stopping for Q&A and a little interaction.)
What happens if you don't get enough sleep? Randy Gardner, a high school student in the United States, wanted to find out. He
designed an experiment on the effects of sleeplessness for a school science project. With Dr. William C. Dement from Stanford
University and two friends watching him carefully, Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes. That's eleven days and
nights without sleep! "To design an experiment" means the same as "to plan an experiment." Gardner stayed ( ) Write this on the board.
awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes. He hadn't slept for 264 hours and 12 minutes.
I have a question for you. Why did Dr. Dement and two friends stay with Gardner and watch him carefully? ( ) Ask.
What effect did sleeplessness have on Gardner? After 24 hours without sleep, Gardner started having trouble reading and
watching television. The words and pictures were too blurry. By the third day, he was having trouble doing things with his hands.
By the fourth day, Gardner was hallucinating. For example, when he saw a street sign, he thought it was a person. He also
imagined he was a famous football player. Over the next few days, Gardner's speech became so slurred that people couldn't
understand him. He also had trouble remembering things. By the eleventh day, Gardner couldn't pass a counting test. In the
middle of the test he simply stopped counting. He couldn't remember what he was doing. I know you can guess the meaning of the
word "blurry." If the words on a bookpage are blurry, you can't read the book. If a photograph is too blurry, you can't tell what is in the
photo. From the context of the passage, what do you think "hallucinate" might mean? (Give time and then have students check it in a
dictionary.) You can also guess the meaning of the word "slurred," can't you?
When Gardner finally went to bed, he slept for 14 hours and 45 minutes. The second night he slept for twelve hours, the third
night he slept for ten and one-half hours, and by the fourth night, he had returned to his normal sleep schedule.
He slept on and on.
Even though Gardner recovered quickly, scientists believe that going without sleep can be dangerous. They say that people should
not repeat Randy's experiment. Tests on white rats have shown how serious sleeplessness can be. After a few weeks without sleep,
the rats started losing fur. And even though the rats ate more food than usual, they lost weight. Eventually, the rats died.
Underline the part "going without sleep," and put that part into brackets. This part is the subject of the sentence. (カッコで括った部分が
「文の主語」であることを言う )。
Underline the part "tests on white rats," and put that part into brackets. This part again is the subject of the sentence. (カッコで括った部分
が「文の主語」であることを言う )。
Scientists believe that sleeplessness is dangerous, because their rats died of sleeplessness.
Has anyone stayed awake longer than Randy Gardner? Yes! According to The Guinness Book of World Records, Maureen
Weston from the United Kingdom holds the record for staying awake the longest. She went 449 hours without sleep in 1977.
That's 18 days and 17 hours!
During your lifetime, you will likely spend 25 years or more sleeping. But why? What is the purpose of sleep? Surprisingly,
scientists don't know for sure. Scientists used to think we "turned our brains off" when we went to sleep. Sleep researchers now
know, however, that our brains are very active when we sleep. Some scientists think we sleep in order to replenish brain cells.
Other scientists think that sleep helps the body to grow and relieve stress. Whatever the reason, we know that it is important to get- 3 -
enough sleep.
Scientists used to think we "turned our brains off," just like we turn the TV off. But now, some scientists think we sleep in order to build
new brain cells. Other scientists think our bodies grow while we are sleeping, and sleep removes stress.
By the way, how long have you ever gone without sleep? What happened afterwards? How did you feel? (Give time for thinking and
then nominate some students for the answer. Try to include other students in the interaction.)〔