What Are Dreams? - IELTS Reading Sample with Explanation
The second task of the IELTS is the reading section. It is an important section of IELTS that consists of a comprehensive passage. Candidates must thoroughly read the passage, and answer questions related to the passage. This IELTS Reading sample What are dreams contains two question types
- Matching Headings
- Choose the Correct Letter
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
What Are Dreams? IELTS Reading Sample
A.
Thousands of years ago, dreams were seen as messages from the gods, and in many cultures, they are still considered prophetic. In ancient Greece, sick people slept at the temples of Asclepius, the god of medicine, in order to receive dreams that would heal them. Modern dream science really began at the end of the 19th century with Sigmund Freud, who theorized that dreams were the expression of unconscious desires often stemming from childhood. He believed that exploring these hidden emotions through analysis could help cure mental illness. The Freudian model of psychoanalysis dominated until the 1970s when new research into the chemistry of the brain showed that emotional problems could have biological or chemical roots, as well as environmental ones. In other words, we weren’t sick just because of something our mothers did (or didn’t do), but because of some imbalance that might be cured with medication.
B.
After Freud, the most important event in dream science was the discovery in the early 1950s of a phase of sleep characterized by intense brain activity and rapid eye movement (REM). People awakened in the midst of REM sleep reported vivid dreams, which led researchers to conclude that most dreaming took place during REM. Using the electroencephalogram (EEG), researchers could see that brain activity during REM resembled that of the waking brain. That told them that a lot more was going on at night than anyone had suspected. But what, exactly?
C.
Scientists still don’t know for sure, although they have lots of theories. On one side are scientists like Harvard’s Allan Hobson, who believes that dreams are essentially random. In the 1970s, Hobson and his colleague Robert McCarley proposed what they called the “activation-synthesis hypothesis’” which describes how dreams are formed by nerve signals sent out during REM sleep from a small area at the base of the brain called the pons. These signals, the researchers said, activate the images that we call dreams. That put a crimp in dream research; if dreams were meaningless nocturnal firings, what was the point of studying them?
D.
Adult humans spend about a quarter of their sleep time in REM, much of it dreaming. During that time, the body is essentially paralyzed but the brain is buzzing. Scientists using PET and fMRI technology to watch the dreaming brain
have found that one of the most active areas during REM is the limbic system, which controls our emotions. Much less
active is the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logical thinking. That could explain why dreams in REM sleep often lack a coherent storyline (some researchers have also found that people dream in non-REM sleep as well, although those dreams generally are less vivid.) Another active part of the brain in REM sleep is the anterior cingulate cortex, which detects discrepancies. Eric Nofzinger, director of the Sleep Neuroimaging Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, thinks that could be why people often figure out thorny problems in their dreams. “As if the brain surveys the internal milieu and tries to figure out what it should be doing, and whether our actions conflict with who we are,” he says.
E.
These may seem like vital mental functions, but no one has yet been able to say that REM sleep or dreaming is essential to life or even sanity. MAO inhibitors, an older class of antidepressants, essentially block REM sleep without any detectable effects, although people do get a “REM rebound” – extra REM – if they stop the medication. That’s also true of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac, which reduce dreaming by a third to a half. Even permanently losing the ability to dream doesn’t have to be disabling. Israeli researcher Peretz Lavie has been observing a patient named Yuval Chamtzani, who was injured by a fragment of shrapnel that penetrated his brain when he was 19. As a result, he gets no REM sleep and doesn’t remember any dreams. But Lavie says that Chamtzani, now 55, “is probably the most normal person I know and one of the most successful ones.” He’s a lawyer, a painter and the editor of a puzzle column in a popular Israeli newspaper.
F.
The mystery of REM sleep is that even though it may not be essential, it is ubiquitous – at least in mammals and birds. But that doesn’t mean all mammals and birds dream (or if they do, they’re certainly not – talking about it). Some researchers think REM may have evolved for physiological reasons. “One thing that’s unique about mammals and birds is that they regulate body temperature”, says neuroscientist Jerry Siegel, director of UCLA’s Center for Sleep Research. “There’s no good evidence that any coldblooded animal has REM sleep.” REM sleep heats up the brain and non-REM cools it off, Siegel says, and that could mean that the changing sleep cycles allow the brain to repair itself. “It seems likely that REM sleep is filling a basic physiological function and that dreams are a kind of epiphenomenon,” Siegel says – an extraneous byproduct; like foam on beer.
