4. Read the text below, say what is new in it when compared with text "Sleep". The secrets op sleep

The secrets of sleep were a mystery for centuries simply because there was neither the means (способ) to explore them, nor the need. Only when candles gave way to gaslight, and gas to electricity, when man became able to convert night into day, and double his output by working shifts (смена) round the clock, did people seriously start wondering if sleep could possibly be a waste of time. Our ability to switch night into day is very recent, and it is questionable if we will ever either want or be able to give up our habit of enjoying a good night's sleep. However, a remarkable research project in London has already discovered (обнаружить) a few people who actually enjoy insomnia (бессонница). Even chronic insomniacs often get hours more sleep than they think. But, by placing electric contacts beside the eyes and on the head, it is possible to check their complaint by studying the tiny currents (ток) we generate which reveal (показывать) the different brainwaves of sleep and wakefulness. This has shown that for some people seven or eight hours of sleep a night are quite unnecessary.

A lot of recent work has shown that too much sleep is bad for you, so that if you are fortunate enough to be born with a body which needs only small amount of sleep, you may well be healthier and happier than someone who sleeps longer.

Every attempt to unravel (разгадать) the secrets of sleep, and be precise about its function, raises many problems. The sleeper himself cannot tell what is going on and, even when he wakes, has only a very hazy (неясная) idea of how good or bad a night he has had. The research is expensive and often unpopular, as it inevitably (неизбежно) involves working at night. Only in the last few years have experts come up with theories about the function of sleep and the laws which may govern it.

The real advance in sleep research came in 1937 with the use of the electroencephalogram.

XXI

Read the text and answer the question: what should and should not be done if a child has sleep problems?

Sleep problems are not the same in children as they are in adults. For example, infants and toddlers who are not sleeping well do not complain—their parents do. Young children are usually more unhappy about having to go to bed than about any inability to fall asleep; in fact they are more likely to fight sleep than they are to count sheep. The significance of other sleep symptoms also depends on age. A four-year-old who wets the bed every night probably has no disorder at all. A seven-year-old who does the same has an annoying problem. But a young adult who wets nightly has a genuinely disturbing disorder. Sleepwalking or sleep terrors may have very different psychological significance at different ages. And loud nightly snoring (храпение) in children does not usually have the same cause or require the same treatment as it does in adults.

Since opening our clinic, I have learned a great deal from the hundreds of families whose children I have treated. Most of the parents had received varied and often conflicting advice from family, friends, and health professionals, and most had tried several different approaches in an attempt to improve their children's sleep. Many of them had been told, at some point, simply to let their child cry. Or they were advised to lock the child in his or her room, to let the child sleep with them, to have a parent sleep in the child's room, to change the child's diet, to increase nighttime feedings, to warm the milk, to use a pacifier, to rock their child to sleep, to turn on a light or radio, to drive their child in the car at bedtime, to eliminate a nap, to switch to a water bed, or to give their child sleep medicine. Parents were often told—incorrectly—that there was little they could do but wait for the child to outgrow the problem. Frequently they were unjustly accused of "spoiling" their child, and were made to feel inadequate as parents.

I have found that most of this advice not only doesn't help but will usually make matters worse because it is not based on a full understanding of children's sleep. Fortunately I have been able to gain a much better appreciation of the nature of sleep and sleep disturbances in children, and I have found that the causes of most of these disturbances can be identified fairly readily and then corrected by simple, straightforward techniques.

The most common problem, for example, sleeplessness in young children, has proven to be the easiest to treat: even an infant or toddler who has never slept through the night can begin doing so within a few days with the right assistance from parents. Other problems such as bedwetting, sleepwalking, or sleep terrors need different approaches, but can almost always be alleviated. Only occasional disorders such as narcolepsy require the use of medication. And only very specific conditions such as sleep apnea (остановка дыхания) ever call for surgery.

At our center I work closely with families. With their help I examine the factors responsible for the child's sleep disruption and then, in most cases, work out treatment methods that the parents can carry out by themselves. For the most part it is still the parents who solve their child's sleep problems, and usually quite successfully.