Lesson 23 The Stuff of Dreams 說(shuō)夢(mèng)話的本質(zhì)
It is fairly clear that the sleeping period must have some function, and because there is so much of it the function would seem to be important. Speculations about its nature have been going on for literally thousands of years, and one odd finding that makes the problem puzzling is that it looks very much as if sleeping is not simply a matter of giving the body a rest.' Rest ', in terms of muscle relaxation and so on, can be achieved by a brief period lying, or even sitting down. The body's
tissues are self-repairing and self-restoring to a degree, and function best when more or less continuously active. In fact a basic amount of movement occurs during sleep which is specifically concerned with preventing muscle inactivity.
If it is not a question of resting the body, then perhaps it is the brain that needs resting? This might be a plausible hypothesis were it not for two factors. First the electroencephalograph (which is simply a device for recording the electrical activity of the brain by attaching electrodes to the scalp) shows that while there is a change in the pattern of activity during sleep, there is no evidence that the total amount of activity is any less. The second factor is more interesting and more fundamental. In l960 an American psychiatrist named William Dement published experiments dealing with the recording of eye-movements during sleep. He showed that the average individual's sleep cycle is punctuated with peculiar bursts of eye-movements, some drifting and slow, others jerky and rapid. People woken during these periods of eye-movements generally reported that they had been dreaming. When woken at other times they reported no dreams. If one group of people were disturbed from their eye-movement sleep for several nights on end, and another group were disturbed for an equal period of time but when they were not exhibiting eye-movements, the first group began to show some personality disorders while the others seemed more or less unaffected. The implications of all this were that it was not the disturbance of sleep that mattered, but the disturbance of dreaming.
New words and expressions 生詞短語(yǔ)
speculation n. 推測(cè) speculate , predict; speculation: without a complete knowledge /
predict: based on solid foundation.
I can predict in the near future there will be new type of mobilephone that is visible
mobilephone.
speculate about/on sth. in stocks/ speculator
literally ad. 確實(shí) literal / literature / literate / illiterate / illiteracy / antiilliteracy
literal translation 直譯法 free translation /paraphrase , I am here today and gone tomorrow.
word to word 逐字翻譯法 strictThe children are literally hungry. 孩子們真的餓了。(ambiguous sentence)
odd a. 奇特的 eccentricity / eccentric, oddity / eccentricity , odd month 大月
leap month 閏月 /even month 小月 ， bizarre/ weird / outlandish 怪
in terms of … 就…而言 In terms of our family, we would like to go on an outing .
As for … with regard to
regarding in respect of / as for
tissue n. 組織 （纖維，神經(jīng)，肌肉…組織） face tissue 面巾紙
plausible n. 似乎有理的；區(qū)別 reasonable . plausible : seemingly to
What you said is reasonable. I will accept it.
What you said is plausible, but it is not very practical nowadays.
convincing / persuasive
hypothesis n. 假說(shuō) thesis / theory , hypo/ under
hypotension 低血壓 ，hypocritical， hypocrite 偽君子
hyper , hypertension 高血壓 ，hypercritical/picky/finicky 太挑剔 hypersensitive 過(guò)敏 I
am hypersensitive to beef / alcohol.
electroencephalograph n. 腦電圖儀 electro / encephalo / graph , encephalitis
electrode n. 電極 lightning rod 避雷針
scalp n. 頭皮 skull 頭顱 ， have the scalp of sb. 取勝某人
psychiatrist n. 精神病學(xué)家 psychology
punctuate vt. 不時(shí)介入 punctuate the passage 給段落加注標(biāo)點(diǎn) ，punctuation 標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)
He punctuates in our talk.
butt in 插句話
punctual / on the dot / in good time / puncture/ acupuncture
jerky a. 急動(dòng)的 jerk 煩/bore / trial / nuisancesnore / How he snores!
What a jerk / bore / trial / nuisance
on end 連續(xù)不斷地 I have been learning English for a month on end.
It has been raining for three days on end.
disorder n. 失調(diào) order , mental disorder , nervous / nerve war
disorderly , disorderly house / casino / gambling house
legal / handcuffs / Las Vegas / in rags / as poor as a church mouse
implication n. 表明 imply , What does the second speaker imply ?
You said it. / You can say it again.
explicate
Notes on the text 課文注釋
1. sweet dream / nightmare / nightmarish experience / dream a dream
die a glorious death
live a comfortable life
tie a tie
2. fairly 相當(dāng)
I am rather sad. rather clouding
It is fairly sunny. He is fairly handsome. He is rather mean.
3. some : certain
4. nature : 本質(zhì)
5. literally: actually
6. dream telling / dream teller / fortune teller / palm reader
7. looks as if 看起來(lái)像
8. overthrow our former hypothesis *了我們以前的論點(diǎn)
9. a brief period of…
10. to a degree : to some extent / in a sense
Everybody is self-repairing.
muscle stretch / flexibility / spring / elastic
self-correcting / self-adjusting
11. when more or less continuously active. 省略了主語(yǔ) tissues 和謂語(yǔ) are
如果出現(xiàn) when / if / though 句型做狀語(yǔ)從句，而主句的主，謂語(yǔ)與從句主，謂語(yǔ)相同，
則從句的主，謂語(yǔ)可以省略。I got to the school though (I was) late.
12. be concerned with : be about
be concerned about
13. might be 表示虛擬語(yǔ)氣 were it not = if it were not
for : because but for 若不是
If it were not for his timely help, I would not survive.
But for his timely help, I would not survive.
14. attaching 連接 attaching to
15. pattern : type
lie flat / lie on one’s side / lie on stomach
16. Brain is the center / headquarter
17. fundamental 基本 significant / important
18. dealing with : be concerned with
19. average : common
20. ogle
, I ogle her.
The brain does not rest.
21. exhibiting : showing