obesity：肥満
Our brain get smaller as we get older, but this doesn’t happen as fast in people who take regular short sleeps during the day. That’s according to new study. Researchers suggest that these naps might reduce the risk of developing conditions like Alzheimer’s in later life.
1, Power naps lined to greater brain capacity, scientists say
This headline says that brain capacity linked to something called ‘power naps’. Power naps means short sleep, and we usually use it during the working day in order to do your job better. This word is similar to ‘catnap’, but it’s not associated with work. And there were ‘snooze’, ‘to nod off’, and more words about sleep.
2, Taking more naps could help you to stay sharp in later life.
This headline suggests that having naps can help our brain perform better. When you hear ‘sharp’, you will imagine a knife. If you describe someone as ‘sharp’, it means they’re alert and they can think quickly. We use it to talk about people that always have a quick answer for something. We can say that they’re sharp or that they have a sharp mind. So it’s used here to say that regular naps will keep you brain performing well.
3, Naps could help or hinder your health depending on their length, study suggests
This is actually referring to a different study and it says that long naps can be associated with obesity while short naps can reduce the risk of high blood pressure. ‘Hinder’ means to make things harder or worse. So the headline is saying that some naps -short ones- are helpful. While others -longer- are unhelpful. It’s not often used in common English, but it’s used with the word ‘help’ because of those two ‘h’s, hinder and help. For example, if something turns out to be less useful that you expected it to be. It might actually hinder rather than help you. Or hinder that having to work hinders me being able to take naps regularly.
