If you dream in color, you’re not alone: the majority of people today claim to have colorful dreams. But it wasn’t always thus. Research conducted in the early part of the last century consistently found that people reported dreaming most often in black and white.

According to Eva Murzyn at the University of Dundee, there are at least two possible explanations for this strange situation.

The first is the methods used in the researches. The early studies tended to use questionnaires（问卷）, while more modern studies use dream diaries (filled in upon rising in the morning) or so-called “REM-awakening”, which involves interrupting people’s dream-filled periods of sleep to find out what they were dreaming about. People’s memories of their dreams are likely to be less accurate by using the questionnaire approach and they are more likely to reflect their beliefs about the form dreams generally take in an unclear way.

The second explanation has to do with black and white television and film. It's possible that the sudden increase in black and white film and television during the first half of the last century either affected the form of people’s dreams at that time, or affected their beliefs about the form dreams generally take.

According to Murzyn’s findings, it’s the explanation based on media exposure that carries more weight. She used both questionnaire and diary methods to study the dreams of 30 older (average age 64) and 30 younger people (average age 21).

The methodological technique made no difference to the type of dreams people reported. However, the extremely important thing was that, across both questionnaires and diaries, the older participants (who had had significant early life exposure to black and white media) reported experiencing significantly more black and white dreams over the last ten days than the younger participants (22 per cent vs. 4 per cent).

Another finding was that older participants reported black and white dreams and colorful dreams to be of equal clearness. By contrast, the younger participants reported that the quality of black and white dreams was poorer. This raises the possibility that the younger participants didn’t really have any black and white dreams at all, but were simply regarding poorly remembered dreams as black and white.

We learn from the text that ______.

       A. people in the first half of the last century never had colorful dreams

       B. older people are more likely to have black and white dreams

       C. the dreams of younger people are always colorful

       D. people today don’t have white and black dreams any more

What did Murxyn do to find out the explanations for the colors in people’s dreams?

       A. She applied both questionnaire and diary methods to study people’s dreams.

       B. She used diary methods to record people’s dreams.

       C. She chose 60 people to answer her questions about their dreams.

       D. She woke people up to record the colors of their dreams.

What does the underlined expression “carry more weight” in paragraph 5 mean?

       A. be heavier  B. be more powerful      C. be more important     D. be more useful

From Murxyn’s findings we can infer that ______.

       A. both older people and younger people could report colorful dreams clearly

       B. young people don’t have any black and white dreams in fact

       C. the color of a person’s dream is decided by one’s age

       D. it is probably the color of media that affects the color of one’s dream

The Meanings of Dreams

Sleep and dreams have interested people for centuries. Scientists are learning more about sleep, but they still know very little about why we dream.

      1.   First, we have most of our dreams during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. At this time, the brain is very active. Second, everyone dreams – even if we cannot remember doing so when we awaken.    2.   While we are asleep, it works more slowly and sometimes puts our thoughts and memories together in strange ways.

        3.   Some believe that our dreams are associated with thoughts and feelings that we experience while we are awake. Many dream researchers think that a dream about death, for example, is really about an important life change.   4.    Dreams about a car or travel often represent feelings about your own life. Dreams about teeth – especially broken or loose ones may indicate stress and fear. Dreams in which you are flying often represent freedom or escape.

    Researchers think people in our dreams can tell us something about ourselves. If the person in the dream was yelling (叫喊), for example, maybe you are angry.  5.   

    There is still a lot about dreaming that we do not understand. By learning more about our dreams, we may learn more about ourselves.

A. Dreams may be more important than sleep.

B. Scientists do not know for certain why we dream.

C. If he or she was terrified, then maybe you are afraid of something.

D. Modern research can tell us some important things about dreams.

E. There are three things you should pay attention to to have a sweet dream.

F. Finally, a part of our brain helps us to understand daily experiences we have.

G. Dreams about telephones are thought to be about giving or receiving an important message.

If your recurring(经常性的)dreams are worrying you，you can rest assured and needn’t worry.Psychologists say in the vast majority of these cases，this is just the mind’s way of dealing with stress and conflicts，problems and concerns.It’s a good thing.
They call be surprisingly vivid and real，or fragmented and weird.They can be comforting or frightening.Our dreams can tell us a lot about what we are really thinking.Dreams give us an x-ray of our unconsciousness(潜意识).They tell us，particularly when we are at life’s passages or turning points.
Lisa Oppenheim had the same dream whenever she was about to move to a new home or a new city.It’s always just a feeling of needing to stay safe.Experts say disturbing dreams often occur around major life events.For Lisa，it was moving.For others，it can be marriage or divorce，the death of a loved one or pressure at work.
Doctor Siegel has studied the meaning of dream for nearly 30 years.He believes stressful or upsetting dreams can be a sign of what’s buried deep inside our minds.
He said.“Dreams are important to survival.They are crucial to the balance of our psyche(心灵).They help us work out problems that we’re having every single day.They go to the cutting edge of what’s stressful，what’s bothering us and what we’re working out in our lives.Dreams can guide us and in order to find that guidance，to find that deep source of wisdom that’s in our dreams every night，we need to pay attention to our dreams.”
But many dreams are scary and horrible.How can we understand these nightmares? Doctor Siegel says they are reflecting especially intense emotion or unresolved conflict.The stronger the emotion in the dream，whether it’s pleasure or fear，the likelier the dream is to be important.
Knowing what your recurring dreams or nightmares mean can be liberating.Some nightmares can be a sign of serious psychological problems，such as post-dramatic stress disorder.If they are extremely disturbing or violent or the cause of severe anxiety，you should see a professional therapist(治疗专家).

