Sleep difficulties and recommendations

Sleep difficulties and recommendations

There have been times when, if you could put sleep in a cup, I would
have drunk it. If you too crave sleep the way some people crave chocolate,the chances are that you share your nights with a small child. According to a study by Naomi Richman, Consultant Psychiatrist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, up to 20% of 1-and 2-year olds wake regularly every night. The children themselves rarely suffer. They spring cheerfully to life each morning while their exhausted parents devise ruses to snatch a few more
moments rest.


The traditional child-care experts breed confusion rather than offer comfort. All are dogmatic and all have different advice: Hugh Jolly
recommends taking your baby into bed with you; Dr. Spock warns, “I think it is a sensible rule not to take the child into the parents’ bed for any reason”; Penelope Leach sides with Spock and suggests: “move the baby out of your room as soon as possible”. If the little horror cries at night, Spock says you should leave him to it; Leach recommends that you “go to him immediately”, and Jolly sits on the fence with the advice that it is all right to leave your baby crying at times.


It is hard to imagine another situation in which a problem causing such
a high level of stress is dismissed in so cavalier a fashion. However, there is one blessed exception to the “grin and bear it” school of child care. For some years now, the Department of Psychological Medicine at Great Ormond Street Hospital has been helping parents whose children have particularly bad sleep problems. Carol and John Warren were early beneficiaries of the compassionate guidance of psychologists working there. Their 2-year-old son Will had never slept for longer than three hours at a stretch. What’s more,
he would only go back to sleep if he was breast-fed, so Carol had to take the whole burden of night waking. “I was like a zombie by day”, she recalls.

They were asked to keep a detailed sleep chart for a few weeks. Then,
on the basis of their chart, specific suggestions were made to break the pattern: Will was to be moved into a separate room; Carol should stop breast-feeding altogether; John should take over completely at night, rocking him back to sleep to start with and then gradually phasing out the amount of attention given each time Will woke up and started to cry.

It took three months to complete the different steps they had set
themselves. The final break-through came when John went in and told
Will firmly to go back to sleep. After three nights of this, he stopped
bothering to wake up any more.

Reading Comprehension n. 12 SLEEP 61
1. Answer the following comprehension questions.
a) What is the passage about?………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
b) Why do you think the author says “if you could put sleep in a cup, I

would have drunk it”?………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

c) Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE?
· The majority of children do not sleep all night. T / F
· Child-care experts don’t offer much help to sleepy parents. T / F
· Dr Spock believes that children should not sleep in their parents’

bed. T / F
· All three doctors agree on letting the baby cry at night. T / F
· Psychologists were not able to help the Warren family. T / F


d) Why did Carol and John ask for help?…………………………………………………………….……….
e) Give at least three things which the anxious parents were asked to

do…………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
f)Explain the meaning of the following words or phrases as used in the

text.

· up to 20% (5)………………………………………………………
· they spring cheerfully to life (6)……………………………………………….
· child-care experts breed confusion (10)………………………………………………
· Leach sides with Spock (13)……………………………………………………
· the little horror (14)……………………………………………………..
· Jolly sits on the fence (16)…………………………………………………….
· ‘grin and bear it’ (20)……………………………………………………..
· at a stretch (25)……………………………………………………..
· Carol had to take the whole burden (26)…………………………………………….
· gradually phasing out (32)………………………………………………
· the final breakthrough (35)………………………………………………
2. What do the following words refer to? 62
it (2)………………………………………….. they (6)……………………………………………..
their (7)……………………………………… all (10)………………………………………………
I (11)…………………………………………. it (12)………………………………………………….
him (15)…………………………………….. it (15)……………………………………………….
it (16)…………………………………………. it (18)…………………………………………….
which (18)…………………………………… whose (22)……………………………………………
there (24)……………………………………. he (26)……………………………………………..
I (27)………………………………………… they (28)………………………………………………
it (34)……………………………………….. this (36)……………………………………………….


3. Translate the following linking words and state their function in

the text.
if (1)…………………………………………………………………….
too (2)…………………………………………………………………..
while (7)…………………………………………………………………
rather than (9)……………………………………………………………
as….as (14)……………………………………………………………….
however (19)…………………………………………………………….
what’s more (25)………………………………………………………….
so (26)……………………………………………………………………..
then (28)…………………………………………………………………..

