# Health on the night shift - 科目：雅思听力真题（Part 4） - 考频：中频 - 最近考试：2016.1.19/2013.4.27/2007.1.31 - 题目数：10 - 来源页：https://www.yaquan.site/paper/cb7a6193-e6cb-4b92-9a7d-692fd55cbf97（在线机考练习与音频请访问该页面） - 数据更新：2026-10-29 ## 题目原文 00:00:00,860 Now turn to section four on page eight. 00:00:08,860 Section four. You will hear an extract from a talk entitled Health on the Night Shift. 00:00:16,260 First, you have some time to look at questions thirty-one to forty on pages eight and nine. 00:00:44,940 Now listen carefully and answer questions thirty-one to forty. 00:01:10,800 Good afternoon, everybody. In this session, I want to continue looking at health issues relating to the workplace. And I'd like to focus today on night shift workers and the health problems that are associated with their working hours. 00:01:26,020 I'm sure you're all aware that there has been a huge increase in the number of workers doing regular night shifts in recent years, mainly because of the number of shops and services now open twenty-four hours, seven days a week. And we need to look more closely at the consequences of changing work and sleep patterns like this. 00:01:46,160 So that's what I'd like us to do today. 00:01:49,100 Now, research that has been carried out in both the US and Britain on night working suggests that it leads to a lot of health problems for the workers, and they point to three main reasons for this. 00:02:02,060 The first one is what they call the internal clock, and this is a basic sort of program in our brains. This tells us that at certain times we should feel hungry, at other times we should be awake, at other times we should be asleep, and so on. And it seems to be generally accepted by all the experts in the field that this clock is linked to, um, uh, not just our behavioral habits, but to cycles of light and dark. And that means that we're programmed to be awake when it's light, i.e. during the day, and asleep when it's dark. The second thing is that night workers are continually fighting against what is termed a sleep debt. 00:02:47,900 And by this, the researchers mean that, um, uh, it's just practically impossible for them to get a sufficient amount of sleep in daylight hours. In fact, studies suggest that on average, night workers only get between five and six hours of sleep rather than the eight they need. 00:03:06,820 And the effects of not getting enough sleep can also lead to all sorts of problems, and we'll talk about those in a minute. 00:03:14,080 The third cause of these problems is the unsocial hours that night workers have to keep. The fact that they are working when their families, their friends are sleeping and vice versa. And, um, that kind of dislocation from their social group can be very damaging. 00:03:37,300 Okay, so let's take a closer look at some of these effects. And if we have a look at the physical effects first, we can see that studies on long-term shift workers found that they were much more likely to get heart problems than day workers. In addition, there seems to be a very high incidence of stomach problems, for example, ulcers among night shift workers. And although this may be partly due to the wrong sort of diet, you know, snacking on fast food, uh, it can't be just explained by eating habits. And finally, there is evidence to suggest that night shift workers also get ill more frequently with minor problems like colds and infections. The frequency of these illnesses is much higher than among day workers, and this indicates that night working can damage immunity to illness. And of course, this leads to a lot of absence from work too. 00:04:37,680 However, although the physical impact of working nights can be severe, uh, perhaps the real problems are psychological ones. 00:04:46,580 And the most common problem is depression. This seems to be the inevitable result of the constant feeling of tiredness and a lack of energy that night workers universally complain of. 00:04:59,400 Secondly, there is a lot of evidence from accident statistics to suggest that mental abilities are badly affected, and that means, for example, decision-making ability and planning ability. And these are what control our performance. For example, we can see that the highest number of errors on the roads occur between three AM and five AM, the point in our internal clock when we feel most sleepy. 00:05:28,060 Okay. Uh, finally, there are the social problems where night working impacts on the family and social life of the employees. The first one is obviously the breakup of family life. And here we can see from the divorce statistics that this occurs more frequently in the case of night workers. 00:05:48,700 But there's also the breakdown of other relationships, not just within the family, but among the peer group. Uh, night workers tend to lose touch with friends. And these relationships, especially for the long-term night workers, are, um, you know, very difficult to rebuild. And so this eventually leads to social isolation for the individual. And of course, that has consequences for the whole community too. 00:06:16,980 So we can begin to see the real cost of night working. What we need to do now is to look at how... 00:06:28,120 That is the end of section four. You now have half a minute to check your answers. ## 题目与答案 ### 31. Background: ·A 31_____ in number of night workers because of 24-hour shopping/services ·Need to examine effects of changing work and sleep habits US and British research found these lead to health problems. Background: ·A 31_____ in number of night workers because of 24-hour shopping/services ·Need to examine effects of changing work and sleep habits US and British research found these lead to health problems. **答案**：huge increase 原文定位：there has been a huge increase in the number of workers doing regular night shifts in recent years, mainly because of the number of shops and services now open twenty-four hours ### 32. Main Causes: A)32_____ Main Causes: A)32_____ **答案**：internal clock 原文定位：they point to three main reasons for this. The first one is what they call the internal clock 同义替换：「Causes」↔「reasons」 ### 33. ·regulates daily life ·connected to behavioural patterns and cycles of 33_____ and _____ ·programmes us to be awake and asleep at certain times ·regulates daily life ·connected to behavioural patterns and cycles of 33_____ and _____ ·programmes us to be awake and asleep at certain times **答案**：light|||dark 原文定位：this clock is linked to, um, uh, not just our behavioral habits, but to cycles of light and dark 同义替换：「connected to」↔「linked to」；「patterns」↔「habits」 ### 34. B)Sleep Debt ·Impossible to get enough sleep during daytime. C)34_____ ·different working/sleeping times, “dislocation” B)Sleep Debt ·Impossible to get enough sleep during daytime. C)34_____ ·different working/sleeping times, “dislocation” **答案**：unsocial hours 原文定位：The third cause of these problems is the unsocial hours that night workers have to keep 同义替换：「sleeping times」↔「unsocial hours」 ### 35. Effects: A)Physical ·higher incidence of 35_____ problems and _____ problems ·more minor illnesses, suggesting that immunity of shift workers is affected Effects: A)Physical ·higher incidence of 35_____ problems and _____ problems ·more minor illnesses, suggesting that immunity of shift workers is affected **答案**：heart|||stomach 原文定位：studies on long-term shift workers found that they were much more likely to get heart problems than day workers. In addition, there seems to be a very high incidence of stomach problems ### 36. B)Psychological ·most common: 36_____ B)Psychological ·most common: 36_____ **答案**：depression 原文定位：the most common problem is depression ### 37. ·37_____ affected, ·37_____ affected, **答案**：mental abilities 原文定位：there is a lot of evidence from accident statistics to suggest that mental abilities are badly affected ### 38. e.g., decision-making, planning, which regulate our 38_____ e.g., decision-making, planning, which regulate our 38_____ **答案**：performance 原文定位：these are what control our performance 同义替换：「regulate」↔「control」 ### 39. C)Social Night shift work can lead to: ·destruction of 39_____ C)Social Night shift work can lead to: ·destruction of 39_____ **答案**：family life 原文定位：The first one is obviously the breakup of family life 同义替换：「destruction」↔「breakup」 ### 40. and other relationships, e.g. 40_____ ·eventually, for individuals: social isolation and other relationships, e.g. 40_____ ·eventually, for individuals: social isolation **答案**：friends 原文定位：But there's also the breakdown of other relationships, not just within the family, but among the peer group. Uh, night workers tend to lose touch with friends 同义替换：「other relationships」↔「among the peer group」 --- 以上内容由鸭圈雅思真题库（www.yaquan.site）提供，收录近期雅思考试真题回忆，支持在线机考模式免费练习。