TEXT C We all know that the
normal human daily cycle of activity is of some 7-8 hours’ sleep alternating
with, some 16-17 hours’ wakefulness and that, broadly speaking, the sleep
normally coincides with the hours of darkness. Our present concern is with how
easily and to what extent this cycle can be modified. The
question is no mere academic one. The ease, for example, with which people earl
change from working in the day to working at night is a question of growing
importance in industry where automation calls for round-the-clock working of
machines, It normally takes from five days to one week for a person to adapt to
a reversed routine of sleep and wakefulness, sleeping during the day and working
at night. Unfortunately, it is often the case in industry that shifts are
changed every week; a person may work from 12 midnight to 8 a.m. one week, 8
a.m. to 4 p.m. the next, and 4p.m. to 12 midnight the third and so on. This
means that no sooner has he got used to one routine than he has to change to
another, so that much of his time is spent neither working nor sleeping very
efficiently. The only real solution appears to be handed over
the night shift to a number of permanent night workers. An interesting study of
the domestic life and health of night-shift workers was carried out by Brown in
1957. She found a high incidence of disturbed sleep and other disorders among
those on alternating day and night shifts, but no abnormal occurrence of these
phenomena among those on permanent night work. The latter system
then appears to be the best long-term policy, but meanwhile something may be
done to relieve the strains of alternate day and night work by selecting those
people who can adapt most quickly to the changes of routine. One way of knowing
when a person has adapted is by measuring his body temperature. People engaged
in normal daytime work will have a high temperature during the hours of
wakefulness and low one at night; when they change to night work the pattern
will only gradually go back to match the new routine and the speed with which it
does so parallels, broadly speaking, the adaptation of the body as a whole,
particularly in terms of performance Therefore, by taking body temperature at
intervals of two hours throughout the period of wakefulness it can be seen how
quickly a person can adapt to a reversed routine, and this could be used as
basis for selection. So far, however, such a form of selection does not seem to
have been applied in practice. Which of the following statements is NOT true
A.Body temperature may serve as an indication of a worker’s performance. B.The selection of a number of permanent night shift workers has proved to be the best solution to problems of the round the clock working system. C.Taking body temperature at regular intervals can show how a person adapts to the changes of routine. D.Disturbed sleep occurs less frequently among those on permanent night or day shifts.