VEDUCHINA英语

Of all the components of a good night's sleep, dreams seem to be least within our control. Indreams, a window opens into a world where logic is suspended and dead people speak. Acentury ago, Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguisedshadows of our unconscious desires and fears; by thelate 1970s, neurologists had switched tothinking of them as just "mental noise"-the random byproducts of the neural repair work thatgoes on during sleep. Now researchers suspect that dreams are part of the mind's emotionalthermostat, regulating moods while the brain is "off line." And one leading authority says thatthese intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought underconscious control, to help us sleep and feel better. "It's your dream," says RosalindCartwright, chair of psychologyat Chicago's Medical Center, "if you don't like it, change it."

　　he link between dreams and emotions shows up among the patients in Cartwright's clinic. Mostpeople seem to have more bad dreams early in the night, progressing toward happier onesbefore awakening, suggesting that they are working through negative feelings generatedduring the day. Because our conscious mind is occupied with daily life we don't always thinkabout the emotional significance of the day's events-until, it appears, we begin to dream.

　　And this process need not be left to the unconscious. Cartwright believes one can exerciseconscious control over recurring bad dreams. As soon as you awaken, identify what isupsetting about the dream. Visualizehow you would like it to end instead; the next time itoccurs, try to wake up just enough to control its course. With much practice people can learnto, literally, do it in their sleep.

　　At the end of the day, there's probably little reason to pay attention to our dreams at all unlessthey keep us from sleeping or "we wake up in panic," Cartwright says. Terrorism, economicuncertainties and general feelings of insecurity have increased people's anxiety. Thosesuffering from persistent nightmares should seek help from a therapist. For the rest of us, thebrain has its ways of working through bad feelings.Sleep-or rather dream-on it and you'll feelbetter in the morning.

　　练习题：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.By saying that “dreams are part of the mind's emotional thermostat," (Lines 4-5, Para. 1) the researchers mean that _______.

　　A.we can think logically in the dreams too

　　B.dreams can be brought under conscious control

　　C.dreams represent our unconscious desires and fears

　　D.dreams can help us keep our mood comparatively stable

　　2.What did Cartwright find in her clinic?

　　A.Most bad dreams were followed by happier ones.

　　B.Divorced couples usually have more bad dreams.

　　C.One’s dreaming process is related to his emotion.

　　D.People having negative feelings dream more often.

　　3.Cartwright believed with much practice，we can learn to _____.

　　A.control what dreams to dream

　　B.sleep well without any dreams

　　C.wake up in time to stop the bad dreams

　　D.identify what is upsetting about the dreams

　　4.The author points out that a person who has constant bad dreams should ______

　　A.learn to control his dreams

　　B.consult a doctor

　　C.sleep and dream on it

　　D.get rid of anxiety first

　　5.The author most probably thinks that controlling dreams is ______.

　　A.a good practice

　　B.a new discovery

　　C.helpful for everyone

　　D.not essential for everyone

　　1.[D] 词义理解题。在第1段第4句中，逗号后面的regulating moods是对emotional thermostat的功能进行解释说明，因此可以推断出选项D正确。

　　2.[C] 事实细节题。最具干扰的是选项A，因为其陈述与第2段第2句的陈述有点相似,但是，此长句说的是大多数人上半夜做噩梦，之后都会做好梦，而不是像选项A中所说大多数噩梦之后是好梦。而且，根据本段第1 句，很明显，选项C是这一句的近义替换。

　　3 [C] 推理判断题。本题考査对代词的理解。在第3段的最后一句中，代词it应指上文说到的控制噩梦，及时醒来等做法，因此只有选项C涉及了其中一个做法。选项A太泛了，选项B和D在文中并无提及。

　　4.[B] 事实细节题。本题考查根据构词法猜测词义的能力。解题关键是推断最后一段第3句中therapist的意义，在考纲词汇表中，therapy是“治疗”的意思，因此，therapist应该是专门负责某种治疗的医生，由此可见，选项B是对原文seek help from a therapist的近义替换。

　　5.[D] 观点态度题。根据最后一句可以推断作者认为如无必要，梦还是不要控制的好。做梦会让你早上感觉舒服一些，因此本题应选D。

　　Imagine you went to a restaurant with a date; had a burger, paid with a credit card, and left. The next time you go there, the waiter or waitress, armed with your profile data, greets you with, "Hey Joe, how are you? Mary is over there in the seat you sat in last time. Would you like to join her for dinner again?" Then you find out that your burger has been cooked and your drink is on the table. Forget the fact that you are with another date and are on a diet that doesn’t include burgers. Sound a little bizarre? To some, this is restaurant equivalent of the Internet.The Net’s ability to profile you through your visits to and interactions at websites provides marketers with an enormous amount of data on you—some of which you may notwant them to have.

