考博英语外刊选读丨​The Best Sleeping Position, According to

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本期主题 The Best Sleeping Position, According to Science

题材：生活类

出处：Curiosity

字数：632 words

[1] There are few things in life better than a good night’s sleep. And there are few worse than a really bad one. Even when you follow all the rules—leave your phone out of the bedroom, have clean sheets, go to bed at a reasonable hour, get around eight hours of shuteye, etc.—you can still wake up feeling achy and crabby. The one thing you may not be nailing. Your sleeping position.

【生活中没有什么比睡个好觉更好的了。也没有什么比没睡好更糟糕的了。即使你遵守了所有的规则:把手机放在卧室之外，有干净的床单，在合理的时间上床睡觉，睡足八个小时左右，等等——你醒来时仍然会感到疼痛和烦躁。你可能没有注意一件事。那就是你的睡姿。】

【重点词汇】

achy /ˈeɪki/ adj. 隐痛不止的

crabby /ˈkræbi/adj. 暴躁的

nail /neɪl/ v. 用（钉子）钉住 n. 指甲；钉子

Back to Bed

[2] We all know the struggle of snuggling into bed and squirming around until some bizarre arrangement of limbs satisfies your finicky body. But if you’re groggy and riddled with aches in the morning, maybe your resting pose wasn’t the right one. Snoozing in the wrong position can cause back and neck pain, fatigue, sleep apnea, muscle cramping, impaired circulation, headaches, heartburn, tummy troubles, and even premature wrinkles.

【我们会蜷缩在床上扭动身体，直到我们挑剔的身体找到某种合适但怪异的姿势，我们都经历过这种挣扎。但如果你早上感到昏昏沉沉、浑身疼痛，也许你的休息姿势并不适合你。以错误的姿势睡觉会导致背部和颈部疼痛、疲劳、睡眠呼吸暂停、肌肉痉挛、循环障碍、头痛、胃灼热、肚子痛，甚至过早长皱纹。】

【重点词汇】

snuggle /ˈsnʌɡl/ v. 紧贴；蜷伏

squirm /skwɜːm/ v. （因紧张、不舒服等）动来动去，来回扭动

bizarre /bɪˈzɑː(r)/ adj. 怪异的

limb /lɪm/ n. 四肢

finicky /ˈfɪnɪki/adj. 过分讲究细节的

groggy /ˈɡrɒɡi/adj. 身体虚弱的; 昏昏沉沉的

riddle /ˈrɪdl/ v. 使布满窟窿；猜谜 n. 谜语

be riddled with sth. 充满，充斥

snooze /snuːz/ v. 小睡；打盹

fatigue /fəˈtiːɡ/ n. 疲劳；劳累

apnea /æpˈnɪə/ n. 窒息

tummy /ˈtʌmi/ n. 肚子

[3] According to sleep experts, sleeping on your back is the best position. Lying on your back is essentially a neutral position, good for relieving aches and pains you may be suffering from during the day. Because your head is more elevated than your chest, back sleepers are less likely to aggravate heartburn. (Lying on your back can welcome snoring, however. You’ve been warned.)

【睡眠专家表示，仰卧是最好的睡姿。仰卧基本上是一种中立的姿势，有助于缓解你白天可能遭受的疼痛。因为你的头部比胸部更高，仰卧的人不太可能加重胃灼热。(然而，仰卧可能会打鼾。我已经警告过你了。)

【重点词汇】

elevate /ˈelɪveɪt/ v. 提拔；晋升；举起

aggravate /ˈæɡrəveɪt/v. 使严重；使恶化

snore /snɔː(r)/ v. 打鼾

[4] However, only about 8 percent of people land in this position naturally. The other positions are prone to some unwanted side effects. Sleeping on your right side, for example, has been known to trigger heartburn. The theory here is that a muscle in your esophagus is loosened in this position, making it easy for the acids in your stomach to creep into your throat. Whether it’s right or left, sleeping on your side — the most common position, according to the National Sleep Foundation — can also cause shoulder and hip pain.

