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Starting School Later Has Positive Effect on Teens Reading Answers

Bhaskar Das

Jun 15, 2025

Starting School Later Has a Positive Effect on Teens is an IELTS Reading Answer that contains 5 questions and needs to be completed within 13 minutes. This reading answer also helps you to prepare for your IELTS exam. Starting School Later Has a Positive Effect on Teens consists of questions like: Write one word or numbers and Do the following statements agree with the passage? Participants should go through the IELTS Reading passage to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions. Also, Starting School Later Has a Positive Effect on Teens Reading Answers contains all the information about delaying school start times which helps to improve teens' sleep, mood, and academic performance, as biological sleep patterns clash with early schedules. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Topic:

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that adolescents benefit from more sleep. When school districts push back the start of the school day, good things happen.

With classes that start as early as 7 am and buses that pull up long before sunrise, some 80% of U.S. children in grades 6 through 12 are not getting the recommended amount of sleep during the school year, according to research by the National Sleep Foundation, a sleep advocacy group. These early start times contribute to a myriad of problems. Exhausted children, studies suggest, not only struggle with irritability, but also with depression. They gain weight, their grades suffer, and many turn to caffeine, with questionable results for productivity and unknown effects on the development of young brains.

Now, fueled by accumulating research showing that teens are designed to sleep late and that delaying school start times even by just 30 minutes makes a huge difference in how well teens feel and perform, an increasing number of schools around the United States are starting the school day later than they used to. Many more are considering it. At the same time, however, there are strong pockets of resistance to change from administrators and parents who think that bus schedules will get too complicated, that starting later will interfere with after-school programs, or that children will simply stay up later if they know they can sleep in a little more.

According to Kyla Wahlstrom, director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota, even though the two districts could not be more different in terms of race, socioeconomics, and other factors, changes in both places appeared immediately.

Some of the outcomes were quite significant. For instance, students were noticeably more alert in the first two periods of the day. In addition, the cafeteria was calmer, and there were fewer fights in the halls. Students, who were now getting nearly an hour more sleep each night, said they felt less depressed. Even parents told teachers they thought their kids were easier to live with.

The melatonin shift: Blame biology, not laziness, for making teens reluctant to get up in the morning. As children grow older and approach puberty, a period of important biological change, their bodies circulate melatonin, the hormone that brings on sleepiness, two hours later than before.

As a result, teens find it impossible to fall asleep until about 11 p.m., even if they try to go to bed earlier. Yet teenagers still need an average of 9.25 hours of slumber each night. On top of the shift in natural sleeping and waking times, there is also another factor. This is related to a period of intense sleepiness that hits both adults and adolescents during the early morning hours. In adults, this low point in alertness occurs between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.; in adolescents, it falls between about 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. That means that, while their alarm clocks are telling teens to get out of bed and demanding that their brains perform, their bodies are signaling them to keep sleeping.

In addition to mood, behavior, and learning issues, scientists are starting to uncover more subtle ways in which chronic lack of sleep can hurt children. Some studies, for example, show that sleep deprivation compromises the immune system. Others suggest that, with too little sleep, the body releases higher levels of hormones that induce hunger, possibly contributing to growing rates of obesity.

To stay awake, young people often turn to coffee, soda, and other caffeinated beverages. In a public high school in the eastern U.S. state of Massachusetts, 95% of polled students reported drinking caffeine in the prior two weeks, mostly in the form of soda as opposed to coffee and most often in the afternoon and evening hours, Dr. Amy Wolfson and a colleague reported in Health Education and Behavior.

According to Dr. Wolfson, there are no published guidelines for how much caffeine is too much for adolescents. However, the substance stays in the body for up to five hours, which is three hours longer than originally thought, and is costing teens unknown hours of sleep.

Even if caffeinated teens manage to fall asleep, caffeine worsens the quality of their sleep. Finally, no one knows how caffeine might affect developing brains, although plenty of experts are concerned about the link between sugar in soda and weight gain.

Schools respond

As the sleep research piles up, a growing number of schools are moving toward later start times. No one has kept track of how many schools have made the change, but experts say they are fielding a growing number of calls from districts around the U.S. asking for advice about whether and how to switch to later start times. Whatever it takes, teenagers need to get enough sleep. Changing school start times has proven to be one way to achieve this.

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write:

TRUE: if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE: if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN: if there is no information on this

1. Sleep deprivation among children in the U.S. is a result of current school starting times.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: "With classes that start as early as 7 am... some 80% of U.S. children... are not getting the recommended amount of sleep..."

