
a Match the words in bold to definitions 1– 6.
As a GP, I feel that sleep deprivation is one of the key
areas of public health that needs to be addressed. For
most people the effects can be quite subtle – ranging
from being less able to concentrate or becoming more
irritable – but a sustained period of it can cause chronic
problems. Like diet, we need to fundamentally change
the way we value sleep. Without profound changes to
attitudes, we are facing a real health crisis.
1 continuing for a period of time
2 in a basic and important way
3 not obvious or easy to notice
4 long-lasting
5 the state of not having enough
6 very great or serious
b Do you agree with the comments in 2a about the
effects of losing sleep? Why / Why not?
3 READING
a Read the text on page 2. Check your answers to 1a.
b Does the author agree with the comments in exercise 2a?
c Read the text again. Complete the summary with one
word per gap.
There is no universally-accepted 1 of what sleep
deprivation is, but the condition is so serious that it is 2
to experiment on sleep deprivation with humans. An
example of the problem is 3  , which means people
fall asleep at intervals during the day. Another consequence
is delirium and this is a particular concern in 4 as
they are lit up continuously. The author also writes about the
controversial issue of 5 and sleep deprivation. While
they are often reported by patients, health professionals believe
they are likely to be examples of the brain misinterpreting
stimulus. The author concludes by noting that sleep deprivation
symptoms end after 6 sleep.
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READING PLUS
d Are the statements true or false?
1 The effects of sleep deprivation are purely physical.
2 You cannot apply the same definition of sleep deprivation to
everyone.
3 Ethically, research into sleep deprivation is discouraged.
4 Microsleeps average 30 seconds in duration.
5 People tend to experience a sequence of microsleeps.
6 ICU delirium and sleep deprivation are directly linked.
7 Hospitalisation puts patients at increased risk of insomnia.
8 Most doctors believe that sleep deprivation causes
hallucinations.
9 Sleep deprivation concentrates your vision when you are
carrying out tasks.
10 Sleeping well doesn’t get rid of the effects of sleep deprivation.
BETTER READING:
IDENTIFYING LANGUAGE CHOICES
Understanding the reasons why writers choose certain
language structures over others can help navigate a text, and
work out the development of an author’s ideas.
Choose the reason why the author decided to use the
underlined structures in the text.
1 Should a person be deprived of sleep
A to give the reader advice
B to suggest that this condition is not so common
C to emphasise that this is a psychological condition
2 Such is the impact of sleep deprivation
A to stress how harmful the condition is
B to give an example of the condition
C to show how confusing the condition is
3 As little as one night’s loss of sleep
A to emphasise how quickly the condition can develop
B to show that we sleep better at night
C to assert that the quality is more important than
the quantity of sleep
4 doctors are of the opinion that
A to represent this as a medical fact
B to show this is a majority view
C to prove there is not enough evidence to decide
5 the brain is not interpreting information
A to show this condition is a future consequence
B to show this is a temporary situation
C to show this is a permanent condition
4 SPEAKING
a Work in pairs. Talk about how difficult these
experiences would be for you. Which would be the most
difficult? Why?
• 24 hours without sleep • 1 week without the
• 2 days without eating Internet
• 3 days without seeing or • 1 month without leaving
speaking to anybody your home
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SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS A NIGHTMARE
Sleep. It’s something that we all need, and probably
don’t get enough of. With increasingly pressurized
working environments and hectic lifestyles that
put greater pressure on individuals, the issues of
insufficient sleep are painfully familiar. The most
noticeable symptom of sleep deprivation is fatigue, yet
this is not the only effect. Should a person be deprived
of sleep for long periods of time, it can cause serious
emotional problems. It has to be remembered that
sleep deprivation has long been used as a form of
psychological torture. One challenge when assessing
the impact of sleep deprivation though is the lack of
a clear definition of how long a person can manage
without sleep, or with very little sleep, before becoming
sleep-deprived. Adults typically require somewhere
between seven and nine hours of sleep per night, but
there is variation, and naturally lower levels tends to
correlate with increasing age.
Clear definitions aside, it is widely agreed that long-
term sleep deprivation will have profound effects both
physically and mentally. Such is the impact of sleep
deprivation that many doctors consider it unethical to
prevent participants in clinical trials from sleeping. Yet,
according to researchers who study the condition, case
studies are fundamentally important for gaining an
understanding of the mechanism of sleep deprivation.
It is claimed that learning what happens in people who
are deprived of sleep can help us gain more insight into
the function of sleep and how important an impact it can
have on both physical and emotional health.
What we currently know is that even low levels of sleep
deprivation have an effect on cognitive and emotional
behaviours. As little as one night’s loss of sleep can result
in a phenomenon called microsleeps. The following day
people who have been deprived of sleep for one night
will fall into short sleep cycles, lasting up to 30 seconds.
During these periods some people’s eyes remain open,
but disturbingly they are processing no visual information
whatsoever. This means they are, to all effects, blind,
despite looking as if they are conscious. Studies have
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Unit 2
shown that during microsleeps the brain enters the
sleep state quickly and uncontrollably. People caught
in this cycle may be able to force themselves awake
momentarily, but they will soon fall into another
microsleep. As such, the condition can be perilous,
especially if the person affected is driving a vehicle.
While microsleeps are a cause for concern, there are
symptoms of sleep deprivation which have deeply
psychological effects. Recent research has shown that
long-term lack of sleep may be in a contributing factor
to ICU delirium. This term has been used to describe
the disorientated behaviour of patients who have been
hospitalized for extended periods in intensive care units.
As these environments have a constant stream of sound,
and the lights are on throughout the day and night, there
is little opportunity for quality sleep. While it is not clear
if sleep deprivation is the main cause of this delirium,
doctors are of the opinion that loss of sleep can be held
accountable for the fact that people who are hospitalized
for lengthy periods exhibit strange behavior, like
sleepwalking. This condition is more often associated with
children aged between three and seven years. In fact, it is
agreed that hospitalization is the worst remedy for sleep
deprivation as many patients suffer from insomnia.
A further commonly reported symptom of chronic sleep
deprivation is hallucinations – when patients see or
hear things which aren’t actually present. Many health
professionals are skeptical about the causal link, although
they admit that the mind can be deceived when in a sleep-
deprived state. Tired people are more likely to see images
flicker in their peripheral vision, or think that lights are
blinking on and off. This kind of confusion indicates that
the brain is not interpreting information clearly.
Fortunately, the signs of sleep deprivation are usually
obvious. However, there are some subtle indicators which
are worth taking note of. These include behaviours such
as falling asleep at night within a very short timeframe. If
you have any concerns, the advice of health professionals
should be sought. What is worth noting is that a period
of sustained sleep will have a positive effect on sleep
deprivation , repairing any damage relatively painlessly.
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