Dịch:

Some theories of the purpose of dreams

Freud believed that we dream so that we can release the deep, secret desires that we are not allowed to express in real life because of the rules of polite society. Most people know about Freudian dream analysis – a dream about a train going into a tunnel is a dream about sexual intercourse. But couldn’t it just be a dream about travelling on a train?

Another theory is that dreams allow us to solve problems that we can’t solve in real life. We go to sleep with a problem and wake up with the answer. This may be more of a way to ‘use’ our dreams than a ‘purpose’ of dreaming. If you believe that your dreams are important then analysing them may help you to focus your mind on the problem and help you to find the solution.

The modern image is that dreams are the brain’s way of cleaning up the computer’s hard disk, organizing the events of the day into folders and deleting the rubbish that it doesn’t want to keep. But we all know that very little of what we dream every night is concerned with what happened to us that day.

Another idea is that dreams are the brain’s way of practising the behaviour that we need to survive. So we dream about being chased by a monster because one day it might happen! It’s a bit like a pianist practising her scales every day even though she doesn’t need to use them at that moment.

Others believe that dreaming is the brain’s way of exercising the pathways between the brain cells. This may be an important element in why we sleep rather than why we dream. We die if we don’t sleep but we can live without dreaming. Some patients with brain injuries lose the ability to dream but don’t seem to suffer any ill-effects.

REM and dreaming

Scientists used to think that dreaming only happened during Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM). REM sleep is essential for all mammals. We all become irritable and depressed without it. If we don’t have enough REM one night, we will compensate by having more the next. REM is generated by the brainstem – the oldest and most primitive part of the brain. So scientists used to believe that dreaming was also caused by activity in the brainstem. We now know that dreaming can happen at any time during sleep. The only difference seems to be that it’s easier to remember dreams that happen during REM.

Babies have a lot more REM activity than adults, but research shows that they dream less. The same may be true of animals. We know that they have REM activity but that doesn’t mean they dream.

It also seems that dreaming is a skill that develops as you get older, like language for example. Young children’s dreams are very different from older children’s or adult’s dreams.

New research

Modern technology has allowed scientists to map the parts of the brain that are active when we dream. The primitive brainstem is very active, but so are other important areas at the front of the brain. These are the frontal lobes that control emotion, memory, and experiences that come through the senses like hearing and vision. If these areas are injured, the person stops dreaming. On the other hand, the areas that control rational, logical thought are not active at all. This could explain why dreams are so strange. They have no logical sequence or time, which makes them very difficult to explain to other people when we wake up. Dreams combine recent events with long past events and our emotions while we are dreaming are often very strong.

Psychologists have also done studies on people who kept dream diaries for long periods of time (up to fifty years in some cases) and have found that what we dream is very much connected with how we think and behave when we are awake. So an extrovert, adventurous person will have extrovert, adventurous dreams. A shy person will be a shy person in her dreams. People who are important to us will often be in our dreams and so will things that worry us or make us happy.

So what’s the conclusion?

Well, nobody really knows. But scientists are now suggesting that dreams have absolutely no purpose at all. When we are awake we are ‘thinking’ all the time. Some of this thinking is useful and has a purpose. But we often just ‘think’ about nothing in particular while we’re waiting for the bus or walking to work. And that’s what the brain is doing when we are asleep - just thinking. Sometimes it’s interesting and sometimes it’s boring.

Doing the research for this article has made me more interested in my dreams rather than less. I might even start a dream diary! But nothing that I’ve read explains why I sometimes have an embarrassing dream about finding myself standing completely naked at a bus stop. Fortunately, this has never happened to me in real life, and it isn’t something that I think about when I’m awake. I’m told that it’s an example of a ‘universal dream’ – a dream that is common to people all over the world. Dreaming about flying is another example. So what’s the explanation? We can’t all be ‘just thinking’ about the same thing, can we?

Find the new words and translate it

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin – a behavioural biologist – describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.

          Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours’ sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of ‘sleep debt’.

          Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world’s most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world’s population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on ‘night call’, and may get less than three hours’ sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn’t. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

New English File Upper-intermediate by Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig, OUP

All of the following are mentioned as those whose performance is affected by ‘sleep debt’ EXCEPT_____.

