Вариант 4. Задание B2 (11)

1. Scientific approach
2. Where do dreams come from?
3. Travelling in dreams
4. Sleeplessness
5. Physical stimulation
6. Time discrepancy
7. No doubts it’s happening really
8. How often do people dream

1. The fascination of dreams has been felt by all people at every

stage of human history. In primitive societies it is sometimes believed that the soul leaves the body during sleep and actually visits the scenes of the dream. In general, however, the view that dreams are illusory experiences is universally accepted.

1. To the psychologist, the dream is a simple form of natural

expression which occurs only when the activity of the brain is depressed by sleep or by the influence of anesthetics or drugs. It has much in common with the fantasies and daydreams of waking life and differs from them mainly in being expressed in a dramatic form in which the dreamer himself appears to play a part.

1. When dreaming, moreover, one tends to believe fully in the

«reality» of the dream world, however inconsistent, illogical and bizarre it may be. It is only when one awakes that the happenings of the dream dissolve into a half-forgotten tissue of fantasy.

1. Although most dreams appear to arise spontaneously, there

is no doubt that dream-activity may be provoked by external influences. «Suffocation» dreams, for instance, can usually be traced to partial interference with breathing, and a dream of racing fire-engines may be set off by the ringing of an alarm-clock. Internal influences, too, provoke vivid dreams, as so many sufferers from indigestion will testify.

1. Experiments have been carried out in which a sleeper is

pricked by a pin and asked on awakening to relate any dream which he experienced. In such cases it is commonly found that the painful sensation has provoked a vivid dream. Thus, a mild prick may induce the dream of fighting a duel and receiving a severe wound. It will be apparent that although the dream is provoked by the external stimulus (that is the prick), its content (that is the duel) is largely determined by the associations to which it gives rise in the mind of the sleeper.

1. The sense of time is often said to be greatly altered in dreams.

There is some evidence that dream happenings which seem to occupy a very considerable time occur, in fact, within the space of a few seconds. Thus, a dreamer who is awakened by the striking of a clock may report quite elaborate dream which appear to have been provoked by the first stroke. Similar distortions in time sense may also be induced in the waking state by certain drugs, such as hashish or opium; and they are probably due to chemical changes in the activity of the brain.

1. People differ very much in the frequency of their dreams.

Some claim to dream every night, others – very occasionally. Although it is probable that there exist real individual differences in the capacity to dream, it must be borne in mind that some people appear to forget their dreams much more rapidly than others and are therefore apt to claim that they seldom dream.