《中英對照讀新聞》Some "night owl" teens may have sleep disorder 一些夜貓族青少年可能有睡眠問題

◎鄭寺音

As school doors open across the country, teenagers should be sure to adjust their summer sleep schedule to their new school schedule, experts advise. In other words, they should start hitting the sack earlier so that they will be able to awake earlier and be alert in morning classes.

專家建議，全國各個學校開學後，青少年務必調整他們的夏季睡眠時間表，以適應新的學校時間表。換言之，他們應該開始早點睡覺，才可以早點醒來，早上上課才會保持警覺。

But for teens with a sleep disorder known as delayed sleep phase syndrome, this solution may not be so simple.

但是對有「睡眠階段延遲症候群」睡眠問題的青少年來說，這種解決方法可能沒那麼簡單。

"A lot of teens have a tendency to want to go to bed later; despite this, they still need eight to nine hours of sleep," said Dr. Grace Pien, of the University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Sleep Medicine.

賓州大學睡眠醫學部的葛莉絲．皮恩博士說：「許多青少年傾向想要晚睡，雖然如此，他們仍然需要8到9小時的睡眠。」

"For teens who really have trouble getting to sleep until 2, 3 in the morning," she added, "these are the kids who need to be evaluated by a sleep specialist."

她補充說：「直到早上二、三點才睡得著的青少年，需要由睡眠專家評估他們的睡眠問題。」

Delayed sleep phase syndrome affects between 7 percent and 16 percent of adolescents and young adults. It is less common among older adults.

睡眠階段延遲症候群影響7到16%的青少年與年輕人，年紀較大的成人較少見。

新聞辭典

hit the sack︰睡覺。例句：I've got a busy day tomorrow, so I think I'll hit the sack earlier.（明天我會很忙，所以我想我會早點睡。）

have a tendency to︰片語，有…的傾向。例句：Bob has a tendency to exaggerate things. （鮑伯有愛誇張的傾向。）

have trouble +v-ing︰做…有困難。例句：I had a little trouble learning English grammar. （我學英文文法時有過一點困難。）