What Are Dreams? IELTS Reading: Full Translation & Detailed Analysis

Why do we dream? Are dreams messages from the gods, or are they merely random neural signals? The reading passage “What Are Dreams?” guides us from ancient beliefs to modern research on REM sleep and brain activity. This passage falls under the fascinating yet challenging Psychology & Biology topic, which is often packed with specialized vocabulary. With this detailed analysis from ECE Language Center, you will master how to tackle Matching Information, Multiple Choice, and Matching Features question types to confidently hit your target score.

Reading Passage & Questions

What Are Dreams?

Paragraph A

Thousands of years ago, dreams were seen as messages from the gods, and in many cultures, they are still considered prophetic. In ancient Greece, sick people slept at the temples of Asclepius, the god of medicine, in order to receive dreams that would heal them. Modern dream science really began at the end of the 19th century with Sigmund Freud, who theorized that dreams were the expression of unconscious desires often stemming from childhood. He believed that exploring these hidden emotions through analysis could help cure mental illness. The Freudian model of psychoanalysis dominated until the 1970s when new research into the chemistry of the brain showed that emotional problems could have biological or chemical roots, as well as environmental ones. In other words, we weren’t sick just because of something our mothers did (or didn’t do), but because of some imbalance that might be cured with medication.

Paragraph B

After Freud, the most important event in dream science was the discovery in the early 1950s of a phase of sleep characterized by intense brain activity and rapid eye movement (REM). People awakened in the midst of REM sleep reported vivid dreams, which led researchers to conclude that most dreaming took place during REM. Using the electroencephalograph (EEG), researchers could see that brain activity during REM resembled that of the waking brain. That told them that a lot more was going on at night than anyone had suspected. But what, exactly?

Paragraph C

Scientists still don’t know for sure, although they have lots of theories. On one side are scientists like Harvard’s Allan Hobson, who believes that dreams are essentially random. In the 1970s, Hobson and his colleague Robert McCarley proposed what they called the “activation-synthesis hypothesis,” which describes how dreams are formed by nerve signals sent out during REM sleep from a small area at the base of the brain called the pons. These signals, the researchers said, activate the images that we call dreams. That put a crimp in dream research; if dreams were meaningless nocturnal firings, what was the point of studying them?

Paragraph D

Adult humans spend about a quarter of their sleep time in REM, much of it dreaming. During that time, the body is essentially paralyzed but the brain is buzzing. Scientists using PET and fMRI technology to watch the dreaming brain have found that one of the most active areas during REM is the limbic system, which controls our emotions. Much less active is the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logical thinking. That could explain why dreams in REM sleep often lack a coherent storyline (some researchers have also found that people dream in non-REM sleep as well, although those dreams generally are less vivid.) Another active part of the brain in REM sleep is the anterior cingulate cortex, which detects discrepancies. Eric Nofzinger, director of the Sleep Neuroimaging Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, thinks that could be why people often figure out thorny problems in their dreams. “As if the brain surveys the internal milieu and tries to figure out what it should be doing, and whether our actions conflict with who we are,” he says.

Paragraph E

These may seem like vital mental functions, but no one has yet been able to say that REM sleep or dreaming is essential to life or even sanity. MAO inhibitors, an older class of antidepressants, essentially block REM sleep without any detectable effects, although people do get a “REM rebound” – extra REM – if they stop the medication. That’s also true of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, which reduce dreaming by a third to a half. Even permanently losing the ability to dream doesn’t have to be disabling. Israeli researcher Peretz Lavie has been observing a patient named Yuval Chamtzani, who was injured by a fragment of shrapnel that penetrated his brain when he was 19. As a result, he gets no REM sleep and doesn’t remember any dreams. But Lavie says that Chamtzani, now 55, “is probably the most normal person I know and one of the most successful ones.” He’s a lawyer, a painter and the editor of a puzzle column in a popular Israeli newspaper.

Paragraph F

The mystery of REM sleep is that even though it may not be essential, it is ubiquitous – at least in mammals and birds. But that doesn’t mean all mammals and birds dream (or if they do, they’re certainly not talking about it). Some researchers think REM may have evolved for physiological reasons. “One thing that’s unique about mammals and birds is that they regulate body temperature,” says neuroscientist Jerry Siegel, director of UCLA’s Center for Sleep Research. “There’s no good evidence that any coldblooded animal has REM sleep.” REM sleep heats up the brain and non-REM cools it off, Siegel says, and that could mean that the changing sleep cycles allow the brain to repair itself. “It seems likely that REM sleep is filling a basic physiological function and that dreams are a kind of epiphenomenon,” Siegel says – an extraneous byproduct; like foam on beer.

