Are Dreams as Vital as Sleep?
Information related to the text
1) More about dreams
Do Spike and Tiger dream? Yes. There is
evidence that almost all mammals do. But animal dreams probably lack the
storylike quality of some human dreams. Dreams probably help animals learn and
remember skills needed for survival. So a kitten that learns to catch mice might
dream about the skill, helping its brain to store the memory. In Are Dreams as
Vital as Sleep?, the writer seems to be establishing a sort of relationship
between the brain and dreams.
According to the recent researches,
dreams result from random bursts of activity in a brain stem area that regulates
breathing and other basic bodily functions. These brain stem blasts zip to the
frontal brain during periods of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when the entire
brain becomes nearly as active as when a person is awake. Dreams most often
occur during REM sleep. A slumbering individual enters REM sleep about every 90
minutes. Three essential processes during REM sleep make it the prime time for
dreaming. First, brain stem activity surges and sets off responses in emotional
and visual parts of the brain. Second, brain regions that handle sensations from
the outside world, control movement, and carry out logical analysis shut down.
Third, brain stem cells pump out acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that jacks
up activity in emotional centers. At the same time, two neurotransmitters
essential for waking activity--noradrenaline and serotonin--take a
snooze.
REM sleep conducts far more important business than dreaming. Its
central functions may include supporting brain development, regulating body
temperature, fortifying the immune system, and fostering memories of recently
learned information. To dream, the brain--both in and out of REM
sleep--stimulates a frontal-lobe system that orchestrates motivation and the
pursuit of goals and cravings, one British scientist proposes. A
neurotransmitter called dopamine ferries messages in the brain's motivation
system. If the REM state in one form or another saturates much of sleep, then
the brain stem and related emotional centers create dreams throughout the
night.
2)Language notes
1. Freud(1856-1939)Austrian physician, neurologist, and
founder of psychoanalysis.
2. Psychiatrist: specialist in study and treatment of
treatment of mental illness.
3. neurophychologist: 神经心理学家 scientist who studies the
relationship between the brain and nervous system and behavior.
4. It even occurred to us that it might be connected with the
very special role that whiskers play in the cat, and we actually tried cutting
them off to see whether this might have some effect.
(我们甚至觉得猫须的特殊作用可能与这一现象有联系，而且我们竟然试着将猫须剪掉，看这是否起些作用)
1)“It even occurred to us” means an idea comes to our mind.
2)tried
cutting them off: to cut them off to see the result of.
5.This research was carried out in collaboration with Kleitman and Dement in the United States, among others.
(这一研究同其他研究一起是与美国的克莱特曼和第门特合作进行的。)
“among others” means among other researches
7.We can identify, to within one second, the instance he
begins to dream and the instance his dream ends.
(我们可以确定他开始做梦的时刻与结束做梦的时刻，并且精确到一秒钟以内。)
The preposition “to” is used here to show degree.
9.The center controlling muscular tone, which is no bigger
than a grape seed, lives his dreams.
(控制肌肉紧张性的中枢不到一粒葡萄籽大，使睡梦具有生气。)
The word “live” can also be used as a transitive verb meaning to “to
experience ,or cause to become vivid”
10. It is not a coincidence that the physician chosen to
participate in the first trip to the moon planned by the Americans is a
specialist in sleep.
( 并非巧合，选择参加美国人计划的首次月球旅行的内科医生是一名睡眠中的专家。)
“It is not a coincidence that”
means “ it is not by chance that.”
Text 2
Mind over Time
Information related to the text
1)About the author
Dr. Mark Caldwell, Professor of Literature, Fordham University, is a
voluminous writer. He is the author of The Last Crusade: The American War on
Consumption, 1880- 1954. Dr. Caldwell has written extensively on the texts and
symbols of the American response to tuberculosis. Mark Caldwell's A Short
History of Rudeness: Manners, Morals and Misbehavior in Modern America even
merited a mention in People magazine recently, attention that partly prompted
Picador's return to press on this July release. While the house wouldn't reveal
its inprint figure, the second printing is about 30% of its initial copy outlay.
