Sleep Reading Answers

Dec 22, 2022

Sleep Reading Answers is the topic which discusses about the importance of sleeping for the human body. The given IELTS topic has been taken from the book called “E-ENG-school IELTS Reading Test With Answers Key (New Edition)”. There are 14 questions total in the the topic called Sleep Reading Answers, which should be answered within the time span of 20 minutes by the candidates. The topic includes three types of questions, mainly, choose the correct answer, complete the sentence, and no more than two words. The candidates should read thoroughly the IELTS reading passage in order to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and for answering the questions below. Similar kinds of topics like Sleep Reading Answers are included in the IELTS reading practice papers, which the candidates can take into their consideration for performing a good score in this section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Sleep Reading Answers

Like many things about your body, scientists and medical professionals still have a lot to learn about the process of sleep. One earlier misconception that has now been revised is that the body completely slows down during sleep; it is now dear that the body’s major organs and regulatory systems continue to work actively – the lungs, heart and stomach for example. Another important part of the body also operates at night – the glands and lymph nodes, which strengthen the immune system. This is commonly why the body’s natural immunity is weakened with insufficient sleep.
In some cases, certain systems actually become more active while we sleep. Hormones required for muscle development and growth, for instance, as well as the growth of new nerve cells. In the brain, activity of the pathways needed for learning and memory is increased.
Another common myth about sleep is that the body requires less sleep the older we get. Whilst It is true that babies need 16 hours compared to 9 hours and 8 hours respectively for teenagers and adults, this does not mean that older people need less sleep. However, what is true if that for a number of different factors, they often get less sleep or find their sleep less refreshing. This is because as people age, they spend less time in the deep, restful stages of sleep and are more easily awakened. Older people are also more likely to have medical conditions that affect their sleep, such as insomnia, sleep apnoea and heart problems.
Getting a good sleep is not just a matter of your head hitting the pillow at night and waking up in the morning. Your sleep goes in cycles throughout the night, moving back and forth between deep restorative sleep and more alert stages with dreaming. As the night progresses, you spend more time in a lighter dream sleep.
Sleep patterns can be broken down into two separate and distinct stages – REM and NREM sleep, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is when you dream. You usually have 3 to 5 periods of REM sleep each night, lasting from 5 minutes to over an hour, during which time your body’s activities increase. Breathing becomes fast, shallow and uneven, with an increase in brain activity, heartbeat and blood pressure. Although your major muscles generally don’t move, fingers and toes may twitch and body temperature changes and you may sweat or shiver.
Research has concluded that this sleep is most important for your brain. It is when it is most active, processing emotions and memories and relieving stress. The areas used for learning and developing more skills are activated. In fact, the brain waves measured during REM sleep are similar to those measured when awake.
NREM (Noil-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is dreamless sleep. NREM sleep consists of four stages of deeper and deeper sleep. As you move through the stages, you become more relaxed, less aware of what is happening around you and more difficult to wake. Your body’s activity will also decrease as you move through the NREM stages, acting in the opposite manner to REM sleep. Stage 1 of NREM sleep is when you are falling to sleep. This period generally lasts between 5 and 10 minutes, during which time you can be woken easily. During stage 2, you are in a light sleep- the in-between stage before your fall into a deep sleep. It lasts about 20 minutes. In stage 3, deep sleep begins, paving the way for stage 4, in which you are difficult to awake and unaware of anything around you. This is when sleep walking and talking can occur. This is the most important stage for your body. Your brain has slowed right down and is recovering. Blood flow is redirected from your brain to your large muscles allowing them to mend any damage from your day at work. People woken quickly from stage 4 sleep often feel a sense of disorientation, which is why it is helpful to use an alarm clock with an ascending ring.
About an hour and a half into your sleep cycle you will go from deep Stage 4 sleep back into light Stage 2 sleep, then into REM sleep, before the cycle begins again. About 75% of your sleep is NREM sleep. If you sleep for eight hours, about six of them will be NREM sleep. As the night progresses, you spend more time in dream sleep and lighter sleep.
When you constantly get less sleep (even 1 hour less) than you need each night, it is called sleep debt. You may pay for it in daytime drowsiness, trouble concentrating, moodiness, lower productivity and increased risk of falls and accidents. Although a daytime nap cannot replace a good night’s sleep, it can help make up for some of the harm done as a result of sleep debt. But avoid taking a nap after 3 pm as late naps may stop you getting to sleep at night. And avoid napping for longer than 30 minutes as longer naps will make it harder to wake up and get back into the swing of things

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Questions 27 – 30

Choose the correct answer from options A to D.

Q27) Among other functions, sleeps serves to ____

Answer: D) To Re-energize the parts of the brain
Supporting sentence: It is when it is most active, processing emotions and memories and relieving stress.
Keyword: active, emotions, relieving stress
Keyword location: Paragraph F, line 2
Explanation: The passage implies that the brain might be refuelled through sleep. The brain has the opportunity to rest, repair, and exercise key neuron connections. This sleep, according to research, is crucial for our brain.

Q 28) “Torpor” can be described as ___

Answer: A) a very deep sleep
Supporting sentence : In these respects sleep conserves most energy in such mammals particularly as sleep can develop into a torpor, whereby metabolic rates drop significantly.
Keywords: Respect, Conserves, energy, mammals
Keyword locations: Paragraph C, Line 3
Explanation: The third line of paragraph C explains that Torpor signifies a very deep sleeping where physical activity in animal gets reduced along with metabolism and temperature in their body.

