Paragraph 6: It has been proposed that sleep may be important because it is involved in the strengthening of nerve cell connections that serve as the basis of learning.
The general idea is that circuits that have been wired together during the waking period are consolidated, or strengthened, during sleep.
Robert Stickgold and colleagues conducted a study in which they required participants to learn a complex visual-discrimination task.
They found that participants improved at the task only if they had slept for at least six hours following training.
Periods of sleep with increased brain activity as well as periods of sleep with reduced brain activity appeared to be important for learning to take place.
The researchers argued that learning the task required nerve cell changes that normally occur only during sleep.
Although learning certainly can take place in the absence of sleep, sleep seems to be an efficient time for the consolidation of learning.
Infants and the very young, who learn an incredible amount in a few short years, sleep the most and also spend the most time in periods of sleep with higher brain activity.
12. In paragraph 6, why does the author mention that infants and very young people sleep the most?
A. To argue against the findings of the study conducted by Robert Stickgold and his colleagues
B. To suggest that learning is not possible if infants and young people are deprived of sleep
C. To support the claim that sleep is critical to learning and reinforces it in important ways
D. To indicate that the brain circuits responsible for learning are more active in infants and young people than they are in adults
一、題型為推論題，需判斷作者提及「嬰幼兒睡眠時間最多」的目的，而非只找句子表面意義。
二、本段主旨是說明「睡眠有助於學習鞏固 (consolidation of learning)」，並引用Stickgold 的研究作為證據。
三、段落後半段提到嬰兒與幼兒睡眠時間長，而且擁有較多高腦活動的睡眠階段，接續強化「睡眠與學習之間的正相關」。
四、作者引用嬰幼兒例子作為額外支持證據，說明他們學習量巨大，因此需要大量睡眠來支持神經連結與學習鞏固。
五、選項A錯誤，作者並未反對研究，反而引用實驗結果加強說明。
六、選項B錯誤，文中未提睡眠剝奪，焦點不在「剝奪的後果」。
七、選項D錯誤，文中並未比較「嬰幼兒 vs. 成人」腦迴路活性，而是聚焦在睡眠與學習鞏固的關係。
八、選項C正確，呼應段落主旨，指出提到嬰幼兒是為了「支持睡眠對學習很重要」的觀點。