5.1 ELPAC Practice: Reading: Student Essay

A student has written an essay. The essay may include errors. Read the essay.
Then answer Numbers 5 through 12.

Should School Start Later?

1 Everybody knows that teenagers are sleepy in school. Too many students do not get
   the recommended number of hours of sleep they need in order to make it through
   the day. Although a number of factors influence this, it would help to change the time
   teenagers are expected to begin school each morning. A later start time would give
   students enough sleep to be better prepared to learn.

2 Many studies have been conducted on how much sleep students need. Most of this
    research has shown that teenagers need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.
    A teenager is going through a lot of biological changes. During sleep, important
    brain activity and functions are performed to manager these changes. Only 15% of
    teenagers surveyed report getting at least 8 hours of sleep during the school week.

3 When teenagers do not get enough sleep, bad things can result. Students can
    become easily irritable and cranky. These problems can lead to behavioral problems
    and become an obstacle to academic success. Students who lack adequate sleep
    tend to make more impulsive decisions and take more risks. Students suffering
    from sleep deprivation have reduced attention, and it may be harder for them to
    concentrate on complex tasks and assignments. These traits have always been
    hallmarks of teenage life.

4 Teenagers can lose sleep for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons involve
    the internal biology and chemistry of the teenage body. For instance, due to changes
    within teenagers’ bodies, their internal clocks push back the time they are ready to
    sleep. Teenagers may want to go to sleep at 9 p.m. but their bodies just will not let
    them until 11 p.m. This biological cause of sleeplessness may also be connected to
    a teen’s use of electronics at nighttime. The exposure to light and mental activity can
    further disrupt a teenager’s sleep pattern, making it harder to fall asleep.

5 Teenagers also face external forces that keep them up at night. Homework
    demands, sports practices and games, and jobs may keep teenagers out of the
    house and active late into the evening. Teenagers’ social schedule may also keep
    them up late. Since teenagers often need more sleep than their parents and younger
    siblings, it may be difficult for teenagers to sleep in, even on weekend mornings.

6 Although we cannot control many of the other variables, one factor we should
    consider is starting school later once students become teenagers. Starting school
    later will allow teenagers to adjust to the shift in their bodies’ biological clocks and
    increased outside-of-school commitments. A well-rested teenager would be better
    prepared and more attentive to learning.