Keywords: [sleep deprivation, school starting times]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 2, Line 1–2}

Explanation: The passage directly connects early school start times with insufficient sleep among students, confirming that current scheduling contributes to sleep deprivation.

2. Research indicates that most overweight children need more sleep.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: While sleep loss is linked to increased hunger and potential weight gain, there is no specific mention that most overweight children need more sleep.

3. Concerns about re-arranging bus timetables make some people oppose later school start times.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: "At the same time, however, there are strong pockets of resistance... who think that bus schedules will get too complicated..."

Keywords: [bus timetables, oppose]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 3, Line 3–4}

Explanation: Concerns about the complexity of rearranging bus schedules are mentioned as one of the reasons people resist delaying school start times.

4. The two school districts in the Minnesota experiment had similar groups of students.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: "Even though the two districts could not be more different in terms of race, socioeconomics, and other factors..."

Keywords: [similar groups of students]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 4, Line 1–2}

Explanation: The passage clearly states the two districts studied were very different, contradicting the claim that they had similar student groups.

5. Parents and children in the two Minnesota school districts which were studied got along better than before.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: "Even parents told teachers they thought their kids were easier to live with."

Keywords: [parents, children, get along better]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 5, Line 3}

Explanation: After the school start time was delayed, parents reported improved relationships with their children, indicating better interactions and harmony at home.

Questions 6-7

Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each.

The melatonin shift

Biological changes

- Melatonin is released two hours later than before when teens start reaching 6 ………..

Answer: puberty

Supporting statement: "As children grow older and approach puberty... their bodies circulate melatonin... two hours later than before."

Keywords: [melatonin, puberty]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 6, Line 1–2}

Explanation: The passage states that melatonin is released later when teens reach puberty, highlighting a biological reason for delayed sleep.

- Melatonin causes 7…………

Answer: sleepiness

Supporting statement: "Melatonin, the hormone that brings on sleepiness..."

Keywords: [melatonin, sleepiness]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 6, Line 2}

Explanation: Melatonin is identified as the hormone responsible for making teens feel sleepy, explaining its role in sleep timing.

Questions 8-13

Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each.

Sleep and awake times

- Big drop in 8 ……… occurs later in the night

Answer: alertness

Supporting statement: "...a period of intense sleepiness that hits both adults and adolescents during the early morning hours."

Keywords: [drop, alertness]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 6, Line 5–6}

Explanation: The passage notes a biological dip in alertness for teens between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., indicating when they are least mentally active.

- 5 am - 7 am for teens

- 3 a.m.-5 a.m. for adults

Sleep loss

- Leads to a weakened immune system

- Hormones that are released increase 9 ……… causing risk of obesity

Answer: hunger

Supporting statement: "...the body releases higher levels of hormones that induce hunger, possibly contributing to growing rates of obesity."

Keywords: [hormones, hunger]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 7, Line 2–3}

Explanation: Sleep loss triggers the release of hunger-inducing hormones, which is connected to a higher risk of obesity in teens.

Caffeine

- Teens in the Massachusetts study usually get caffeine by drinking 10 …………

Answer: soda

Supporting statement: "...95% of polled students reported drinking caffeine... mostly in the form of soda..."

Keywords: [caffeine, soda]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 8, Line 2–3}

Explanation: The majority of students consumed caffeine through soda, according to the survey conducted in Massachusetts.

- Effects can last for a maximum of 11………………

Answer: five

Supporting statement: "...the substance stays in the body for up to five hours, which is three hours longer than originally thought..."

Keywords: [caffeine, five hours]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 9, Line 1–2}

Explanation: The passage clarifies that caffeine can remain active in the body for up to five hours, affecting sleep duration.

- Makes sleep 12 …………….. Worse.

Answer: quality

Supporting statement: "Even if caffeinated teens manage to fall asleep, caffeine worsens the quality of their sleep."

Keywords: [caffeine, sleep quality]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 9, Line 3}

Explanation: Despite falling asleep, teens who consume caffeine experience poorer quality of sleep, making their rest less effective.

- No information on its impact on how the young people's 13 …………… mature.

Answer: brains

Supporting statement: "Finally, no one knows how caffeine might affect developing brains..."

Keywords: [caffeine, developing brains]

Keyword Location: {Paragraph 9, Line 4}

Explanation: The text expresses concern but no definite findings about caffeine’s impact on the maturing brains of teenagers.

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*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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