he link between dreams and emotions shows up among the patients in Cartwright's clinic. Most people seem to have more bad dreams early in the night, progressing toward happier ones before awakening, suggesting that they are working through negative feelings generated during the day. Because our conscious mind is occupied with daily life we don't always think about 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 exercise conscious control over recurring bad dreams. As soon as you awaken, identify what is upsetting about the dream. Visualizehow you would like it to end instead; the next time it occurs, try to wake up just enough to control its course. With much practice people can learn to, 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 unless they keep us from sleeping or "we wake up in panic," Cartwright says. Terrorism, economic uncertainties and general feelings of insecurity have increased people's anxiety. Those suffering from persistent nightmares should seek help from a therapist. For the rest of us, the brain has its ways of working through bad feelings.Sleep-or rather dream-on it and you'll feel better in the morning.
練習題：
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] 詞義理解題。在第1段第4句中，逗號后面的regulating moods是對emotional thermostat的功能進行解釋說明，因此可以推斷出選項D正確。
2.[C] 事實細節(jié)題。最具干擾的是選項A，因為其陳述與第2段第2句的陳述有點相似,但是，此長句說的是大多數(shù)人上半夜做噩夢，之后都會做好夢，而不是像選項A中所說大多數(shù)噩夢之后是好夢。而且，根據(jù)本段第1 句，很明顯，選項C是這一句的近義替換。
3 [C] 推理判斷題。本題考査對代詞的理解。在第3段的最后一句中，代詞it應指上文說到的控制噩夢，及時醒來等做法，因此只有選項C涉及了其中一個做法。選項A太泛了，選項B和D在文中并無提及。
4.[B] 事實細節(jié)題。本題考查根據(jù)構詞法猜測詞義的能力。解題關鍵是推斷最后一段第3句中therapist的意義，在考綱詞匯表中，therapy是“治療”的意思，因此，therapist應該是專門負責某種治療的醫(yī)生，由此可見，選項B是對原文seek help from a therapist的近義替換。
5.[D] 觀點態(tài)度題。根據(jù)最后一句可以推斷作者認為如無必要，夢還是不要控制的好。做夢會讓你早上感覺舒服一些，因此本題應選D。