【然而，只有大约8%的人能自然地保持这种姿势。其他姿势容易产生一些不必要的副作用。例如，向右侧侧睡会引发胃灼热。理论依据是：食道中的肌肉在这个位置是松弛的，这使得胃酸很容易倒流进喉咙。不管是往右侧睡还是往左侧睡，根据国家睡眠基金会的说法，侧卧是最常见的睡姿，但会导致肩部和臀部疼痛。】

【重点词汇】

esophagus /ɪˈsɒfəɡəs/ (同oesophagus) n. 食道；食管

creep /kriːp/ v. 悄悄地前进

[5] If you’re set in your side-sleeping ways, make sure you have a neck-supporting pillow that’s thick enough to take pressure off your shoulders. Stuffing a pillow between your knees could prevent lower back pain too, Shelby Harris, a sleep medicine expert and a professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, tells Popular Science.

【如果你习惯侧卧，一定要有一个足够厚的枕头来支撑脖子，以减轻肩膀的压力。睡眠医学专家、阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦医学院教授谢尔比·哈里斯在接受《大众科学》杂志采访时表示，在膝盖之间塞一个枕头也可以预防腰痛。】

【重点词汇】

stuff /stʌf/ v. 塞满 n. 东西，物品

[6] The worst position of all, however, is stomach sleeping. For the 7 percent who select this position, sleeping on your stomach puts pressure on your entire body and increases your likelihood of waking up with numbness and aching joints. If you’re going to do it, Harris recommends using a flatter pillow to reduce strain on your neck while you keep your head turned all night. Or if you, for some wild reason, feel the need to sleep on your stomach with your face down, put a pillow under your forehead.

【然而，最糟糕的睡姿是俯卧。对于选择这种睡姿的7%的人来说，趴着睡会给整个身体带来压力，增加了醒来时关节麻木和疼痛的可能性。如果你打算趴着睡，哈里斯建议使用一个较平的枕头，以减少你整晚转动头部时颈部的压力。或者，如果你出于某种不受控的原因，觉得需要脸朝下趴着睡，可以在额头下面放一个枕头。】

【重点词汇】

likelihood /ˈlaɪklihʊd/ n. 可能，可能性

numbness /ˈnʌmnəs/ n. 麻木

flatter /ˈflætə(r)/ v. 奉承

You Can Do It, Put Your Back Into It

[7] If you’re not achieving all four qualities that make up a good night’s sleep, you can experiment with your sleeping position to see if that could solve it. According to Harris, you can actually train yourself to be one of the hallowed 8 percent of back sleepers. She recommends snuggling into bed surrounded by pillows: put one or two on each side and one beneath your knees. This will help keep you from mindlessly rolling right out of the position in the middle of the night. For an extreme measure, Harris says you can sew half a tennis ball to each side of your pajamas to keep yourself from getting comfortable on either side, even when you’re dead asleep.

【如果你不具备拥有一个好睡眠的这四种品质，你可以尝试一下固定睡姿，看看是否能解决这个问题。根据哈里斯的说法，你可以训练自己成为那神圣的8%仰卧者中的一员。她建议躺在被窝里，周围放几个枕头：一边放一个或两个，膝盖下面放一个。这样能帮你避免在半夜无意识地滚出位置。哈里斯说，有一个极端的办法（阻止你侧睡），你可以在睡衣的两边各缝半个网球，这样即使你睡得很熟，也会觉得不太舒服。】

【重点词汇】

hallow /ˈhæləʊ/ v. 把……奉为神圣

sew /səʊ/v. 缝

pajama /pəˈdʒɑːmə/ n. 睡衣裤

[8] Everything considered, it all just comes down to what works best for you. “Although it is commonly recommended that sleeping on your back is the best position to sleep in, comfort is key,” Harris said. “If you’re in pain or uncomfortable from your sleep position, it can definitely impact your sleep quality.”

【考虑到所有的因素，这一切都归结于什么姿势适合你。哈里斯说：“尽管人们通常建议仰卧是最好的睡姿，但舒适最重要。”“如果你因为睡姿而感到疼痛或不舒服，这肯定会影响你的睡眠质量。”】