Early to Bed, Early to Rise…

Focus on the Topic

Look at the cartoon and the title of the unit. Then discuss the questions with a partner.
1. Describe the cartoon. What is the man doing? Why?
2. The title of the unit comes from a fifteenth-century proverb about the importance of
sleep: Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise.” What does it
mean? Do you agree with this proverb?
3. Do you think most people get enough sleep, too much sleep, or not enough sleep?

Share Information
BEFORE YOU LISTEN

A. COMMUNICATE Work with a partner. Discuss these questions.

What are your sleep habits? Exchange information with a partner. Take notes and report your
findings to the class. Mention anything interesting or unusual that you find out.

This Photo by
Unknown Author is
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Background and Vocabulary
B. Many students complain that they can’t get enough sleep. Read and listen to the questions
that a student and her mother wrote to a school counselor. Then match the words in bold
with the correct definitions.
Pre-teaching Vocabulary
C. Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right.
• 1. chronically ___ a. chemical substances in the body
• 2. droop ___ b. very interesting
• 3. dim ___ c. closing and opening the eyes quickly
• 4. waves of sleepiness ___ d. able to think clearly
• 5. blinking ___ e. permanently, constantly
• 6. surge ___ f. a boost, increase
• 7. out of sync ___ g. on a completely different schedule
• 8. alert___ h. easily and quickly annoyed
• 9. captivating ___ i. hang or bend down
• 10. irritable ___ j. low, not bright
• 11. hormones ___ k. strong feelings of fatigue, tiredness

LISTENING ONE
TEEN SLEEP NEEDS
INTRO
Why are teenagers tired? Listen to this radio report by Michelle Trudeau from National Public
Radio. It includes interviews with some experts in the field.
Listen to the introduction and answer the questions.

1. About how long do teenagers and young children want to sleep?

________________________________________________________________
2. Why do you think teenagers are out of sync with anyone else?
________________________________________________________________
3. What do you think you might learn from this report? Make some predictions.
________________________________________________________________

Listen for Main Ideas

You will hear comments by several authorities on sleep, including Dr. William Dement, Dr. Mary
Carskadon, and researcher Ronald Dahl. Listen to the report and answer the questions.

1. What is melatonin?
______________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do teenagers feel less sleepy at night and sleepier in the morning?
______________________________________________________________________________

3. How does Dr. Carskadon say that sleep deprivation affects teenagers’ school experience?
______________________________________________________________________________

4. According to the listening, what dangers can adolescents face as a result of their sleep
deprivation?
______________________________________________________________________________

5. According to the listening, how does sleepiness affect teenagers’ emotional state?
______________________________________________________________________________

Listen for Details

Listen to the interview again. As you listen, circle the letter of the correct answer.
1. When is melatonin secreted in adolescents?
a. before 10:00 P.M.
b. around 11:00 P.M.
c. after midnight

2. What time do most U.S. high schools begin?

a. 7:30 A.M.
b. 8:00 A.M.
c. 9:00 A.M.

3. How many minutes does it take for high school students to fall asleep in a morning or
afternoon auditorium class?
a. about two
b. about five
c. about ten
4. In Dr. Dement’s lab experiments conducted during the morning in a quiet environment, how
long did it take for the teenagers to fall asleep?
a. less than two and a half minutes
b. less than three and a half minutes
c. less than eight and a half minutes

5. About how many more hours per night do teenagers need on average?
a. one
b. two
c. three

6. How many high school students in the U.S. are chronically sleep-deprived?
a. 35 percent
b. 85 percent
c. 97 percent

7. About how far does a car travel during the time it takes for a person to blink?
a. 6 feet
b. 16 feet
c. 60 feet

8. About how many traffic accidents are caused by teenagers?

a. fewer than half
b. more than half
c. 89 percent

9. Which of the following effects of sleep deprivation is not mentioned?

a. reaction time
b. sadness and frustration
c. poor family relationships

Make Inferences
Listen to the excerpts from the interview. Choose one or two adjectives from the box that
describe the speaker’s feelings. Then circle T (true) or F (false) for each statement.

• Excerpt One
1. How does the interviewer feel?_______________
2. The interviewer disagrees with Dr. Carskadon. T F

• Excerpt Two
1. How does the interviewer feel?____________________
2. The interviewer admires Dr. Dement. T F
• Excerpt Three
1. How does the student feel?____________
2. The student knows why he is so sleepy. T F
• Excerpt Four
1. How does Dr. Dement feel?____________
2. Dr. Dement thinks 10 minutes is a reasonable amount of time. T F

Express Opinions
Work in a small group. Take turns reading the opinions. Then say whether you agree or
disagree, and why.

