【背景介绍】

梦，是窥探内心的一面隐秘之镜，是另一种虚幻却真实的人生体验。正如庄周梦蝶，我们常常会被奇异怪诞的梦境所震惊，并感到迷惑：“昨晚让梦魇着了，没有睡好觉。”。仿佛有一种不可知的力量在压迫着你，使你无法呼吸畅通。人们想要摆脱这种梦魇，但却无法睁开眼睛，无法动弹。

【英文原文】

Lots of people have had dreams that seem to foretell the future. Some psychologists attribute this to “retrieval cues.”

Retrieval cues?

A retrieval cue is a coincidence in the real world that triggers a dream memory which otherwise would have gone unnoticed.

For example, did you know you dreamed about a little dog before the real dog showed up?

Oh, yes, I was thinking about it all morning.

Really?

Welll, I think so.

Maybe, or maybe the real event triggered a recollection of a dream, which not seems like it must have been in your thoughts all along. By the way did you have any other dreams last night that didn't come true?

Hmm, I don't remember what other else I dreamed.

Why not? Some studies suggest we have literally hundreds of dreams each night.

Ok, I get the point. Maybe this dreaming the future stuff is more like picking and choosing dreams when they happen to fit.

Coincidences are bound to come up. And if the coincidence acts as retrieval cue, the sense that you predicted something can be pretty convincing… even if it’s just a dream.

参考译文

很多人似乎都做过一些预示着未来的梦。一些心理学家将之归咎于“回想提示”。

回想提示？

回想提示是指在现实世界的一件事触发一个人们记忆中存在的梦。

例如，在有只小狗之前你真的梦到了它吗？

哦，是的，我这一上午都在想。

真的吗？

恩，我想是这样。

也许，也许现实时间引发了你对一个梦的零散记忆，你昨晚是不是还做了其他的什么梦？

嗯，我不记得我还有什么其他的梦。

为什么呢？一些研究表明，我们每晚会做成千上万的梦。

好吧，我明白了。也许今天早上发生的事和我昨天晚上做的一些梦零零散散地有些相似，他们正好适合。

巧合必将出现。而如果巧合充当检索线索，那么从预测的意义上，还是很有说服力的...即使它只是一个梦。

重点词汇

1.Retrieval n. 取回，恢复，[计]检索

如：Lost possessions beyond retrieval.
无法挽回的失去物品

A number used in information storage or retrieval that is assigned to a specific memory location.
存储器位置，地址，编址指定于某个特定区域内，用于信息存储或提取的数

2.trigger vt. 触发，发射

3.recollection n. 记忆，回想，回忆

如：His recollection of the campaign is not too clear.
他对竞选的记忆不是那么清楚。

That evening together is one of my happiest recollections.
我们一起欢度的那个晚上是我最快乐的事情之一。

4. literally 不夸张地

如：The prediction was literally accomplished.
这个预言确实实现了。

Idioms usually cannot be translated literally in another language.
成语通常不能照字面译成另一种语言。