G.
Whatever the function of dreams at night, they clearly can play a role in therapy during the day. The University of Maryland’s Clara Hill, who has studied the use of dreams in therapy, says that dreams are a ‘backdoor into a patient’s thinking. “Dreams reveal stuff about you that you didn’t know was there,” she says. The therapists she trains to work with patients’ dreams are, in essence, heirs to Freud, using dream imagery to uncover hidden emotions and feelings. Dreams provide clues to the nature of the more serious mental illness. Schizophrenics, for example, have poor-quality dreams, usually about objects rather than people. “If you’re going to understand human behavior,” says Rosalind Cartwright, a chairman of psychology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, “here’s a big piece of it. Dreaming is our own storytelling time – to help us know who we are, where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.” Cartwright has been studying depression in divorced men and women, and she is finding that “good dreamers,” people who have vivid dreams with strong storylines, are less likely to remain depressed. She thinks that dreaming helps diffuse strong emotions. “Dreaming is a mental-health activity,” she says.
Section 2
Solution and Explanation
The Reading Passage has seven Paragraphs, A-G.
Which Paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct number, A-G, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
- Reference of an artist’s dreams who has versatile talents
Answer: Paragraph E
Supporting Sentence: But Lavie says that Chamtzani, now 55, “is probably the most normal person I know and one of the most successful ones.” He’s a lawyer, a painter, and the editor of a puzzle column in a popular Israeli newspaper.
Keywords: lawyer, painter, editor
Keyword Location: Paragraph E, last sentence
Explanation: Chamtzani is portrayed as an artist as he’s a lawyer, painter and editor, which shows his versatility. His dreams are being talked about in the passage.
Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples
- The dream actually happens to many animals
Answer: Paragraph F
Supporting Sentence: The mystery of REM sleep is that even though it may not be essential, It is ubiquitous at least in mammals and birds.
Keywords: mammals, birds
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, line 1
Explanation: The passage states that Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, wherein a person sees dreams, is although not essential to be present in every living being, it happens in the case of mammals and birds, but not all animals.
- Dreams are related to benefit and happiness
Answer: Paragraph G
Supporting Sentence: Cartwright has been studying depression in divorced men and women, and she is finding that “good dreamers,” people who have vivid dreams with strong storylines, are less likely to remain depressed.
Keywords: good dreamers, less likely to remain depressed
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, line 8
Explanation: People having powerful and impressive dreams are referred to as “good dreamers” in the passage. As stated by Cartwright, they are less likely to be depressed. This shows that dreams represent the benefits and happiness of a person.
- advanced scientific technologies applied in the investigation of the REM stage.
Answer: Paragraph D
Supporting Sentence: Scientists using PET and fMRI technology to watch the dreaming brain have found that one of the most active areas during REM is the limbic system, which controls our emotions.
Keywords: PET and fMRI technology
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line 3
Explanation: It is clearly mentioned in the passage that PET and fMRI technology, which are advanced, are used to investigate the REM stage.
- questioning concern raised about the usefulness of investigation on dreams
Answer: Paragraph C
Supporting Sentence: That put a crimp in dream research; if dreams were meaningless nocturnal firings, what was the point of studying them?
Keywords: what was the point of studying them?
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, last sentence
Explanation: Some scientists believe that dreams are just random happenings, whereas some say that they are formed by nerve signals sent from the pons. These theories have put a limit to dream research and also have raised concerns about the research being pointless if dreams are merely random events happening at night, referred to as “nocturnal firings”.
Questions 32-34
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D
Write your answers in boxes 32-34 on your answer sheet.
- What were dreams regarded as by ancient people?
- superstitious and unreliable
- communication with gods and chance to predict the future
- medical relief for children with an ill desire
- rules to follow as they fell asleep in a temple
Answer: Option B
Supporting Sentence: Thousands of years ago, dreams were seen as messages from the gods, and in many cultures, they are still considered prophetic.
Keywords: messages from the gods, prophetic
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, line 1
Explanation: It is clearly stated in the passage that dreams were considered as messages from gods and accurate future predictions, referred to as “prophetic”.
