Spend too long watching old movies this holiday season, and your nightlife might seem a lot less colourful. ~ When we are surrounded by black and white imagery, we think our dreams are monochrome, says a US philosopher.
　　In surveys from the 1950s--the golden age of black and white--most said that their dreams were never or rarely in colour, found Eric Schwitzgebel of the University of California, Riverside. Before and since, most have reported colourful dreams.
　　The finding shows how little we know our own senses, says Schwitzgebel. This is one piece of a general picture--our knowledge of our stream of experience is very poor.
　　American dreaming in the Eisenhower era was no different to that in any other period, Schwitzgebel thinks. People were just more likely to believe that they dreamed in black and white, because that reflected the artificial dreams around them. Before the twentieth century, dreams were often compared to paintings or tapestries.
　　We know little about what a dreaming brain is up to, comments neuroscientist Daniel Glaser. Brain scans of sleepers might show whether the brain regions that process colour vision are active during vivid dreams, he says.
　　Another possibility is that dream colours are indeterminate, in the same way that a novelist can describe something without naming its colour. They would only become coloured, or not, in our waking reconstruction of them.
　　When people say that they dream in black and white, they probably mean that they haven’t noticed any colours, says psychologist Mark Blagrove of the University of Wales, UK.
　　Black and white dreaming is a concept borrowed from technology, he agrees. The idea that things in dreams are in shades of grey has no meaning.
Our waking perceptions of colour are just as fluid. Only the central patch of the retina can see in colour, yet we perceive the whole world as coloured. Our eyes jump around, and the brain fills in the gaps with memory or guesswork. Our feeling that we see in colour could be akin to our perception of dreaming in colour, Glaser says.
　　The media probably influence our dreaming lives as much now as they did in the 1950s. Few people mention touch in dreams, Schwitzgebel points out--that’ s why people pinch themselves to see if they’ reawake.
　　But as entertainment becomes more immersive--with virtual reality providing tactile, as well as visual, stimulation--our dreams may come to seem more touchy-feely. We might start thinking ourdreams are really great, he says. [426 words]
　　1. Schwitzgebel believes that ______.
　　A. our knowledge is very poor
　　B. dreams in 1950s were never in colour
　　C. we have little knowledge about our own senses
　　D. most people tend to dream in black and white
　　2. In the future, ______.
　　A. none will dream in black and white
　　B. we might not be able to see whether we are dreaming by pinching ourselves
　　C. the media will influence our dreaming much less than they do now
　　D. dream colours will become determinate
　　3. According to neuroscientist Daniel Glaser, ______ .
　　A. people never dream in black and white
　　B. it is meaningless to say dreaming in black and white
　　C. much work has to be done before we know why a brain dreams
　　D. we are incapable of perceiving the world around us in colour
　　4. It can be inferred from this passage that our dreams ______.
　　A. are somewhat influenced by what we watch during waking hours
　　B. black and white dreaming results from watching old movies
　　C. people who dream in black and white are all colour-blind
　　D. what we dream are certainly what we have seen
　　5. The best title for this passage should be ______
　　A. Artificial Dreams
　　B. Our Future Dreams
　　C. American Dreaming in the Eisenhower Era
　　D. Black and White Imagery Makes Dreams Monochrome

　难句透析
　　①”Spend too long watchin old movies this holiday season,and your nightlife might seem a lot less colourful．【结构】本句是由“and”连接的两个分句组成的并列句。第一个分句是省略了主语的祈使句。情态动词"might”表虚拟。
　　【释义】趁这次休假时机看老片子，看的时间过长的话，你的梦境可能就没什么色彩了。
　　②[In surveys from the 1950s--the golden age of black and white--most said(that their dreams were never Or rare— ly in colour)]，found Eric Sehwitzgebel of the University of California，Riverside．
　　【结构】本句是倒装句，主语是“Eric Schwitzgebel of the University of California，Riverside”，谓语动词是“found”，方括号所标示的部分是“found”的宾语从句。这个宾语从句的主语是“most”，谓语动词是“said”。