Caldwell has done the rounds of media, including Newsday, NPR and CNBC. In
addition to getting a review in the New York Times, Caldwell is now set to get a
profile interview in the Times sometime soon.
Mark Caldwell's interest is
wide-ranged. He once published many articles in Discover which include the
famous Mind over Time and Polly wanna PhD?.
2)About the text
Recent discoveries are uncovering the once-mysterious workings of the
body's biological clocks. Apparently at the center of timekeeping, a cluster of
nerve cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), located just above the
optic nerves' convergence at the base of the brain, depends on light for what
circadian-clock researchers call entrainment--synchronizing the inner clock with
the cycles of light and darkness in the external world. The SCN is a pair of
structures, divided between the right and left brain hemispheres, and each
consists of about 10,000 densely packed neurons, according to Steven Reppert of
Harvard University. The development of therapies based on the workings of
circadian clocks is discussed.
3)Language notes
1.It came up on me gradually, over time.
(随着时间的变换，它渐渐降临到我头上。)
The phrase “over time” is equivalent to “with the
change of season”.
2.Some SAD sufferers, he says, simply gravitate toward a
lifestyle that accommodates the disease.
（他说，有些周期性情感失调症患者，倾向于一种易于滋生这种病的生活方式。）
In this sentence the phrase
“gravitate toward” means to be attracted by and move gradually toward
e.g.
In the 19th century, industry gravitated towards the north of England.
3.The bleary-eyed miseries of jet lag are a familiar example
of what can happen when you're hurled across time zones and your personal clock
bumps out of sync with the pace of the rest of the world.
( 常见的例子是时差反映使人眼睛发红、视力模糊，给人带来许多痛苦，往往发生在你被抛到另外的时区生物钟突然与外部世界节奏失调的时候。).
In the sentence, the phrase “out of sync” means not going properly
together. The word “sync” refers to a correct working arrangement or
synchronization.
4. Baby Bens: Baby Bens refers to those clocks
manufactured by Westclox. The Big Ben alarm clock was first sold in 1909 and has
evolved through many case style and movement changes. The Baby Ben was first
sold in 1910 and has evolved in a similar way.
5.These photoreceptors are different from the rods and cones
used to perceive light hitting the retina.
( 这些感光器与那些用于感知刺激视网膜光线的视杆与视锥不同。)
（1） rods and cones是指视杆与视锥。
（2） “used to perceive light hitting the
retina” is a past participle phrase used as an attributive.
（3） “hitting the
retina” is also used as an attributive modifying light.
6. Not everyone has the problem... When natural light is
scarce, the best way to reset the inner clock is with a burst of artificial
light.
Note the useful expressions in this paragraph:
(1) in
tune with与什么谐调
(2) in synchrony with与什么同步，其反义词是out of sync
(3) in step
with与什么节奏一致
7. Underneath it all is one clock, the clock in the
cell.
( 在它下面只是一个时钟，一个细胞中的时钟。)
The word “it” refers to the single neuron mentioned in the above
sentence.
8. In later treatments Lewy worked the dosage down to two
hours of exposure a day at an intensity of 2,500 lux, which approximates the
strength of natural light just after the sun has fully risen.
( 在以后治疗中，洛威将光线照射的剂量减少至2小时，以2500勒克斯的强度进行治疗，这相当于太阳刚刚完全升起时产生的自然光的强度。)
lux 勒克斯是用于衡量光的单位，复数形式是lux(es)或luces.
10. Within days, Jason's depression dissipated, his sleep
habits returned to normal, and the sweet tooth cravings became somewhat less
pronounced.
( 几天以内，杰生的忧郁消失了，他的睡眠习惯恢复了正常，而且他想吃糖的欲望也不常听到了。)
“somewhat less pronounced”means not frequently
mentioned.