原田英語の時事英語ジュニア|英語ニュース ワークシート(中学生レベル)
Class ____ No. ____ Name ____________________
カフェインと子どもの睡眠・脳の関係は?よく飲む子ほど睡眠が短め、約9600人の研究
Caffeine and Children's Sleep
1Children who have more caffeine sleep less, a new study has found. Caffeine is in drinks such as coffee, tea and some soft drinks.
2Researchers at King's College London in Britain studied data on 9,632 children in the U.S. The children were nine to 11 years old. They said how many drinks with caffeine they usually had in a week. Their brains were also checked with MRI scans.
3Children who had more caffeine had a smaller surface area in parts of the brain's outer layer. Differences showed up even with one drink a week, compared with no drinks. Soft drinks were the biggest source of caffeine.
4The researchers said they cannot say that caffeine causes these differences. Soft drinks also have a lot of sugar. So other things may also play a part, they said.
Words 単語
| caffeine外 | 名 | カフェインsomething in coffee that keeps you awake |
| studyA1 | 名 | 研究work done to learn about something |
| soft drinksA2 | 名 | 炭酸飲料など、アルコールの入っていない甘い飲み物cold sweet drinks such as cola |
| dataB2 | 名 | データfacts and numbers collected to learn something |
| usuallyA1 | 副 | ふだん、たいていmost of the time |
| surfaceB1 | 名 | 表面the outside or top part of something |
| layerB1 | 名 | 層one flat part lying over another part |
| causesA2 | 動 | ~の原因になるmakes something happen |
単語のレベル:CEFR-J(『CEFR-J Wordlist Version 1.6』 東京外国語大学投野由紀夫研究室. (URL: https://www.cefr-j.org/download.html より 2026年8月ダウンロード))
1. Reading Quiz 本文の内容に合うものを選ぼう
How many children were in the study?
A. 11B. 632C. 9,632D. 96,320
How old were the children?
A. Nine to 11 years oldB. Six to eight years oldC. 13 to 15 years oldD. 16 to 18 years old
What was the biggest source of caffeine?
A. CoffeeB. TeaC. ChocolateD. Soft drinks
What did the researchers say about caffeine?
A. It makes children taller.B. They cannot say it causes the differences.C. It helps children sleep.D. It has a lot of sugar.
2. True or False 正しければ T、違っていれば F
( ) Children who had more caffeine slept less.
( ) Differences showed up only when children had five drinks a week or more.
( ) The children's brains were checked with MRI scans.
( ) The study was done with children in Britain.
3. Fill in the Blanks 下の語から選んで空らんをうめよう(形を変えずに)
caffeinestudiedcausesusuallysurface
Researchers at King's College London in Britain _____ data on 9,632 children in the U.S.
Children who have more _____ sleep less, a new study has found.
The researchers said they cannot say that caffeine _____ these differences.
They said how many drinks with caffeine they _____ had in a week.
Children who had more caffeine had a smaller _____ area in parts of the brain's outer layer.
4. Word Order 語を並べかえて正しい文にしよう
( biggest / source / of / drinks / the / were / caffeine / Soft ) .
( The / 11 / years / children / old / to / nine / were ) .
( sugar / Soft / lot / also / have / a / drinks / of ) .
5. Think and Write 英語で答えてみよう
What do you usually drink in the evening?(あなたは夜、ふだん何を飲みますか。)
What can you do to sleep better before a test?(テストの前によく眠るために、何ができますか。)

Answers 解答
1. (1) C (2) A (3) D (4) B
2. (1) T (2) F (3) T (4) F
3. (1) studied (2) caffeine (3) causes (4) usually (5) surface
4.
- Soft drinks were the biggest source of caffeine.
- The children were nine to 11 years old.
- Soft drinks also have a lot of sugar.
全文訳
1カフェインを多くとる子どもほど、眠る時間が短いことが、新しい研究でわかりました。カフェインは、コーヒーやお茶、一部の炭酸飲料などの飲み物に入っています。
2イギリスのキングス・カレッジ・ロンドンの研究者たちが、アメリカの子ども9,632人のデータを調べました。子どもたちは9〜11歳でした。子どもたちは、カフェイン入りの飲み物をふだん1週間に何杯飲むかを答えました。また、MRIで脳も調べられました。
3カフェインを多くとる子どもは、脳の外側の層の一部で、表面の面積が小さめでした。1週間に1杯でも、まったく飲まない子とくらべると差が見られました。カフェインをいちばん多くとっていたのは、炭酸飲料からでした。
4研究者たちは、カフェインがこうした差の原因だとは言えないと話しています。炭酸飲料には、砂糖もたくさん入っています。そのため、ほかのことも関わっているかもしれないと、研究者たちは話しています。
文法ポイント:関係代名詞 who(~する人)
who のあとの文が、前の人(Children)を説明する。本文の Children who have more caffeine sleep less. は「カフェインを多くとる子どもは、眠る時間が短い」。主語が Children who have more caffeine まで長くなり、動詞は sleep。
出典:King's College London、Medical Xpress、Science Media Centre ほか(記事は原田英語の時事英語ジュニアのオリジナル)|https://www.haradaeigo.com/jijieigo-junior/news/2026-10-18-caffeine-kids-sleep-brain/