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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

SLEEPING
TWICE
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1 Warm up

Speaking: In pairs, discuss the questions below.

1. Do you take naps?

2. Do you have any problems with your sleep?

3. How has modern life and technology interfered with our sleep?

4. How was sleeping different from now in the medieval times?

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SLEEPING TWICE

Video: Watch the video about bi-phasic sleep. Are these sentences true or false according to the
video?

1. The majority of Americans have a biphasic sleep schedule.

2. The speakers warn viewers that the video is just to inform.

3. Monophasic sleep is the best schedule for everyone.

4. The woman gives the example of the Spanish siesta as biphasic sleep.

5. The man mentions oversleeping as a disadvantage of monophasic sleep.

6. Taking naps can make you less creative.

2 Vocabulary 1

Replace the underlined parts of the questions below with words from the box.

at dawn at unconventional hours by coincidence circadian cycle in medieval times

instances make accommodations to obesity persist stem from

1. What do you think sleeping problems are a result of?

2. How do you think people slept between 476 and 1400 AD?

3. How many examples of sleep-related problems can you think of?

4. When was the last time you were awake when the sun came out?

5. What is most people’s body clock like?

6. When did you last have to adjust your sleep schedule?

7. In what ways can sleep problems lead to weight gain?

8. When you can’t sleep, do you keep trying or do you get up and do something else?

9. What problems might people who work unusual shifts have?

10. Have you ever woken up exactly the time you wanted by chance?

Now work in pairs and discuss the questions from the previous exercise.

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SLEEPING TWICE

3 Reading 1

Read the article about bi-phasic sleep. Do the following statements agree with the information given
in the text?

Write:

• TRUE → if the statement agree with the information

• FALSE → if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN → if there is no information on this

1. The writer claims that there is a lot of documentation about biphasic sleep.

2. A historian first came across biphasic sleeping while he was studying legal documents.

3. Biphasic sleep was mentioned more frequently in court cases than in other types of documents.

4. Most people use the period between the two sleeps to do house chores.

5. The writer implies that sleeping disorders increased as a result of shifting to monophasic sleep.

6. Academic research indicates that we need to sleep less if we adopt a biphasic sleep schedule.

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SLEEPING TWICE

The lost habit of sleeping twice

A different way of sleeping.

1. Modern lifestyle has brought a range of sleeping disorders that affect a large portion of the population. Studies
indicate that about a third of people have some sort of difficulty with their sleep, with 10-15% also reporting
problems functioning adequately in the daytime as a result. While this problem is well-documented, one of its
causes in particular is much less known. Part of the sleeping problem that affects so many may stem from the fact
that we no longer sleep twice at night, as we used to in medieval times.

2. The phenomenon known as bi-phasic sleeping was discovered by historian, Roger Ekirch when analysing old court
cases. In one statement, he found a mention to a crime that would have happened after ‘first sleep’, which indicates
there would be more than one. Moreover, given the casual way it was mentioned in the account, it could be
inferred that it was a widespread habit.

3. After this unusual discovery, Ekirch expanded his search to look for other instances of bi-phasic sleeping and found
numerous mentions in other legal documents, as well as in literature, letters, diaries and newspaper articles. He
was also able to research in more detail how sleeping twice took place and what people did in the time in between.

4. A typical night for someone living in the 17th century would involve going to bed around 9 p.m., then rising again
a couple of hours later. People would then carry out all sorts of activities, including doing housework, reading,
performing religious duties such as praying, or having sex. This period – commonly referred to as ‘the watch’ -
would also be used for socialising or even, as indicated by the first example Ekirch found, committing crimes. Then
around 1 a.m., people went back to sleep, usually until dawn.

5. Further research suggests that we began to abandon the habit of sleeping twice around the beginning of the
19th century, when artificial lighting became more common. As people started going to sleep later, they gradually
shifted from having two blocks of sleep to only one, or monophasic sleep. Not by coincidence, the period also sees
an increase in medical literature on sleep-related problems like insomnia. In modern society, there is increased
pressure to sleep continuously throughout the night in order to perform well the next day, which only worsens
sleep-related conditions.

