CET-6 Listening Practice: How Sleep Protects Memory

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today's talk on sleep and memory.

大家早安，歡迎來聽今天關於睡眠與記憶的講座。

Most of us assume that forgetting simply happens with the passage of time.

我們大多數人都以為，遺忘只是隨著時間流逝自然發生的。

The longer ago we learned something, the more of it fades away.

學過的東西隔得越久，忘掉的就越多。

But is time really the main cause of forgetting?

但時間真的是遺忘的主要原因嗎？

More than a hundred years ago, two American psychologists decided to put this idea to the test.

一百多年前，兩位美國心理學家決定驗證這個觀點。

In nineteen twenty-four, John Jenkins and Karl Dallenbach conducted a simple but clever experiment.

1924年，John Jenkins 和 Karl Dallenbach 做了一個簡單卻巧妙的實驗。

They wanted to know whether sleep affects how quickly we forget new information.

他們想知道，睡眠會不會影響我們遺忘新資訊的速度。

Two university students took part, and they were asked to learn short lists of nonsense syllables.

兩名大學生參與了實驗，他們被要求記住幾組簡短的無意義音節。

These were meaningless combinations of letters, so the students could not rely on what they already knew.

這些都是沒有意義的字母組合，所以學生們沒辦法借助已有的知識。

They were then tested after one, two, four or eight hours.

接著，他們會在一、二、四或八個小時後接受測驗。

Sometimes they spent that interval asleep, and sometimes they went about their normal daily activities.

這段時間裡，他們有時在睡覺，有時照常進行日常活動。

The results turned out to be remarkably clear!

結果出奇地清楚！

After eight hours of sleep, the students could still recall about half of the syllables.

睡了八個小時之後，學生們仍能想起大約一半的音節。

After eight hours awake, however, they remembered only around one syllable in ten!

然而，清醒八個小時之後，他們只記得大約十分之一的音節！

In other words, staying awake led to far more forgetting than sleeping did.

換句話說，保持清醒比睡覺造成的遺忘多得多。

The researchers concluded that forgetting is not simply a matter of time passing.

研究人員得出結論：遺忘並不只是時間流逝的問題。

Instead, new experiences during the day seem to interfere with what we have just learned.

反而是白天的新經歷，似乎會干擾我們剛學到的東西。

However, we should be careful not to draw strong conclusions from a single study.

然而，我們要小心，不能只憑一項研究就下定論。

Only two people took part, which is an extremely small sample.

只有兩個人參與，樣本數極小。

Moreover, memorizing nonsense syllables in a laboratory is very different from studying real subjects.

此外，在實驗室裡背沒有意義的音節，和學習真正的科目大不相同。

Fortunately, many later studies with far larger groups have produced similar results.

幸好，後來許多規模大得多的研究也得到了類似的結果。

Many scientists now believe that the sleeping brain actively strengthens new memories.

如今，許多科學家認為，睡眠中的大腦會主動鞏固新的記憶。

This suggests that sleep is not wasted time, but an essential part of learning.

這表示，睡眠並不是浪費時間，而是學習中不可或缺的一部分。

So if you want to retain what you study, review it and then sleep on it.

所以，如果你想記住學過的內容，就先複習一遍，然後睡一覺。

Staying up all night before an exam may well do more harm than good.

考試前熬通宵，很可能弊大於利。

Next time you are tempted to give up sleep for extra study, remember these two students.

下次你想犧牲睡眠多讀一點書時，想想這兩位學生吧。

Thank you for listening, and sleep well tonight.

謝謝大家的聆聽，今晚好好睡一覺。