VOA慢速英语20061018b

EXPLORATIONS - The Mystery of DreamsBy Karen Leggett

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 18, 2006

VOICE ONE:

I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:


Scientists record electrical brian activity to study dreaming

And I'm Steve Ember with Explorations in VOA Special English. Do you dream? Do you create pictures and stories in your mind as you sleep? Today, we are going to explore dreaming. People have had ideas about the meaning and importance of dreams for hundreds of years. Today brain researchers are learning¹ even more about dreams.

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VOICE ONE:

Dreams are expressions of thoughts, feelings and events that pass through our mind while we are sleeping. People dream about one to two hours each night. We may have four to seven dreams in one night. Everybody dreams. But only some people remember their dreams.

The word dream comes from an old word in English that means joy and music. We dream in color. Our dreams often include all the senses 鈥?smells, sounds, sights, tastes and things we touch. Sometimes we dream the same dream over and over again. These repeated dreams are often unpleasant and may even be nightmares², or bad dreams that sometimes frighten us.

VOICE TWO:

Artists, writers and scientists sometimes say they get ideas from dreams. For example, the singer Paul McCartney of the Beatles said he awakened³ one day with the music for the song Yesterday in his head. The writer Mary Shelley said she had a very strong dream about a scientist using a machine to make a creature come alive. When she awakened, she began to write her book about a scientist named Frankenstein who creates a frightening monster.

VOICE ONE:

People have been trying to decide what dreams mean for thousands of years. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed dreams provided⁴ messages from the gods. Sometimes people who could understand dreams would help military leaders in battle.

In ancient Egypt, people who could explain dreams were believed to be special. In the Christian⁵ Bible⁶, there are more than seven hundred comments or stories about dreams. Stories about the birth of the Muslim leader Mohammed include important events that were first learned⁷ in dreams 鈥?including the birth of Mohammed and his name.

In China, people believed that dreams were a way to visit with family members who had died. Some Native American tribes⁸ and Mexican civilizations believe dreams are a different world we visit when we sleep.

VOICE TWO:

In Europe, people believed that dreams were evil⁹ and could lead people to do bad things. Two hundred years ago, people awakened after four or five hours of sleep to think about their dreams or talk about them with other people. Then they returned to sleep for another four to five hours.

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VOICE ONE:
Sigmund Freud



Early in the twentieth century, two famous scientists developed different ideas about dreams. Austrian psychiatrist¹⁰ Sigmund Freud published a book called The Interpretation¹¹ of Dreams in nineteen hundred. Freud believed people often dream about things they want but cannot have, especially connected to sex and aggression¹².

For Freud, dreams were full of hidden meaning. He tried to understand dreams as a way to understand people and why they acted or thought in certain ways. Freud believed that every thought and every action started deep in our brains. He thought dreams could be an important road to understanding what is happening in our brains.

Freud told people what their dreams meant as a way of helping¹³ them solve problems or understand their worries. For example, Freud said when people dream of flying or swinging, they want to be free of their childhood. When a person dreams that a brother or sister or parent has died, the dreamer is really hiding feelings of hatred¹⁴ for that person. Or a desire to have what the other person has.

VOICE TWO:


Carl Jung

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung worked closely¹⁵ with Freud for several years. But he developed very different ideas about dreams. Jung believed dreams could help people grow and understand themselves. He believed dreams provide solutions to problems we face when we are awake. He also believed dreams tell us something about ourselves and our relations with other people. He did not believe dreams hide our feelings about sex or aggression.

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VOICE ONE:

Today we know more about the science of dreaming because researchers can take pictures of people's brains while they are sleeping.

In nineteen fifty-three, scientists discovered a special kind of sleep called REM, or rapid eye movement. Our eyes move back and forth¹⁶ very quickly while they are closed. Our bodies go through several periods of sleep each night. REM sleep is the fourth period. We enter REM sleep four to seven times each night. During REM sleep, our bodies do not move at all. This is the time when we dream. If people are awakened during their REM sleep, they will remember their dreams almost ninety percent of the time. This is true even for people who say they do not dream.