Q 29) Unlike small mammals Humans __

Answer: C) Save only small amount of energy by sleeping
Supporting sentence: Unlike the small mammals, Humans can usually relax and quite adequately during wakefulness and there is only modest further energy saving to be gained by sleeping.
Keywords: Small, Humans, relax, wakefulness, modest
Keyword locations: Paragraph C, Line 5
Explanation: The fifth line of paragraph C states that contrary to small mammals, most of the time, humans can unwind and feel comfortable during wakefulness, and sleeping only slightly further reduces energy use.

Q 30) In stage 3 Deep sleep ___

Answer: B) there is an alteration of delta waves and small fast waves
Supporting sentence: When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves.
Keywords: Person, stage, Slow, fast, waves
Keyword locations: Paragraph F, Line 9
Explanation: Line 9 of paragraph F states enhances that stage 3 is characterized by the occurrence of smaller, quicker brain waves that are laced throughout the exceedingly sluggish delta waves.

Questions 31 – 35

Complete the flow-chart below. Use no more than three words.

(Guide: Candidates need to fill the flow chart with no more than three words from the passage)

Q 31) The individual drift in and out of consciousness and can be woken up easily as theta re only in a ____ eye moment is slow and there is only reduced ,- muscle activity

Answer: Light sleep
Supporting sentence: Stage 1 is light sleep where you drift in and out of sleep and can be awakened easily.
Keywords: Sleep, Light, Drift
Keyword locations: Paragraph F, line 5
Explanation: The fifth line of paragraph F implies that in stage 1, which is light sleep, you might easily be roused from your slumber. The eye moves slowly, and the muscles are less active.

Q 32) The speed of ___ activity slows and all movements of eyes tend to stop.

Answer: Brain
Supporting sentence: In the stage 2 eye movement stops and brain waves become slower with an only occasional burst of rapid brain waves.
Keywords: Movement, Waves, Occasional, rapid
Keyword location: Paragraph F, Line 8
Explanation: The eighth line of the paragraph F states that the speedy movement of brain activity gets reduced during the stage 2 and eyes automatically gets closed therefore.

Q 33) Brain activity is dominated by delta waves, with a scattering of ____ also in evidence .

Answer: Smaller, faster waves
Supporting sentence: When a person enters stage 3, extremely slow brain waves called delta waves are interspersed with smaller, faster waves.
Keywords: Person, stage, Slow, fast, waves
Keyword locations: Paragraph F, Line 9
Explanation: The ninth line of paragraph F states that during the stage three, the activity of the brain gets occupied by delta waves with a blending of smaller as well as faster waves.

Q 34) In a state of ____ the brain emits delta waves almost exclusively. It is hard to wake the individual.

Answer: deep sleep
Supporting sentence: And it is very difficult to wake someone from that.
Keywords: Exclusively, Deep sleep, difficult
Keyword location: Paragraph F, Line 11
Explanation: Line 11 of paragraph F explains that delta waves are nearly present in stage 4. That is what is meant by "deep sleep." And waking someone up from that is quite challenging.

Q 35) A period of rapid eye movement follows, during which _____ patterns are not consistent and limb muscles enter a temporary state of paralysis.

Answer:Breathing
Supporting sentence: InIn the REM periods breathing becomes more irregular, rapid and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralysed.
Keywords: irregular, rapid, Shallow, Paralysed
Keyword location: Paragraph G, Line 1
Explanation: The starting of paragraph G explains that the eyes twitch quickly, breathing becomes more erratic, fast, and shallow, and limb muscles briefly paralyse during REM phases.

Questions 36-40

(Guide: Candidates need to fill the blanks with not more than two words)

Question36

Answer: Deteriorate
Supporting sentence: And avoid napping for longer than 30 minutes as longer naps will make it harder to wake up and get back into the swing of things
Keywords: recharge, Brain, Shut down, exercise
Keyword location: Paragraph I, last line
Explanation: The passage states that sleep might be a good way for the brain to refuel. The brain can take a break, recover, and fortify vital neuron connections that would otherwise deteriorate from inactivity.

Question 37

Answer: Metabolic rest
Supporting sentence: We do not enter torpor and the fall in metabolic rate drops significantly for a human adult sleeping compared to lying resting.
Keywords: Torpor, Fall, Metabolic rate, Human
Keyword location: paragraph C, Line 4
Explanation: Line 4 of paragraph C implies that the metabolic rate and energy consumption gets reduced due to the lack of sleep for a certain period of time.

Question 38

Answer: Torpor
Supporting sentence: In these respects sleep conserves most energy in such mammals particularly as sleep can develop into a torpor, whereby metabolic rates drop significantly.
Keywords: Respect, Conserves, energy, mammals
Keyword locations: Paragraph C, Line 3
Explanation: The third line of paragraph C suggests that similar to species like rodents, the human beings don’t fall into Torpor, which is a state when the phsiological activity gets reduced at the time they fall into a deep sleep.

Question 39

Answer: Day-night cycle
Supporting sentence: When a person falls asleep and wakes up is largely determined by his or her circadian rhythm, a day-night cycle is about 24 hours.
Keywords: Falls, Sleep, Wakeup, Cycle
Keyword location: Paragraph B, Line 1
Explanation: The first line of paragraph B explains that there is cycle named Day-night cycle of 24 hours which is used to portray the times when a person is going for sleep and waking up.

Question 40

Answer: Circadian rhythm
Supporting sentence: These day-night 24 hours sleep cycle is known as a circadian rhythm and it greatly influences the timing, amount and quality of sleep.
Keywords: Quality, Timing, Cycle
Keyword locations: Paragraph B, Line 2-3
Explanation: The second and third line of paragraph B clarifies that a circadian rhythm is the day-night, 24-hour cycle of sleep, and it has a significant impact on sleep duration, quality, and timing.