1. Now that we know that teens are sleepier in the morning and less sleepy in the evening, high
schools should changge their schedules. They should start and finish much later in the day.
2. Sleep deprivation could have serious consequences for some workers, such as those in
factories, hospitals, or airports. Managers should be able to require their workers to get
enough sleep.
3. Sleep deprivation is a much more serious problem now than it was 50 or 100 years ago.
4. Different people need different amounts of sleep. Some people only need five or six hours a
night, and others need as much as nine or ten hours a night.

LISTENING TWO
GET BACK IN BED
• Like teenagers, parents of small children are sleep-deprived, too. You will hear part of an
interview from Satellite Sisters, a radio talk show featuring a conversation among five
sisters who live on five continents. Lian, one of the sisters, is talking with Dr. Joyce
Walsleben, director of New York University’s Sleep Disorder Center.

• Listen to the interview and circle the letter of the correct answer.
1. Lian complains about being constantly tired. What reason does she give?
a. She can’t fall sleep at night.
b. She has small children.
c. She wakes up in the middle of the night.

2. According to Dr. Walsleben, what do we need to combat sleep deprivation?

a. We should make sleep a priority.
b. We should not try to combine careers and motherhood.
c. We should make sure our days are active.

3. Dr. Walsleben mentions the accident that happened to the Exxon Valdez oil tanker.
What
do some people suspect about the causes of the accident?
 a. The captain was sleep deprived.
b. The mate had been working for too many hours.
c. The crew was sleeping when the accident occurred.

4. How does sleep deprivation affect Lian?

a. She’s too tired to see her parents.
b. She makes bad parenting decisions.
c. She can’t decide what to eat.

5. How do most people feel about the effects of sleep deprivation?

a. They think they don’t have them.
b. They accept them.
c. They think they aren’t serious.

6. What happens to many workers by the end of the workweek?

a. They accumulate a large sleep debt.
b. They often need to take Fridays off work.
c. They can no longer get things done at work.

7. About how many hours of sleep are many people missing by Friday?
a. four
b. five
c. seven

Express Opinions
Work in a small group. Discuss the questions.

1. What are some ways the parent of a young child could get more sleep?

2. What should drivers do when they feel sleepy? Why do you think people continue to drive if
they feel sleepy?

3. Not everyone agrees with the viewpoints you have heard: in fact, some researchers think
that too much sleep is also bad for you. How much sleep do you think the average person
needs?
 LISTENING THREE
TEDEd
What would happen if you didn’t sleep?
Before You Watch
In the United States, it’s estimated that 30 percent of adults and 66 percent of adolescents are
regularly sleep-deprived. This isn’t just a minor inconvenience: staying awake can cause serious
bodily harm. Claudia Aguirre shows what happens to your body and brain when you skip sleep.

Match the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

1. cope ___ a. the period of time when you are not sleeping
2. shut-eye___ b. to put new supplies into something, or to fill something again
3. doze ___ c. to use water in a forceful manner to remove something
4. REM ___ d. inability to sleep
5. replenish ___ e. to sleep lightly for a short time
6. sleeplessness ___ f. an unplanned additional result of something that you do
7. stroke___ g. to succeed in dealing with a difficult problem or situation
8. wakefulness___ h. an illness in which an artery in the brain suddenly bursts or becomes blocked
9. byproduct___ i. sleep (informal)
10. flush away ___ j. sleep (literary)
11. slumber ___ k. the period of sleep when you dream and your eyes make a lot of small movements

Watch the video and circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. Losing sleep has been linked to:

a. increased inflammation
b. high blood pressure
c. obesity
d. all of the above
e. none of the above

2. By the end of Randy Gardner's experiment, he experienced:

a. hallucinations
b. concentration problems
c. short-term memory problems
d. paranoia
e. all of the above

3. How much sleep do adolescents need?

a. 5-6 hours
b. 9-10 hours
c. 7-8 hours
d.12-13 hours
e. 2-3 hours
4. Studies show that approximately _____ percent of adolescents are sleep
deprived.
a. 95
b. 66
c. 75
d. 80
e. 30

5. Which substance mentioned in the video builds up and causes 'sleep

pressure'?
a. adenosine
b. glutamine
c. histaminen
d. glycine
e. none of the above