人为什么要睡觉？这个问题科学家还没有搞清楚。最新的科学研究发现，睡眠可能和免疫力有关。
Sleeping helps us heal when we're sick
by Bryan Nelson
The reason why we sleep remains one of the most elusive mysteries in science. Theories abound, but the fact is that little is known about what genetic or molecular forces drive the need to sleep, and we still don't know exactly why sleep is necessary for our physical and mental health.
elusive /ɪˈluːsɪv/ adj. 难以捉摸的
theory /ˈθɪəri/ n. 理论
abound /əˈbaʊnd/ v. 大量存在
genetic /dʒəˈnetɪk/ adj. 基因的
molecular /məˈlekjulə(r)/ adj. 分子的
force /fɔːs/ n. 影响、影响力
drive /draɪv/ v. 驱使、推动
physical /ˈfɪzɪk(ə)l/ adj. 身体的
mental /ˈment(ə)l/ adj. 心理的、精神的
One clue, however, is the fact that sleeping seems to be closely tied with our immune system function. For instance, we know that the drive to sleep strengthens when we're sick, and getting quality sleep is correlated with both quicker healing and infection prevention.
clue /kluː/ n. 线索
closely /ˈkləʊsli/ adv. 紧密的、密切的（由close加后缀-ly变成副词）
immune /ɪˈmjuːn/ adj. 免疫的
function /ˈfʌŋkʃ(ə)n/ n. 功能
for instance /ˈɪnstəns/ = for example
drive /draɪv/ n. 推动力
strengthen /ˈstreŋθ(ə)n/ v. 加强、强化（由strength加后缀-en变成动词）
quality /ˈkwɒləti/ adj. 高质量的
correlate /ˈkɒrəleɪt/ v. 互相关联
heal /hiːl/ v. 治愈
infection /ɪnˈfekʃ(ə)n/ n. 感染（由infect加后缀-ion变成名词）
prevention /prɪˈvenʃ(ə)n/ n. 防止、预防（由prevent加后缀-ion变成名词）
Now for the first time, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered a link between sleep and our immune systems that might begin to offer real answers to some of our deepest questions about sleep.
link /lɪŋk/ n. 联系
They have identified a single gene, known as nemuri, that both controls the need for sleep and also generates a protein with strong antimicrobial（抗病原体的） powers that might play a major role in fighting infection.
identify /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ v. 识别、辨认出
single /ˈsɪŋɡ(ə)l/ adj. 单个的
gene /dʒiːn/ n. 基因
generate /ˈdʒenəreɪt/ v. 产生
protein /ˈprəʊtiːn/ n. 蛋白质
power /ˈpaʊə(r)/ n. 能力、力量
major /ˈmeɪdʒə(r)/ adj. 主要的、重要的
role /rəʊl/ n. 角色、作用
They discovered that nemuri's immune-boosting protein only secretes from our brain cells in the aftermath of an infection during deep, prolonged sleep. This, tied with the fact that nemuri is also responsible for increasing our need for sleep in the first place illustrates a closed-loop relationship between sleep and immune response.
boost /buːst/ v. 增加
secrete /sɪˈkriːt/ v. 分泌
aftermath /ˈɑːftəmæθ/ n. （不好的事情的）后续、余波
prolong /prəˈlɒŋ/ v. 延长、拖长
responsible /rɪˈspɒnsəb(ə)l/ adj. 负有责任的
illustrate /ˈɪləstreɪt/ v. 说明、阐明
loop /luːp/ n. 循环、回路（closed-loop就是闭合回路）
relationship /rɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nʃɪp/ n. 关系
response /rɪˈspɒns/ n. 回应、反应
"The nemuri protein is a genuine driver of keeping sleep on track under conditions of high sleep need like when we're sick," said first author Hirofumi Toda, a postdoctoral（博士后的） fellow in the school's lab.
genuine /ˈdʒenjuɪn/ adj. 真实的
driver /ˈdraɪvə(r)/ n. 推动者
on track 步入正轨
condition /kənˈdɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 状态
fellow /ˈfeləʊ/ n. （学术团体的）会员
The study, which was performed exclusively on fruit flies, looked at how the quality of sleep and the survivability（生存能力） of infected flies was affected by the nemuri gene. Flies without the gene were more easily aroused during daily sleep, and their acute need for an increase in sleep – induced by sleep deprivation or infection – was reduced. These flies also died of their infections more often than flies with the gene.
perform /pəˈfɔːm/ v. 做、实施
exclusively /ɪkˈskluːsɪvli/ adv. = only
fly /flaɪ/ n. 蝇、苍蝇（fruit fly是果蝇，常常被用在生物实验中）
quality /ˈkwɒləti/ n. 质量
infect /ɪnˈfekt/ v. 感染
affect /əˈfekt/ v. 影响
arouse /əˈraʊz/ v. 唤醒
acute /əˈkjuːt/ adj. 迫切的
induce /ɪnˈdjuːs/ v. 引起、引发
deprivation /ˌdeprɪˈveɪʃ(ə)n/ n. （因为被剥夺而导致的）缺乏、不足
die of 因…而死
Researchers also studied a subset of flies that had their nemuri gene over-stimulated, and found that these flies had the highest rate of survivability of all. They also snoozed the soundest.
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
subset /ˈsʌbset/ n. 子集
over- 前缀，意思是“过度”
stimulate /ˈstɪmjuleɪt/ v. 刺激、激发
rate /reɪt/ n. 率、比率
snooze /snuːz/ v. 打盹儿
sound /saʊnd/ adj. （睡得）香、沉
While further research will be needed to see whether these same correlations and pathways can be observed in human subjects, the nemuri gene is also present in us, and its functionality when it comes to sleep is likely widespread across the animal kingdom. After all, almost all animals share the need for sleep.
correlation /ˌkɒrəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 关联、联系（由correlate加后缀-ion变成名词）
pathway /ˈpɑːθweɪ/ n. 通道（这里指生物体内的一组化学反应）
observe /əbˈzɜːv/ v. 观察
subject /ˈsʌbdʒekt/ n. 实验对象
functionality /ˌfʌŋkʃəˈnæləti/ n. 功能性、实用性
widespread /waɪdˈspred/ adj. 广泛的（由wide和spread组成）
kingdom /ˈkɪŋdəm/ n. （生物分类中的）界（animal kingdom就是动物界）
（如果您使用的是火狐浏览器，可能会发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了，这是简书系统的Bug，换成Chrome或其他浏览器就能正常显示了。）
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