Are you a member of the sleepless elite?

　　你是天生的“夜猫子精英”吗?

　　导读：如果你每天起床时，都巴不得再多睡一小时，那看过下面的文章后你可能会感到更焦躁。科学家已证实存在“夜猫子(night owl)精英”一族，对这些为数不多的人来说，睡懒觉就是在浪费生命。

　　If you start each day desperately wishing for an extra hour in bed, the following is likely to leave you feeling even more grumpy.

　　如果你每天起床时，都巴不得再多睡一小时，那下面的调查很可能让你感觉更焦躁。

　　Scientists have identified a ‘sleepless elite’ – a small group of people for whom a lie-in is a waste of time.

　　科学家已证实存在“夜猫子精英”一族，对这些为数不多的人来说，睡懒觉就是在浪费生命。

　　Rather than being tired, bad-tempered under-achievers, they are an energetic, outgoing and optimistic group who can happily and healthily get by on just four or five hours of shut-eye a night.

　　虽然睡眠时间短，但他们精力充沛、外向活泼、乐观向上，而不是疲惫而且脾气坏的“后进生”。他们每晚只睡四到五个小时，却过得快乐健康。

　　If that were not irritating enough, they tend to be slim, able to hold down two jobs at the same time, andbreeze through their extra-long days without needing caffeine pick-me-ups or cat naps.

　　如果你还不觉得烦恼，那还得告诉你，他们通常身材苗条，可以一心二用，轻松度过悠长的一天，而不必靠咖啡饮品提神，也不打瞌睡。

　　Working out how the gene cuts sleep without any obvious impact on health could help in the design of drugs that give us all a few extra hours in our day.

　　研究基因如何在不明显影响健康的情况下缩短了睡眠时间有助于研制缩短睡眠时间的药物。

　　The bad news is that while many of us get by on a few hours’ sleep a night, just one to three people in 100 qualify to be part of the sleepless elite.

　　不幸的是，尽管很多人睡眠时间都比较短，但每百人中只有一到三人能成为“夜猫子精英”。

　　The research team is now appealing for members of the lucky group to come forward to allow their DNA to be studied.

　　研究人员正呼吁幸运的精英一族自愿接受DNA检测。

　　University of California researcher Ying-Hui Fu said: ‘My long-term goal is to someday learn enough so we can manipulate the sleep pathways without damaging our health.

　　加州大学研究员付英辉(音)说：“我的长期目标是今后做足研究，从而在不影响健康的情况下人为控制睡眠规律。”

　　‘Everybody can use more waking hours, even if you just watch movies.’

　　“每个人都可以缩短睡眠时间，哪怕你只是用多出的时间看电影。”

　　Many of those who have already volunteered share fascinating characteristics. They are thinner than average, relentlessly upbeat and seem to have a high tolerance for physical pain and psychological set-backs.

　　已自愿接受检测的受试者有些共同特点。他们身材更苗条，始终保持乐观，而且似乎对疼痛感和心理挫折的忍耐力更强。

　　Researcher Dr Christopher Jones told the Wall Street Journal: ‘Typically, at the end of a long-structured phone interview, they will admit they have been texting and surfing the internet and doing crossword puzzles at the same time, all on less than six hours of sleep.”

　　研究员克里斯多弗?琼斯博士在接受《华尔街日报》采访时说：“通常，在一段长时间的电话调查后，受访者会承认他们同时在发短信、上网、做拼字游戏。而这些人每天睡眠时间不足六小时。”

编辑：张雨

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