6. There is growing academic evidence that a return to bi-phasic sleeping might therefore be beneficial and more
suitable to our body clocks, also known as our circadian cycle. In fact, the variations of bi-phasic sleep that
persist in modern society prove its advantages. An example is the Spanish siesta, which takes advantage of the
reduced alertness common after lunch to provide a rest that splits the productive day into two parts, rather than
a continuous stretch of activity in which productivity tends to decline throughout. A number of studies point to
other benefits of split sleep, including better learning and memory, improved mood and a higher level of alertness,
provided that the total amount of sleep still adds up to 7-8 hours within a 24-hour period.

7. Apart from potentially helping with sleeping disorders, bi-phasic sleep might also address another major issue
resulting from our modern lifestyle: shift work. In a society that never stops, a large number of professionals work
at unconventional hours, many throughout the night, which goes against our circadian rhythm and can potentially
lead to a number of health problems, such as obesity, heart diseases and depression, as well as work accidents
due to fatigue. Therefore, many companies are now experimenting with shorter shifts, separated by rest/sleep
periods.

8. Should we then return to the medieval habit of sleeping twice? While there are obvious practical obstacles to
doing so given our current lifestyle, it might be worth making accommodations to allow at least those that would
adapt better to this schedule to do so, for the sake of their health and productivity.

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SLEEPING TWICE

4 Reading 2

Complete the sentences below. Choose no more than two words from the passage for each answer.

1. Around of the population find it difficult to sleep properly.

2. The historian deduced biphasic sleeping was a practice because of the way it was
mentioned in the document.

3. The time spent awake in between periods of sleep is also known as .

4. The writer attributes the end of biphasic sleeping to the appearance of .

5. Biphasic sleeping can make you learn and remember things better, as well as boost your
and keep you more alert.

6. Many accidents at the workplace result from .

5 Vocabulary 2

Complete the sentences below with one word. Then find the sentences in the article to check.

1. Studiesindicatethat about a third of people have some sort of difficulty with their sleep...
2. further research suggests that we began to abandon the habit of sleeping twice around
the beginning of the 19th century...

3. A number of studies point to other benefits of split sleep, including better learning and
memory, improved mood and a higher level of alertness.

4. There is growing academic evidence that splitting your sleep might be beneficial even for
those who do not suffer from sleep disorders or do not work at night.

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SLEEPING TWICE

6 Grammar 1

Read the Grammar box and complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

GRAMMAR BOX

Read the following sentences from the article. What do the underlined parts have in
common?

The phenomenon known as bi-phasic sleeping was discovered by historian Roger Ekirch when
analysing old court cases.

Moreover, given the casual way it was mentioned in the account, it could be inferred that it
was a widespread habit.

This period – commonly referred to as ‘the watch’ - would also be used for socialising or even,
as indicated by the first example Ekirch found, committing crimes.

The passive voice, formed by be + past participle, is often used in academic writing.

1. The participants were asked a series of questions regarding their sleep schedule. (ask)

2. Many current sleep problems are caused by our relationship with technology. (cause)

3. Many studies on the quality of sleep in the last decade. (conduct)

have been conducted
4. The sleep app will be launchednext month and will enable people to track their sleep patterns
better (launch)

5. While the participants slept, their vital signs were monitored. (monitor)

7 Talking point

In groups, discuss the questions below.

1. What did you find most surprising about the article?

2. Had you heard of biphasic sleeping before?
3. Would you be willing to try biphasic sleep? Why (not)?
4. What would you do during ‘the watch’?
5. What kind of obstacles might someone adopting biphasic sleep encounter?

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SLEEPING TWICE

8 Extension activity 1

Imagine you have decided to adopt bi-phasic sleeping as described in the article. Write a series of
diary entries. How do you feel? What do you do with the time in between? What obstacles do you
face?

9 Extension activity 2

Listen to the teacher’s instructions.

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