A. doctors

B. drivers

C. biologists

D. engineers

Điền dạng đúng của động từ trong ngoặc

Last Sunday students from my school (1. go) ..........on an excursion. We (2. visit) ...........Cu Chi Tunnel. We (3. come )........to school at 6 a.m. Ten big buses (4. take).........us there. All of us (5. be)..........excited, so we (6. sing)........ all the way to Cu Chi. We (7. arrive)..........there at 7 a.m. A tourist guide (8. show)...........us the historical places: the long tunnel and the kitchen under the ground where people (9. cook).................their meals.We (10. make )............a tour round that place. Then we (11. go).........to Ben Duoc temple. We(12. see)........lots of names of the soldiers on the walls. We(13.admire )............them very much. Our teacher (14. ask).............us to write a report. We (15. write).............it at the moment . We (16. feel)...........very happy to write what we (17. learn).........from that trip. We hope we( 18. come )............back to Cu Chi some day

Điền dạng đúng của động từ trong ngoặc 

lát sunday, student my school (go) ...........on an excursion.We (visit)..........Cu Chi Tunnel.We (come)...........to school at 6 a.m .Ten big buses (take)........us there.All of us (be)...........excited ,so we (sing)..........all the way to Cu Chi.We(arrive).............there at 7 a.m .A tourist guide (show) ...........us the historical places: the long tunnel and the kitchen under the ground where people (cook)...............their meals .We (make)......a tour round that place .Then we (go)........to Ben Duoc Temple .We (see)..........lots of names of the soldiers on the walls.We(admire).................them very much.Our teacher (ask)..........us to write a report .We (write).................it at the moment .We (feel)............very happy to write what we (learn).............from that trip.We hope we (come) ...........back to Cu Chi some day

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin – a behavioural biologist – describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.

          Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours’ sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of ‘sleep debt’.

          Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world’s most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world’s population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on ‘night call’, and may get less than three hours’ sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn’t. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

New English File Upper-intermediate by Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig, OUP

Which of the following would the writer of the passage approve of?

A. Our world would be a much safer place without drinkers. 

B. Both drunken drivers and sleep-deprived people should be criticized. 

C. There is no point in criticizing irresponsible people in our society. 

D. We certainly can function well even when we hardly sleep.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin – a behavioural biologist – describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.

          Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours’ sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of ‘sleep debt’.

          Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world’s most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world’s population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on ‘night call’, and may get less than three hours’ sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn’t. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

New English File Upper-intermediate by Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig, OUP

Which of the following could best serve as the title of the passage?

A. Accident Prevention: Urgent!

B. Sleep Deprivation: Causes and Effects 

C. A Society of Sleepless People

D. A Well-known Biologist

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin – a behavioural biologist – describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.

          Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours’ sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of ‘sleep debt’.

          Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world’s most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world’s population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on ‘night call’, and may get less than three hours’ sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn’t. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

New English File Upper-intermediate by Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig, OUP

According to the third paragraph, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. Our social life has no influence on our hours of sleep. 

B. The sun obviously determined our daily routines. 

C. The electric light was invented in the 19th century. 

D. The electric light has changed our daily cycle of sleep.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin – a behavioural biologist – describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.

          Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours’ sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of ‘sleep debt’.

          Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world’s most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world’s population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on ‘night call’, and may get less than three hours’ sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn’t. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

New English File Upper-intermediate by Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig, OUP

The writer mentions the Internet in the passage as______.

A. a temptation that prevents us from sleeping 

B. an easy solution to sleep deprivation 

C. an ineffective means of communication

D. a factor that is not related to sleep deprivation

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin – a behavioural biologist – describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves.

          Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work. Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half hours’ sleep to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of ‘sleep debt’.

          Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world’s most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world’s population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.

What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on ‘night call’, and may get less than three hours’ sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn’t. As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible. Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night.

New English File Upper-intermediate by Clive Oxenden and Christina Latham-Koenig, OUP

The phrase “round the clock” in the second paragraph is similar in meaning to______.

A. surrounded with clocks

B. all day and night

C. during the daytime 

D. having a round clock