Paragraph G

Whatever the function of dreams at night, they clearly can play a role in therapy during the day. The University of Maryland’s Clara Hill, who has studied the use of dreams in therapy, says that dreams are a ‘backdoor’ into a patient’s thinking. “Dreams reveal stuff about you that you didn’t know was there,” she says. The therapists she trains to work with patients’ dreams are, in essence, heirs to Freud, using dream imagery to uncover hidden emotions and feelings. Dreams provide clues to the nature of the more serious mental illness. Schizophrenics, for example, have poor-quality dreams, usually about objects rather than people. “If you’re going to understand human behavior,” says Rosalind Cartwright, a chairman of psychology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, “here’s a big piece of it. Dreaming is our own storytelling time – to help us know who we are, where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.” Cartwright has been studying depression in divorced men and women, and she is finding that “good dreamers,” people who have vivid dreams with strong storylines, are less likely to remain depressed. She thinks that dreaming helps diffuse strong emotions. “Dreaming is a mental-health activity,” she says.

Questions

Questions 27-31

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-G.

27. Reference to an artist’s dreams who has versatile talents

28. The fact that dreaming actually occurs in many animals

29. Dreams are related to benefits and happiness

30. Advanced scientific technology applied in the investigation of the REM stage

31. A questioning concern raised about the usefulness of investigating dreams

Questions 32-34

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

32. What were dreams regarded as by ancient people?

A. Superstitious and unreliable

B. Communication with gods and a chance to predict the future

C. Medical relief for children with an ill desire

D. Rules to follow as they fell asleep in a temple

33. According to Paragraph D, which part of the brain controls reasoning?

A. Anterior cingulate cortex

B. Internal cortex

C. Limbic system

D. Prefrontal cortex

34. What can we conclude when the author cited a reference for dreams in animals?

A. Brain temperature rises when REM patterns occur.

B. The reason why mammals are warm-blooded

C. Mammals are bound to appear with more frequent REM.

D. REM makes people want to drink beer with more foam.

Questions 35 – 40

Look at the following people and the list of statements below. Match each statement with the correct person, A-G.

List of people:

A. Sigmund Freud

B. Allan Hobson

C. Robert McCarley

D. Eric Nofzinger

E. Jerry Siegel

F. Clara Hill

G. Rosalind Cartwright

35. Dreams sometimes come along with REM as no more than a trivial attachment

36. Exploring patients’ dreams would be beneficial for treatment as it reveals unconscious thinking

37. Dreams help people cope with the difficulties they meet in the daytime

38. Decoding dreams would provide a reminder of human desires from the early days

39. Dreams are a bodily function to control strong emotions

40. Dreams seem to occur randomly and have limited research significance

Detailed Translation

Paragraph A: Thousands of years ago, dreams were seen as messages from the gods, and in many cultures, they are still considered prophetic… Modern dream science really began at the end of the 19th century with Sigmund Freud, who theorized that dreams were the expression of unconscious desires often stemming from childhood…

Paragraph B: After Freud, the most important event… was the discovery of a sleep phase characterized by intense brain activity and rapid eye movement (REM)… Using the electroencephalograph (EEG), researchers could see that brain activity during REM resembled that of the waking brain…

Paragraph C: Scientists still don’t know for sure… On one side are scientists like Harvard’s Allan Hobson, who believes that dreams are essentially random… That put a crimp in dream research; if dreams were meaningless nocturnal firings, what was the point of studying them?

Paragraph D: Adult humans spend about a quarter of their sleep time in REM… Scientists using PET and fMRI technology… have found that one of the most active areas… is the limbic system, which controls emotions… Much less active is the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logical thinking. That could explain why dreams in REM sleep often lack a coherent storyline… Eric Nofzinger… thinks that could be why people often figure out thorny problems in their dreams…

Paragraph E: These may seem like vital mental functions, but no one has yet been able to say that REM sleep… is essential to life… Israeli researcher Peretz Lavie has been observing a patient named Yuval Chamtzani… he is a lawyer, a painter and the editor of a puzzle column… (who has no REM sleep but is still successful).

