Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it's best to sleep on a
problem. They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information
we receive each day.
The lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, "Sleep helps us draw rules
from our experiences. It's like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it's hard to explain."
The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and
symbols, reports New Scientist. They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep
between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept. They found that people were
better able to remember lists of related words after a night’s sleep than after the same time spent
awake during the day. They also found it easier to remember themes that the words had in common. But
they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake.
Prof. John Groeger, of Survey University's Sleep Research Centre, said, "People have been trying for
years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative （促使康复的）value."
"We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the
way the brain deals with them all."
1. The phrase "to sleep on a problem" in Paragraph 1 most likely means "________".
A. to pay full attention to a problem
B. to wait until the next day for a decision
C. to sleep to forget a problem
D. to have difficulty in sleeping
2. In the study by the US research team, students were asked to ________.
A. put together words of similar meanings
B. remember words and their meanings
C. show their knowledge of words
D. make up lists of related words
3. Which of the following may be easier to remember?
A. Themes learned right before the test.
B. Rules from personal experiences.
C. Words learned before a good sleep.
D. Ideas stored together in the brain.
4. What may be the importance of the research?
A. It shows that sleep may help us manage information.
B. It helps find out the common themes of words.
C. It tells us that more sleep can improve health.
D. It proves the value of old-fashioned advice.
