Chris: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Chris.

Rosie: And I'm Rosie.

Chris: And today we are going to talk about a new invention that promises to

influence our dreams.

Rosie: Oh, that sounds exciting! I love new inventions!

 

Chris: That's good, Rosie! But calm down - hold your horses - because we have to

start with the usual challenge for our listeners. Now, I want to put a question

to you and the answer is linked to sleep and dreams. What do the former

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the former French leader Napoleon

Bonaparte and the famous English nurse Florence Nightingale have in

common?

Rosie: Oh, that's difficult because I didn't think they had very much in common.

Chris: Let me make it easier for you by giving you three options. What do Margaret

Thatcher, Napoleon Bonaparte and Florence Nightingale have in common? Is it

that:

a) They all dreamt of becoming farmers when they were children.

b) They all suffered from a recurring nightmare of being bitten by spiders.

c) They all usually slept for just four hours a night.

Rosie: Mmm… dreaming of being farmers… I dream about being a movie star!

Chris: Well, farmer or movie star, they ended up becoming famous due to their

remarkable achievements. I will give you the answer by the end of the

programme. Now, let's talk about this interesting invention that got you so

fired up. It works in smartphones, Rosie.

Rosie: That's so cool! I just adore my iPhone and have loads of applications on it!

Chris: An 'app' or application is what Professor Richard Wiseman from the

University of Hertfordshire has developed to influence dreams. It plays

specific sounds to you while you are sleeping. You select the sound and the

phone automatically plays it when you're dreaming by monitoring your

movements. Let's hear a report by the BBC's John McManus.

BBC John McManus:

Professor Wiseman says most people have about five dreams every night, but if they are

pleasant, they can lead to people feeling more positive and being more productive during

the day. A recent survey found that most people would choose sounds that prompted

relaxing visions, perhaps set in woods filled with birdsong. Others though, wanted some

night time adventure. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012

 Page 2 of 4

Rosie: So some people wake up feeling better after an agreeable, or a pleasant,

dream. They are able to work more and are more productive. You know, I

feel really sleepy when I get up and I need about three hours before I actually

feel awake.

Chris: And what sort of sounds would make your mind produce – or prompt –

relaxing visions, Rosie?

Rosie: Oh, I'm not too sure. But I am thinking about those nature CDs, the ones with

the waterfall sounds and birds in the forest and things like that.

Chris: Well, for me a dream is all about adventure - all about going up a mountain

and discovering somewhere new or exploring a new country. But it's good to

keep in mind that this technology is in the experimental stage. They even plan

to find a way so that when you wake up, the app will prompt you to

feedback exactly what your dream was and how you felt.

Rosie: So they are still working to develop this project.

Chris: Yes, they are. But let's listen to the final part of John McManus's report to find

out how the technology might be used if it is successful.

BBC John McManus:

A successful experiment could lead to new ways of treating depression and stress. It may

also enhance creativity – Paul McCartney was said to have woken from a dream with the

Beatles hit 'Yesterday' going through his mind, and Mary Shelley was inspired by a dream to

write the horror story 'Frankenstein'. Most of us of course, will be hoping for sweeter dreams

than that.

Rosie: I liked the idea that it could make us even more creative. John McManus said

that it may enhance creativity and the mention of the ex-Beatle Paul

McCartney is really enticing. He came up with so many great songs!

Chris: And the English novelist Mary Shelley was also very creative when she wrote

the horror story, Frankenstein.

Rosie: I would have thought that Frankenstein is more of a nightmare.

Chris: Talking about nightmares, let's go back to our challenge, Rosie. I will repeat

the question, the three options and you can guess the right one. What do the

former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the former French leader

Napoleon Bonaparte and the famous English nurse Florence Nightingale have

in common? Is it:

a) They all dreamt of becoming farmers when they were children but ended

up becoming something else.

b) They all suffered from a recurring nightmare of being bitten by spiders.

c) They all usually slept for just four hours a night.

Rosie: Oh, that's a very difficult question. I think I'm going to go for (b) – the

nightmare of being bitten by spiders.

Chris: Okay. Well, the answer is actually (c) - Margaret Thatcher, Napoleon

Bonaparte and Florence Nightingale usually slept for just four hours a night.

Most people only feel rested after seven or eight hours of sleep but for these

guys four hours would do.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012

 Page 3 of 4

Rosie: That's incredible! So they didn't even have much time to dream?

Chris: Some people might say that they didn't have time enough for nightmares

either! Unfortunately we've run out of time ourselves and have to finish the

programme now. But we leave you with today's words.

Rosie: And here they are:

 hold your horses

 remarkable

fired up

application (or app)

pleasant

productive

prompted

enhance

Chris: Thank you, Rosie. And that's all for today. Bye for now and sweet dreams.

Rosie: Bye.