　　Are you aware that almost every time you access a website you get a “cookie”? Unfortunately, it’s not the Mrs. Reid’s type. A cookie on the Internet is a computer code sent by the site to your computer—usually without your knowledge. During the entire period of time that you are at the site, the cookie is collecting information about your interaction, including where you visit, how long you stay there, how frequently you return to certain pages, and even your electronic address. Fill out a survey to collect free information or samples, and marketers know even more about you—like your name, address, and any other information you provide. While this may sound scary enough, cookies aren’t even the latest in technology. A new system called I-librarian Alexa—named for the legendary third century B.C. library in Alexandria, Egypt—does even more. While cookies track what you are doing at one site, Alexa collects data on all your Web activity, such as which sites you visit next, how long you stay there, whether you click on ads，etc. All thisinformation is available to marketers, who use it to market more effectively to you. Not only do you not get paid for providing the information, you probably don’t even know that you are giving it.

 

　　英语四级阅读模拟题：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1.In the restaurant story, the author may most probably think the waiter or waitress was ________ 。

　　A. considerate

　　B. polite

　　C. irritating

　　D. unsmart

　　2.The author makes up the restaurant story in order to _______ 。

　　A.show the good service offered in some Web restaurants

　　B.criticize some restaurants for too considerate service

　　C.show the Internet’s ability to collect data on you

　　D.prove the incredible power of the Internet

　　3.What can be learned about “cookie” from the second paragraph?

　　A.It was first created by Mrs. Reid.

　　B.It collects information on you without your knowing it

　　C.It’s some information sent to your computer about yourself.

　　D.It’s the latest in technology.

　　4.What can be learned about "Alexa" from the second paragraph?

　　A.Alexa is named after an ancient hero in Egypt

　　B.Alexa is installed in libraries.

　　C.Alexa can collect all the necessary data on you.

　　D.Alexa can provide more data for marketers than a cookie.

　　5.Which of the following words can best reflect the author’s attitude to cookies and Alexa?

　　A. Critical

　　B. Suspicious.

　　C. Objective.

　　D. Optimistic.

　　英语四级阅读参考答案

　　1.[C] 推理判断题。第1段中，乔另约了一名新女友去餐馆，餐馆服务员却招呼他坐在上次约会的女友身边，并且为他准备了与上次同样的食品，包括他节食忌用的汉堡，这样的服务肯定会使乔做出负面的评价.因此选项A和选项B部不对。此外，这个故亊是为了指出滥用别人的个人资料会惹人讨厌，因此可推断乔对餐厅服务员的做法会感到生气。选项D虽然也是反面的评价，但是这个选项可能表明乔不介意自己的资料被盗用，只是觉得餐厅服务员使用的时候不够灵活。这与文章的主题不符。

　　2.[C] 推理判断题。本题考查例子与主题之间的关系。答题的依据是第1段最后两句，文章指出餐馆跟因特网一样，它们都收集用户的信息。选项A和B都只渗及表面，选項D则不如选项C确切、具体。

　　3.[B] 事实细节题。选择依据是第2段第3句及第4句。选项B是对这两句话的归纳。选項A谈的是可食用的甜饼，而不是本文叙述的用于收集用户信息的一种软件。选項C是对第2段第3、4句的歪曲理解。文章明确提出了cookie不是最新的发明，选項D不正确。

　　4.[D] 事实细节题。本句考查复杂句的理解，并涉及两个事物的对比。第2段介绍Alexa时，指明它does even more，接着用while连接一个让步状语从句，其主句是关于Alexa的信息，据此可以判断选项D正确。选项 A和B与原文不符，容易排除。选項C指出Alexa能收集到所有必要的资料，这是对其作用的夸大，实际上，根据倒数第3句，它收集的只是所有网上活动的资料。

　　5.[A] 观点态度题。判断依据是文中作者所使用的一些词句，如：usually without your knowledge, sound scary及最后一句。这些显示了作者对cookie和Alexa持反对、批评的态度。