VOICE TWO:

One kind of dreaming is called lucid¹⁷ dreaming. People know during a dream that they are dreaming. An organization in Canada called the Dreams Foundation¹⁸ believes you can train yourself to have lucid dreams by paying very close attention to your dreams and writing them down. The Dreams Foundation believes this is one way to become more imaginative¹⁹ and creative. The foundation organizes groups of people who travel to wild, natural areas around the world. Here they can be quiet, ride small boats on a calm river or lake and learn how to have lucid dreams. These people believe their dreams can help them understand or even find solutions to personal or community problems.

VOICE ONE:

Scientists have done much serious research into dreams and how to use them in treating mental or emotional²⁰ problems. The Association²¹ for the Study of Dreams holds an international meeting every year. Scientists at one meeting talked about ways to help victims of crime who have very bad dreams called nightmares. Scientists have also studied dreams and creativity, dreams of people who are sick and dreams of children.

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VOICE TWO:

Scientists who study dreaming often attach wires to the head of a person who is sleeping. The wires record electrical activity in the brain. These studies show that the part of the brain in which we feel emotion is very active when we dream.

The front part of the brain is much less active; this is the center of our higher level thinking processes like organization and memory. Some scientists believe this is why our dreams often seem strange and out of order.

Researcher Rosalind Cartwright says dreams are like memories all placed on top of each other. They are connected by feelings rather than orderly²² thinking. Miz Cartwright works²³ at the Sleep Disorder²⁴ Service and Research Center at Rush Presbyterian Saint²⁵ Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. She is studying the different ways people dream if they are feeling very sad or worried, especially if their marriage is ending. She and many other researchers have found that dreams have more anger, fear and worry than joy or happiness.

VOICE ONE:

Other researchers are studying how dreaming helps our bodies work with problems and very sad emotions. Robert Stickgold is a professor of psychiatry²⁶ at Harvard University in Massachusetts. Doctor Stickgold says that when we dream, the brain is trying to make sense of the world. It does so by putting our memories together in different ways to make new connections and relationships. Doctor Stickgold believes that dreaming is a biological process. He does not agree with Sigmund Freud that dreaming is the way we express our hidden feelings and desires.

In Finland, Antti Revonsuo is another scientist who studies the brain. He believes people dream about threatening events or situations so they can practice how they might deal with such events or avoid them. Doctor Revonsuo says threatening events appear often in dreams of adults and children all around the world.

VOICE TWO:

All of these scientists believe it is important to keep researching dreams. Doctor Stickgold says it has been more than one hundred years since Sigmund Freud published his important book about dreaming. Yet scientists still do not agree on exactly how the brain works when we are dreaming or why we dream.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Karen Leggett and produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. You can read and listen to this program on our Web site, www.unsv.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 nightmares   

n.噩梦( nightmare的名词复数 )；可怕的事情，无法摆脱的恐惧

参考例句：

• He still has nightmares about the accident. 他仍然做噩梦梦见这场事故。
• Art thou not afraid of nightmares and hideous dreams?\" 你难道不怕睡魇和凶梦吗？” 来自英汉文学 - 红字

3 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

7 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

8 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

10 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

11 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

12 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

14 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

15 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

16 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

17 lucid   

adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的

参考例句：

• His explanation was lucid and to the point.他的解释扼要易懂。
• He wasn't very lucid,he didn't quite know where he was.他神志不是很清醒，不太知道自己在哪里。

18 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

19 imaginative   

adj.富有想象力的，爱想象的

参考例句：

• The imaginative child made up fairy stories.这个想像力丰富的孩子自己编神话故事。
• Scott was an imaginative writer.司格特是位富于想象力的作家。

20 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

21 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

22 orderly   

adj.有秩序的，整齐的，一丝不苟的，和平的；adv.有秩序地，有条理地，依次地；n.勤务兵，（医院的）勤务工

参考例句：

• It's an orderly room.这是个整洁的房间。
• The books are in orderly rows on shelves.书籍整齐地排列在书架上。

23 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

24 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

25 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

26 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。