READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.

Starting school later has positive effects on teens

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.>> Form đăng kí giải đề thi thật IELTS 4 kĩ năng kèm bài giải bộ đề 100 đề PART 2 IELTS SPEAKING quý đang thi (update hàng tuần) từ IELTS TUTOR

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.
2. Research indicates that most overweight children need more sleep.
3. Concerns about re-arranging bus timetables make some people oppose later school start times.
4. The two school districts in the Minnesota experiment had similar groups of students.
5. Parents and children in the two Minnesota school districts which were studied got along better than before.

Questions 6-13

Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet.

Biological changes

The melatonin shift

• Melatonin is released two hours later than before when teens start reaching 6. _______.
• Melatonin causes 7. _______.

Sleep and awake times

• Big drop in alertness:
  • 8. _______ for teens
  • 3 a.m.-5 a.m. for adults

Sleep loss

• Leads to a weakened immune system
• Hormones that are released increase 9. _______.

Caffeine

• Causing risk of obesity
• Teens in the Massachusetts study usually get caffeine by drinking 10. _______.
• Effects can last for a maximum of 11. _______ hours.
• Makes sleep 12. _______ worse.
• No information on its impact on how the young people's 13. _______ mature.

1. Advocacy (n)

Meaning: Sự ủng hộ, vận động
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "...according to research by the National Sleep Foundation, a sleep advocacy group."
Vietnamese: Một nhóm chuyên vận động ủng hộ giấc ngủ.

2. Myriad (adj)

Meaning: Vô số
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "These early start times contribute to a myriad of problems."
Vietnamese: Những giờ học sớm dẫn đến vô số vấn đề.

3. Mutability (n)

Meaning: Tính dễ thay đổi
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Exhausted children, studies suggest, not only struggle with mutability, but also with depression."
Vietnamese: Trẻ kiệt sức không chỉ gặp khó khăn với tính dễ thay đổi mà còn với chứng trầm cảm.

4. Melatonin (n)

Meaning: Hoóc môn điều chỉnh giấc ngủ
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "As children grow older and approach puberty...their bodies circulate melatonin, the hormone that brings on sleepiness."
Vietnamese: Khi trẻ lớn lên, cơ thể chúng tiết ra melatonin – loại hoóc môn gây buồn ngủ.

5. Puberty (n)

Meaning: Tuổi dậy thì
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "As children grow older and approach puberty, a period of important biological change..."
Vietnamese: Khi trẻ lớn lên và bước vào tuổi dậy thì – giai đoạn thay đổi sinh học quan trọng.

6. Slumber (n)

Meaning: Giấc ngủ
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Yet teenagers still need an average of 9.25 hours of slumber each night."
Vietnamese: Tuy nhiên, thanh thiếu niên vẫn cần trung bình 9,25 giờ ngủ mỗi đêm.

7. Deprivation (n)

Meaning: Sự thiếu hụt
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "In addition to the mood, behavior, and learning issues, scientists are starting to uncover more subtle ways in which such chronic lack of sleep can hurt children."
Vietnamese: Ngoài các vấn đề về tâm trạng, hành vi và học tập, các nhà khoa học bắt đầu phát hiện thêm các cách mà thiếu ngủ mãn tính gây hại cho trẻ.

8. Obesity (n)

Meaning: Bệnh béo phì
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Other's suggest that, with too little sleep, the body releases higher levels of hormones that induce hunger, possibly contributing to growing rates of obesity."
Vietnamese: Các hormone gây đói do thiếu ngủ có thể góp phần vào tỉ lệ béo phì gia tăng.

9. Caffeine (n)

Meaning: Caffeine (chất kích thích có trong cà phê, trà, soda)
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "To stay awake, young people often turn to coffee, soda, and other caffeinated beverages."
Vietnamese: Để tỉnh táo, giới trẻ thường chuyển sang uống cà phê, soda và các đồ uống có chứa caffeine.

10. Compromises (v)

Meaning: Làm tổn hại, ảnh hưởng tiêu cực
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "Some studies, for example, show that sleep deprivation compromises the immune system."
Vietnamese: Một số nghiên cứu cho thấy việc thiếu ngủ làm suy giảm hệ miễn dịch.

11. Resistance (n)

Meaning: Sự chống đối, phản kháng
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "...there are strong pockets of resistance to change from administrators and parents."
Vietnamese: Có sự phản kháng mạnh mẽ đối với sự thay đổi từ các nhà quản lý và phụ huynh.

12. Piles up (v)

Meaning: Tích tụ, tăng lên
IELTS TUTOR xét ví dụ từ bài đọc: "As the sleep research piles up, a growing number of schools are moving toward later start times."
Vietnamese: Khi các nghiên cứu về giấc ngủ tăng lên, ngày càng có nhiều trường học chuyển sang bắt đầu giờ học muộn hơn.

• 1. True

• 2. Not given

• 3. True

• 4. False

• 5. True

• 6. puberty

• 7. sleepiness

• 8. alertness

• 9. hunger

• 10. soda

• 11. five hours

• 12. quality

• 13. brains