4. MODALS…..translate the following modal constructions and state what

each modal expresses, e.g. ability,
probability, obligation, advice etc.
· if you could put sleep in a cup (1)………………………………………………………………..
· you should leave him to it (15)………………………………………………………………….
· Carol had to take the whole burden (26)……………………………………………………….
· Carol should stop breast-feeding (30)………………………………………………………………
· John should take over completely at night (31)…………………………………………………….
· N.B……..Will was to be moved.(30) = Will had to be moved ( ‘BE + to’

expresses an order)
· N.B……..the chances are (3) …..expresses ‘probability’, i.e., it is

probable that….

5. Giving ADVICE…….note the following verbs from the text which express

ADVICE. 63
· Dr Spock warns (11)………..= he advises
· I think it is a sensible rule(11)……………… = it is my advice that
· Leach suggests (13)………………….= she advises
· Leach recommends (15)…………….= she advises
· They were asked to keep (28)……………..= they were advised to
· Specific suggestions were made(29)………..= they were given advice
· Carol should stop (30)………………= she was advised to stop
· John should take over (31)…………= he was advised to take over

6. IRREGULAR VERBS…….write the infinitive, past simple, past participle

and translation of the following verbs.
Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle Translation
wake (5)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
spring (6)………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
breed (9)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
think (11)………………………………………………………………………………………………………
take (12)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
say (14)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
leave (15)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
go (15)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
sit (16)…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
have (22)………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………..slept (25)……………………………………
………………………………………………………………………fed (26)……………………………………
keep (28)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………….made(29)………………………………
break (29)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….given (33)………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………..set (34)…………………………………..
…………………………..came (35)……………………………………………………………………………


7. CONDITIONALS ……translate the following conditional sentences and

state which conditional
each one is, i.e., zero, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.
· If you could put sleep in a cup, I would have drunk it (1)

…………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
· If you too crave sleep, the chances are that you share your nights

with a small child (2)………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
· He would only go back to sleep if he was breast-fed (26)

…………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………….…

8. “-ING-forms”…note the following ‘ing-forms’ and decide if they

function as Adjectives, or Nouns, or
as Present Participles with the verb ‘to be’. Translate these phrases.
a) Jolly recommends taking your baby (11)……………………………………………………………………
b) to leave your baby crying at times (17)………………………………………………………………………
c) a problem causing such a high level of stress (18)

…………………………………………………………..
d) the Department ….has been helping parents (22)

……………………………………………………………
e) guidance of psychologists working there (24)

……………………………………………………………….
f) Carol had to take the whole burden of night waking (26)

……………………………………………………
g) rocking him back to sleep (31)……………………………………………………………………………….
h) gradually phasing out (32)…………………………………………………………………………………….
i) he stopped bothering to wake up (37)…………………………………………………………………………

9. Passives……translate the following passive constructions.
a) a problem is dismissed in so cavalier a fashion (19)

……………………………………………………
b) they were asked to keep (28)……………………………………………………………………………
c) suggestions were made (29)……………………………………………………………………………..
d) Will was to be moved (30)……………………………………………………………………………….

10. VOCABULARY ……match a word in column ‘A’ with its synonym in column

‘B’ 65
‘A’ ‘B’
times (1) thoughtless
crave (2) assisting
chances (3) advice
rarely(6) moments
devise (7) weight
ruse (7) agree
sensible (12) difficult
to side with (13) not often
sit on the fence (16) probability
hard (18) strongly desire
cavalier (19) invent
helping (22) trick
guidance (24) intelligent
burden (27) is undecided

CLOZE…..fill in the numbered spaces with an appropriate word taken from

the box.
former than when demand fired the to
thousands appear allegations scandals mired by

Protests broke out in Indonesia’s capital after President Abdurrahman

Wahid declined to
____________(1) before a parliamentary committee investigating

corruption _______________(2)
against him. Wahid, whose administration has been ____________(3) in a

series of financial and
political ____________(4), described the request as outrageous and

countered ______________(5)
inviting some members of the committee ____________(6) question him at

the presidential palace.
Police ______________(7) tear gas and warning shots against the

______________(8) of students who
converged on parliament to __________(9) Wahid’s resignation. A Muslim

cleric and _____________(10)
country’s first democratically elected leader in more ____________(11)

50 years, Wahid came to power
__________(12) student-led protests helped to topple the regime of

__________(13) dictator Suharto in 1998.