What Is a Dream?

For centuries, people have wondered about the strange things that they dream about. Some

psychologists say that this nighttime activity of the mind has no special meaning. Others, however, think that dreams are an important part of our lives. In fact, many experts believe that dreams can tell us about a person's mind and emotions.

Before modem times, many people thought that dreams contained messages from God. It was only in the twentieth century that people started to study dreams in a scientific way.

The Austrian psychologist, Sigmund Freud, was probably the first person to study dreams

scientifically. In his famous book, The interpretation of Dreams ( 1900 ), Freud wrote that dreams

are an expressions of a person's wishes. He believed that dreams allow people to express the

feelings, thoughts, and fears that they are afraid to express in real life.

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung was once a student of Freud' s. Jung, however, had a different idea about dreams. Jung believed that the purpose of a dream was to communicate a message to the dreamer. He thought people could learn more about themselves by thinking about their dreams. For example, people who dream about falling may learn that they have too high an opinion of themselves. On the other hand, people who dream about being heroes may learn that they think too little of themselves.

Modem-day psychologists continue to develop theories about dreams. For example,

psychologist William Domhoff from the University of California, Santa Cruz, believes that dreams

are tightly linked to a person's daily life, thoughts, and behavior. A criminal, for example, might

dream about crime.

Dornhoff believes that there is a connection between dreams and age. His research shows that children do not dream as much as adults. According to Domhoff, dreaming is a mental skill that needs time to develop.

He has also found a link between dreams and gender. His studies show that the dreams of men and women are different. For example, the people in men's dreams are often other men, and the dreams often involve fighting. This is not true of women's dreams. 3 Domhoff found this gender difference in the dreams of people from 11 cultures around the world, including both modem and traditional ones.

Can dreams help us understand ourselves? Psychologists continue to try to answer this question in different ways. However, one thing they agree on this: If you dream that something terrible is going to occur,you shouldn't panic. The dream may have meaning, but it does not mean that some terrible event will actually take place. It's important to remember that the world of dreams is not the real world.

注釋：

1.SigmundFreud西格蒙德.費(fèi)洛伊德(1856-1939)，猶太人，奧地利精神病醫(yī)生及精神分析學(xué)家。精神分析學(xué)派的創(chuàng)始人。他認(rèn)為被壓抑的欲望絕大部分是屬于性的，性的擾亂是精神病的根本原因。著有《性學(xué)三論》《夢的釋義》《圖騰與禁忌》《日常生活的心理病理學(xué)》《精神分析引論》《精神分析引論新編》等

2.Carl Jung:卡爾.榮格，瑞士著名精神分析專家，分析心理學(xué)的創(chuàng)始人

3.For example.the people in men’s dreams are often other men，and the dreams often involve fighting.This is not true of women’s dreams.例如，男人做夢會(huì)夢到男人，并且常與打斗有關(guān);女人做夢與男人則不同。

練習(xí)：

1. Not everyone agrees that dreams are meaningful.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

2. According to Freud,people dream about things that they cannot talk about.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

3. Jung believed that dreams did not help one to understand oneself.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

4. In the past,people believed that dreams involved emotions.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

5. According to Dornhoff,babies do not have the same ability to dream as adults do.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

6. Men and women dream about different things.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

7. Scientists agree that dreams predict the future.

ARight

BWrong

CNot mentioned

1.A這句話恰好表達(dá)了本文第一段的意思。即有些心理學(xué)家認(rèn)為，人腦睡眠中的活動(dòng)沒有特別意義;而有些人則認(rèn)為，夢可以揭示人的思維和情感。.

2.A第三段的最后一句講的是弗洛伊德認(rèn)為夢反映了人們在現(xiàn)實(shí)情況下害怕表達(dá)的情感、想法或恐懼。此句與本敘述一致。

3.B第四段的第二句和第三句：Jung believed that the purpose of a dream was to communicate a message to the dreamer.(榮格認(rèn)為夢的用途是向做夢者傳遞一個(gè)信息)He thought people could learn more about themselves by thinking about their dreams.(他認(rèn)為人們通過思考所做的夢能夠更好地了解自己)。他給出了兩個(gè)例子來說明他的論點(diǎn)。

4.C文中沒有提及。

5.A依據(jù)第六段，Domhoff研究得出：嬰兒不像成人做那么多的夢，做夢是一種需要時(shí)間提高的技能。這就說明了嬰兒不具備成人做夢的能力。

6.A本文第七段講述了做夢與性別的關(guān)系。第二句更指出男人和女人做的夢是不同的。

7.B最后一段的倒數(shù)第二句講的是：夢可能會(huì)有意義，但并不表示一些恐怖事情就一定會(huì)發(fā)生。因而不能預(yù)測未來。

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（責(zé)任編輯：vstara）

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