猫非常贪睡，几乎整天都在打盹儿。那么，它们在睡觉时会做梦吗？会做什么样的梦呢？
What do cats dream about?
by Mary Jo DiLonardo
Cats are really, really good at sleeping. They sleep more than most mammals and twice as much as humans, typically sleeping about 15 hours every day.
mammal /ˈmæm(ə)l/ n. 哺乳动物
With all that shuteye probably comes a good deal of dreaming. It's a little easier to study human dreaming: If you want to know what people dream about, you ask them. But because you can't ask animals and expect to get a response, the science is a little more uncertain.
shuteye /ˈʃʌtaɪ/ = sleep
a good deal of 很多
response /rɪˈspɒns/ n. 回答、回应
uncertain /ʌnˈsɜːt(ə)n/ adj. 不确定的（由certain加上表示否定的前缀un-）
When they close their eyes, it's likely that cats have dreams that are a lot like ours, says Matthew Wilson, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. We dream about our everyday lives and they dream about theirs. We just have different life experiences.
associate /əˈsəʊsiət/ professor 副教授
cognitive /ˈkɒɡnətɪv/ adj. 认知的
everyday /ˈevrideɪ/ adj. 日常的（由every和day组成）
Like us, cats have rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is when most dreaming occurs. During REM sleep, heart rate and breathing gets faster and eyes move about quickly in different directions.
movement /ˈmuːvmənt/ n. 移动（由move加后缀-ment变成名词）
occur /əˈkɜː(r)/ v. 发生
rate /reɪt/ n. 率、速率
move about = move around 来回移动
In the 1960s, sleep researcher Michel Jouvet studied the biology of REM sleep in cats through experiments that made the cats' REM activity more visible. When REM began, instead of just lying there, the cats acted aggressively – arching their backs, pouncing（猛扑） and hissing as they stalked around the room. They acted as if they were looking for prey.
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
activity /ækˈtɪvəti/ n. 活动
visible /ˈvɪzəb(ə)l/ adj. 可见的
act /ækt/ v. 表现得
aggressively /əˈɡresɪvli/ adv. 好斗地、挑衅地（由aggressive加后缀-ly变成副词）
arch /ɑːtʃ/ v. 拱起
hiss /hɪs/ v. 发出嘶嘶声
stalk /stɔːk/ v. 趾高气扬地走
prey /preɪ/ n. 猎物
Veterinary（兽医的） neurologist（神经学家） Adrian Morrison says cats in REM sleep also will move their heads as if they are following or watching something. The research suggests that cats dream of being on the hunt, rather than merely lazily watching the world go by.
suggest /səˈdʒest/ v. 表明
on the hunt 打猎、追捕
merely /ˈmɪəli/ adv. 仅仅
lazily /ˈleɪz(ə)li/ adv. 懒洋洋地（由lazy加后缀-ly变成副词）
Cats are crepuscular, meaning they are most active and awake during twilight（暮色） at dusk and dawn, says Rubin Naiman, a clinical psychologist specializing in integrative sleep and dream medicine at the University of Arizona's Center for Integrative Medicine. The rest of the day and night, they are in a hazy land of sleep-wake.
dusk /dʌsk/ n. 黄昏
dawn /dɔːn/ n. 黎明
clinical /ˈklɪnɪk(ə)l/ adj. 临床的
psychologist /saɪˈkɒlədʒɪst/ n. 心理学家（由psychology加上表示人的后缀-ist）
specialize /ˈspeʃ(ə)laɪz/ v. 专门从事、专攻（由special加后缀-ize变成动词）
integrative /ˈɪntɪɡrətɪv/ adj. 整合的、一体化的（由integrate加后缀-ive变成形容词）
hazy /ˈheɪzi/ adj. 朦胧的、模糊的
"Cats reside in the boundary between night and day – between waking and sleep. In fact, cats challenge the commonly held notion that it's impossible to be simultaneously asleep and awake," Naiman says. "Not only are they able to sleep while sitting up, their senses of smell and hearing can remain active during most of their sleep."
reside /rɪˈzaɪd/ v. 停留、驻留
boundary /ˈbaʊnd(ə)ri/ n. 边界、分界线
commonly /ˈkɒmənli/ adv. 普遍地（由common加后缀-ly变成副词）
notion /ˈnəʊʃ(ə)n/ n. 观念
simultaneously /ˌsɪm(ə)lˈteɪniəsli/ adv. 同时发生地
sense /sens/ n. 感觉官能
You may see your cat sleeping peacefully and then he suddenly twitches uncontrollably with paws zipping about in what looks like general discomfort. There's a chance he's having a nightmare, or just reliving a negative event from the day. There's also a good chance it's just the typical muscle twitching that goes along with REM. Even if your cat is having a bad dream, it's not a great idea to wake him up. It's better to let a sleeping cat lie.
peacefully /ˈpiːsf(ə)li/ adv. 平静地（由peaceful加后缀-ly变成副词）
twitch /twɪtʃ/ v. 抽搐、抽动
uncontrollably /ˌʌnkənˈtrəʊləbli/ adv. 无法控制地
paw /pɔː/ n. 爪子、脚爪
zip /zɪp/ v. 快速移动
discomfort /dɪˈskʌmfət/ n. 不舒服（由comfort加上表示否定的前缀dis-）
relive /riːˈlɪv/ v. 重温
negative /ˈneɡətɪv/ adj. 不好的、负面的
muscle /ˈmʌs(ə)l/ n. 肌肉
（如果您发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了，请把您使用的浏览器升级到最新版本就能正常显示了。）
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