2025年12月四级第1套仔细阅读 Passage 1 原文翻译及答案解析

All living organisms on Earth are exposed to a 24-hour day-night cycle. This cycle is the reason why people rest at night and are active during the day. Consequently, all human body functions also follow this daily rhythm, and the timing of behaviors like exercise or food intake can significantly influence your health. For example, eating at night can lead to weight gain over time because food intake at night leads to increased fat storage.

地球上所有生物都暴露在24小时的昼夜循环中。这个循环是人们在夜间休息、白天活动的原因。因此，所有人体功能也遵循这种日节律，运动或进食等行为的时间选择会显著影响你的健康。例如，夜间进食可能导致体重增加，因为夜间的食物摄入会增加脂肪储存。

Many drug targets in the body follow a 24-hour cycle, too. This means that the specific proteins a drug is designed to modify can react differently to the medicine over the course of a 24-hour time period. Because how the body responds to a drug can differ depending on the time it is taken, it logically follows that taking medicines at specific times could help increase their effectiveness and reduce unwanted side effects.

体内的许多药物靶点也遵循24小时周期。这意味着药物旨在修改的特定蛋白质在24小时内对药物的反应可能不同。因为身体对药物的反应会因服药时间而异，所以合理推断，在特定时间服药可能有助于提高药物效果并减少不必要的副作用。

When doctors prescribe medicine for people, they rarely consider the best time to take it. There are two main reasons for that oversight. First, many physicians are not aware that some drugs work better during a specific time of the day. And second, most drugs have not been studied for possible different effects during a 24-hour cycle. Therefore, patients are directed to take most drugs during the morning or evening primarily to ensure compliance.

当医生为人们开药时，他们很少考虑最佳服药时间。这种疏忽有两个主要原因。首先，许多医生没有意识到一些药物在一天中的特定时间效果更好。其次，大多数药物尚未被研究在24小时周期内可能的不同效果。因此，患者被指示在早晨或晚上服药，主要是为了确保依从性。

Over 50 years ago, researchers found that the cholesterol drug simvastatin is more effective at lowering cholesterol levels when taken at night rather than during the day. This is because the liver enzyme (酶) these drugs target is more active at night.

50多年前，研究人员发现，胆固醇药物辛伐他汀在夜间服用比白天更有效地降低胆固醇水平。这是因为这些药物靶向的肝酶在夜间更活跃。

Taking medicine at the wrong time can even cause harm. My colleagues and I wondered whether midazolam, the most common sedative (镇静剂) used in surgical procedures worldwide, might interfere with the internal clock that protects the heart at night. Currently, there are no guidelines regarding when midazolam should be administered.

在错误的时间服药甚至可能造成伤害。我和同事们想知道，全球手术中最常用的镇静剂咪达唑仑，是否会干扰夜间保护心脏的生物钟。目前，还没有关于咪达唑仑何时给药的指南。

More research is needed to determine the best times to administer treatments for different diseases. I believe taking drug timing into account could help make treatments more effective and help more people worldwide.

需要更多研究来确定针对不同疾病的最佳治疗时间。我认为，考虑服药时间可能有助于使治疗更有效，并帮助全球更多人。