- According to Paragraph D, which part of the brain controls reasoning?
- anterior cingulate cortex
- internal cortex
- limbic system
- prefrontal cortex
Answer: Option D
Supporting Sentence: Much less active in the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logical thinking.
Keywords: logical thinking
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, line 4
Explanation: It is mentioned in the passage that the prefrontal cortex is responsible for reasoning, also known as “logical thinking”.
- What can we conclude when the author cited a reference for dreams in animals?
- Brain temperature rises when REM pattern happens
- The reason why mammals are warm-blooded
- mammals are bound to appear with more frequent REM.
- REM makes people want to drink beer with more foam.
Answer: Option A
Supporting Sentence: REM sleep heats up the brain and non-REM sleep cools it off, Siegal says, and that could mean that the changing sleep cycles allow the brain to repair itself.
Keywords: REM sleep, heats up, cools off
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, line 6
Explanation: It is stated in the passage that REM sleep heats the brain up, while non-REM cools it down.
Questions 35-40
Look at the following people and the list of statements below.
Match each statement with the correct person, A-G.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
List of People:
- Sigmund Freud
- Allan Hobson (Harvard)
- Robert McCarley
- Eric Nofzinger
- Jerry Siegel
- Clara Hill
- Rosalind Cartwright
- Dreams sometimes come along with REM as no more than a trivial attachment
Answer: E
Supporting Sentence: It seems likely that the REM sleep is filling a basic physiological function and that dreams are a kind of epiphenomenon”, Siegal says – an extraneous byproduct, like foam on beer.
Keywords: epiphenomenon, Siegal, extraneous byproduct
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, last sentence
Explanation: In the passage, Siegal says that dreams are a byproduct and are “extraneous”, which can roughly be interpreted as “of less importance or value”.
- Exploring patients’ dreams would be beneficial for treatment as it reveals the unconscious thinking
Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: The therapists she trains to work with patients’ dreams are, in essence, heirs to Freud, using dream imagery to uncover hidden emotions and feelings. Dreams provide clues to the nature of the more serious mental illness.
Keywords: clues, mental illness
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, Lines 4-5
Explanation: Clara Hills believes that dreams give an insight into people’s thinking. She teaches therapists to deduce dreams to explore hidden feelings and sentiments. Therefore, dreams help in understanding the features and extent of severe mental health issues.
- Dreams help people cope with the difficulties they meet in the daytime
Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Eric Nofzinger, director of the Sleep Neuroimaging Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, thinks that could be why people often figure out thorny problems in their dreams. “It’s as if the brain surveys the internal milieu and tries to figure out what it should be doing, and whether our actions conflict with who we are,” he says.
Keywords: Eric Nofzinger, thorny problems, internal milieu
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, lines 7-8
Explanation: According to Eric Nofzinger, people often discover or try to resolve a difficult problem in their dreams. This happens because of regions responsible for emotions, reasoning and detecting dissimilarities being more active during REM sleep. It is similar to the brain going through the person’s internal environment and trying to solve their issues and finding out differences between their own nature and actions.
- Decoding dreams would provide a reminder to human desire in the early days
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: Modern dream science really begins at the end of the 19th century with Sigmund Freud, who theorized that dreams were the expression of unconscious desires often stemming from childhood. He believed that exploring these hidden emotions through analysis could help cure mental illness.
Keywords: Sigmund Freud, unconscious desires, exploring, hidden emotions
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 3-4
Explanation: According to Sigmund Freud, dreams were representations of unintentional or unrealized childhood wishes, and if explored, can help in curing mental health issues.
- Dreams are a body function to control strong emotion
Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: She thinks that dreaming helps diffuse strong emotions.|
Keywords: strong emotions
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, line 10
Explanation: It is clearly mentioned in the passage that, according to Rosalind Cartwright, dreams assist in managing strong emotions. They help humans know who they are and where and how they are heading.
- Dreams seem to be as randomly occurring and have limited research significance.
Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: On one side are scientists like Harvard’s Allan Hobson, who believes that dreams are essentially random
Keywords: essentially random, Harvard’s Allan Hobson
Keyword Location: Paragraph C, lines 3-4
Explanation: It is clearly stated in Paragraph C, that Allan Hobson believed that dreams were nothing but essentially random, and if so there was no point in studying them further.
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