Can you Feel the Rhythm?
Is it important to have a daily routine? Why/why not? Read the following text to
find out.
¨Routine' is usually seen as a negative term nowadays, largely because we no
longer belong to a society of nine-to-fivers. We live in what is fast becoming a
24- hour society, where everything is open all hours. You can buy your groceries
at midnight, book your holiday on the Internet at 3 am, and do business online
at the crack of dawn. Before you join the
24-hour revolution, however, take a minute to listen to what your body is trying
to tell you - that a round-the-clock lifestyle is not what nature intended.
In an area of our brains called the hypothalamus, we have a 'body clock´ that
controls our body's natural rhythms. It tells us when it's the right time to
(line 12) eat, sleep, work and play. It plays an important part in our physical
and (line 14) psychological well-being. It is, in fact, what makes us tick and
it controls many things including our hormones, temperature, immune functions
and alertness. It synchronises all these like a conductor with an orchestra; it
regulates tempo and brings in all the different instruments on time to make
music rather than random noise. If we try to ignore our body clocks, or even to
switch them off for a while, we not only deprive ourselves of much needed rest
but we also run the risk of seriously damaging our health.
Ignoring your body clock and changing your body's natural rhythms can not only
make you depressed, anxious and accident prone, it can lead to much more serious
health problems. For example, heart disease, fatigue, ulcers, muscular pain, and
frequent viral infections can all result from trying to outsmart our body
clocks. Altering our patterns of sleeping and waking dramatically affects our
immune system. While we sleep the body's repair mechanisms are at work; when we
are awake natural killer cells circulate around our bodies and cause more
damage. Our digestive system is affected, too - high levels of glucose and fat
remain in our bloodstream for longer periods of time and this can lead to heart
disease.
Unfortunately, we were not designed to be members of a 24-hour society. We can't
ignore millions of years of evolution and stay up all night and sleep all day.
We function best with a regular pattern of sleep and wakefulness that is in tune
with our natural environment.
Nature's cues are what keep our body clocks ticking rhythmically and everything
working in harmony. So, next time you think a daily routine is boring and
predictable, remember that routine may well save your life in the long run¨ .
1) Write the genre, source, possible audience and topic of the following text.
2) Read the text again and choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D, for
questions 1-6.
● What does it in line 12 refer to?
a) our body's natural rhythms
b) the hypothalamus
c) our body's biological clock (correcta)
d) our brain
● What does the word ticklin line 14 mean?
a) check
b) motivate
c) select
d) function (Correcta)
● In what way is our body clock like the conductor of an orchestra?
a) The hypothalamus controls our actions.
b) It makes all the body's functions work together at the right time. (Correcta)
c) The body clock is very precise.
d) We have a special programme
● . If we change our sleep pattern, we
a) will get an infection.
b) Will disturb our immune system (Correcta)
c) Will get heart disease.
d) Get high levels of dangerous cells.
● According to the text, we should
a) Do things when our body tells us to (Correcta)
b) Organize our body clock according to a strict schedule.
c) Use the natural environment to work out a regular routine.
d) Have a boring, slow-paced lifestyle.
● According to the text, our body clock
a) can be changed without harm.
b) determines when we should do things. (Correcta)
c) helps us sleep.
d) is a boring routine.
3) After reading the text, do you think that you should change some habits?
Answer the previous question writing a passage including at least 5 sentences
about your plans and predictions for your future using these words:
Stop Manage Think of Want Start Succeed Enjoy Hope
4) Write three sentences about the topic using words from the box below.
5) A healthy routine not only includes good sleep, but also a healthy diet.
Write a passage including at least 5 sentences about what you eat including
countable and uncountable nouns and quantifiers (a few, a little, some, any, a
lot of).
6) Choose one of the following questions and answer it paying attention to the
tenses you should use.
a) Have you ever gone on a diet? When? Why? Write about it.
b) Have you ever had sleeping problems? When? Why? Write about it.