1. 1.

   By saying “Dreams give US an x-ray of our unconsciousness,”  the author means that dreams

   1. A.
      do harm to our mind
   2. B.
      show us our real mind
   3. C.
      solve our stress in mind
   4. D.
      give us a turning point in mind
2. 2.

   People will have recurring dreams when they_______________.

   1. A.
      1ive with great pressure or have great events
   2. B.
      do the same things all their lives
   3. C.
      move to a new home or a new city
   4. D.
      are comforted or frightened
3. 3.

   Which of the following is true according to Doctor Siegel?

   1. A.
      Dreams play a very important role in the world’s balance.
   2. B.
      Dreams help us find out the problems we need to solve.
   3. C.
      We should pay attention to every dream we have.
   4. D.
      Only the dreams with pleasure are important to us.
4. 4.

   How should we deal with the recurring nightmares?

   1. A.
      We should remember them because they are important to us.
   2. B.
      We can ignore them since they are just reflecting our emotions.
   3. C.
      We need to take some sleeping pills to stop this serious problem.
   4. D.
      We should see a psychological doctor if they are seriously disturbing
5. 5.

   The purpose of the passage is_________________.

   1. A.
      to introduce a variety of dreams
   2. B.
      to offer some advice on avoiding nightmares
   3. C.
      to compare recurring dreams with nightmares
   4. D.
      to ease our anxiety on recurring dreams

  The Meanings of Dreams

Sleep and dreams have interested people for centuries. Scientists are learning more about sleep, but they still know very little about why we dream.

   1.   First, we have most of our dreams during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. At this time, the brain is very active. Second, everyone dreams – even if we cannot remember doing so when we awaken.    2.   While we are asleep, it works more slowly and sometimes puts our thoughts and memories together in strange ways.

   3.   Some believe that our dreams are associated with thoughts and feelings that we experience while we are awake. Many dream researchers think that a dream about death, for example, is really about an important life change.    4.   Dreams about a car or travel often represent feelings about your own life. Dreams about teeth – especially broken or loose ones may indicate stress and fear. Dreams in which you are flying often represent freedom or escape.

Researchers think people in our dreams can tell us something about ourselves. If the person in the dream was yelling (叫喊), for example, maybe you are angry.    5.   

There is still a lot about dreaming that we do not understand. By learning more about our dreams, we may learn more about ourselves.

A．Dreams may be more important than sleep.

B．Scientists do not know for certain why we dream.

C．If he or she was terrified, then maybe you are afraid of something.

D．Modern research can tell us some important things about dreams.

E. There are three things you should pay attention to to have a sweet dream.

F. Finally, a part of our brain helps us to understand daily experiences we have.

G. Dreams about telephones are thought to be about giving or receiving an important message.

What did you dream about last night? Did your teeth fall out or did you fly? Maybe you died or someone you know did．Or maybe you were back in high school．These are among the most common dreams people have and they all mean something．Here are some of the most common dreams and their interpretations or symbolism．
Dreams of flying．Dreams of flying represent feelings of freedom that may result from an instance when you overcome a limitation or obstacle．Usually, children have more flying dreams than adults, because children are more open to their possibilities, and adults have often accepted limitations imposed by society．
Teeth falling out．Food in a dream is symbolic of knowledge because food nourishes the physical body and knowledge nourishes the soul．Teeth are a means to break down food or knowledge．When your teeth fall out in a dream, it could signify that you feel ill - equipped to break down the knowledge that you have available, that the way you break things down has changed．That change can be either positive or negative．
High school dreams．High school is a place of learning from the past, and dreaming of being unprepared for a high school test can indicate a struggle to access information you need to handle in your life．
Recurring dreams and nightmares．Recurring dreams are your subconscious （潜意识）mind's way of trying to get your attention．A recurring dream is a step down from a nightmare that is a louder, more insistent way your subconscious mind communicates．If you have a recurring dream, try to stop in the dream and identify what the dream is trying to tell you．That could mean asking someone who is chasing you what he or she wants．A woman dreamed for years that an old, haggard woman was chasing her around her home．When she finally stopped in the dream and asked the old woman what she represented, the old woman suddenly turned into a beautiful young woman and replied, "I represent your question of ' what if?’ "
【小题1】The text is mainly about ____．