Paragraph F: The mystery of REM sleep is that even though it may not be essential, it is ubiquitous – at least in mammals and birds… Neuroscientist Jerry Siegel… says: “There’s no good evidence that any coldblooded animal has REM sleep.” REM sleep heats up the brain… “It seems likely that REM sleep is filling a basic physiological function and that dreams are a kind of epiphenomenon,” Siegel says – an extraneous byproduct; like foam on beer.

Paragraph G: Whatever the function of dreams at night, they clearly can play a role in therapy… Clara Hill… says that dreams are a ‘backdoor’ into a patient’s thinking… Rosalind Cartwright… finds that “good dreamers”… are less likely to remain depressed. She thinks that dreaming helps diffuse strong emotions. “Dreaming is a mental-health activity,” she says.

Key Vocabulary

Answers & Detailed Explanations

27. E

• Question: Reference to an artist’s dreams who has versatile talents.

• Location: Paragraph E: “…Yuval Chamtzani… He’s a lawyer, a painter and the editor of a puzzle column…”

• Explanation: Mentions Chamtzani as a multi-talented lawyer, painter, and editor who does not dream.

28. F

• Question: The fact that dreaming actually occurs in many animals.

• Location: Paragraph F: “…it is ubiquitous – at least in mammals and birds.”

• Explanation: REM/dreaming is widespread in mammals and birds.

29. G

• Question: Dreams are related to benefits and happiness.

• Location: Paragraph G: “…’good dreamers,’… are less likely to remain depressed.”

• Explanation: Dreaming helps reduce depression (mental health benefit/happiness).

30. D

• Question: Advanced scientific technology applied in the investigation of the REM stage.

• Location: Paragraph D: “Scientists using PET and fMRI technology…”

• Explanation: Mentions the use of PET and fMRI technology.

31. C

• Question: A questioning concern raised about the usefulness of investigating dreams.

• Location: Paragraph C: “…if dreams were meaningless nocturnal firings, what was the point of studying them?”

• Explanation: If dreams are meaningless, why study them?

32. B

• Question: What were dreams regarded as by ancient people?

• Location: Paragraph A: “messages from the gods… considered prophetic.”

• Explanation: Messages from gods and prophetic (predicting the future).

33. D

• Question: Which part of the brain controls reasoning?

• Location: Paragraph D: “…prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logical thinking.”

• Explanation: Logical thinking is equivalent to reasoning.

34. A

• Question: What can we conclude when the author cited a reference for dreams in animals?

• Location: Paragraph F: “REM sleep heats up the brain…”

• Explanation: Jerry Siegel states that REM heats up the brain (brain temperature rises).

35. E (Jerry Siegel)

• Question: Dreams sometimes come along with REM as no more than a trivial attachment.

• Location: Paragraph F: “…dreams are a kind of epiphenomenon… extraneous byproduct; like foam on beer.”

• Explanation: Siegel compares dreams to beer foam (a byproduct).

36. F (Clara Hill)

• Question: Exploring patients’ dreams beneficial… reveals unconscious thinking.

• Location: Paragraph G: “…dreams are a ‘backdoor’ into a patient’s thinking… reveal stuff about you…”

• Explanation: Hill uses dreams in therapy to understand patient thinking.

37. D (Eric Nofzinger)

• Question: Dreams help people cope with difficulties in the daytime.

• Location: Paragraph D: “…figure out thorny problems in their dreams.”

• Explanation: Nofzinger says the brain works through thorny problems (difficulties) in dreams.

38. A (Sigmund Freud)

• Question: Decoding dreams… reminder of human desires from the early days.

• Location: Paragraph A: “…expression of unconscious desires often stemming from childhood.”

• Explanation: Freud discusses unconscious desires stemming from childhood (early days).

39. G (Rosalind Cartwright)

• Question: Dreams are a bodily function to control strong emotions.

• Location: Paragraph G: “…dreaming helps diffuse strong emotions.”

• Explanation: Cartwright says dreaming helps diffuse strong emotions.

40. B (Allan Hobson)

• Question: Dreams seem to occur randomly… limited research significance.

• Location: Paragraph C: “…dreams are essentially random…

  Chia sẻ: