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It's 4 a.m. , and the big test is in eight hours, followed by a piano recital.
现在是凌晨四点，八小时之后你有一场重要的考试，接着还有一场钢琴独奏会。
You've been studying and playing for days, but you still don't feel ready for either.
你已经连日学习和苦练钢琴，但你仍觉得你还未准备好。
So, what can you do?
那么你能做些什么呢？
Well, you can drink another cup of coffee and spend the next few hours cramming and practicing,
你可以再喝一杯咖啡，并在仅剩的一点时间里继续奋战，
but believe it or not, you might be better off closing the books, putting away the music, and going to sleep.
但是你也许不相信，如果你关上书本，停止练习并去睡一觉，效果会更好。
Sleep occupies nearly a third of our lives, but many of us give surprisingly little attention and care to it.
睡眠几乎占据了我们生命的三分之一，可令人惊讶的是，许多人并不关心他们的睡眠。
This neglect is often the result of a major misunderstanding.
人们对睡眠的忽视往往是来自于一个很大的误解。
Sleep isn't lost time, or just a way to rest when all our important work is done.
睡觉并不是浪费时间，睡眠也不仅仅是工作后的休息。
Instead, it's a critical function, during which your body balances and regulates its vital systems,
相反，睡眠是一个很关键的过程，睡眠期间，你的身体会对各系统进行调节，
affecting respiration and regulating everything from circulation to growth and immune response.
你的呼吸系统会受到影响，血液循环系统、免疫系统与身体的成长都会受到影响。
That's great, but you can worry about all those things after this test, right?
听起来很棒，但你可以等考完试以后再来担心睡眠，对吧？
Well, not so fast.
先别这么快下结论。
It turns out that sleep is also crucial for your brain,
原来睡眠对你的大脑也至关重要，
with a fifth of your body's circulatory blood being channeled to it as you drift off.
在你进入梦乡的时候，你身体里五分之一的血液都会流入到你的大脑。
And what goes on in your brain while you sleep is an intensely active period of restructuring that's crucial for how our memory works.
你睡觉的时间正是你的大脑内部重新调整组合的时间，这个阶段对我们的记忆功能十分重要。
