Nightmares

Intro
Have you ever had a recurring dream? Hopefully it was something nice, like eating a big plate of chocolate or meeting someone famous. What about nightmares? One bad dream can  ruin   a healthy night of sleep, but a recurring bad dream is hard to live with, especially if it happens over and over.
Nightmares can symbolize  that something difficult is going on in your life. Some people believe that it’s important to analyze   your dreams to find out what you’re so worried about. It might be an exam in school that is making you anxious, or a big change in your life, like getting married. Fortunately, it’s quite likely that the nightmares will go away after a while. Don’t lose hope!
Find out what Lily’s nightmare is all about in this English lesson about having trouble sleeping.

Dialogue

Lily: I just had the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in my life!

Marni: Oh, no! I’m so sorry. Are you OK?

Lily: It’s like this  recurring dream  that I have where I’m stuck in a box and I can’t get out. It just leaves me really freaked out . I can’t handle it ! And the box doesn’t have a lid, so I can’t get out.

Marni: Man, that is twisted.

Lily: Tell me about it.

Marni: You know, there’s nothing that’s going to  ruin   a good night’s sleep more than having a bad dream.

Lily: It’s like my  subconscious  has it in for me  or something. All of these weird visions  s pop up in my head when I’m sleeping. It freaks me out!

Marni: Have you ever thought about going to seek professional help? Maybe get someone to analyze this dream?
Lily: Oh, that’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll do that.

Marni: I mean, if it’s recurring. It sounds kind of scary, and it’s clearly affecting you.

Lily: OK, maybe I’ll do that.

Marni: You know, they say that bad dreams and nightmares have something to do with your real life, so it probably does symbolize something.

Lily: I don’t want to figure out what it is, because I’ll bet that’s more stressful than the dream.

Marni: You need a good night’s sleep, so I would suggest trying it.

Lily: All right. I will. I’ll make an appointment right now.
Discussion

Lily had a terrible dream. She dreamed that she was in a box with no lid, and she couldn’t get out. To make things worse, she has this dream over and over. She can’t make it stop, and it’s starting to make her feel a little freaked out .

Marni feels for Lily. Nobody likes nightmares, and this one sounds especially terrible. She suggests that Lily could get professional help from someone who can analyze   the dream. If she can figure out why she’s having this nightmare, maybe Lily can sort things out in her life.

Do you have nightmares? What happens in them? Do you think dreams symbolize something, or are they just dreams?

Grammar Point

Comparatives and Superlatives

Lily tells Marni that she had “the worst nightmare.” This is an example of a superlative.
Comparatives and superlatives help us compare people, places, or things.
There are two ways to form comparatives. For most long adjectives, which have three or more syllables, we use more, as in, “Sarah is more beautiful than Martha.” With short adjectives, which have only one or two syllables, we add -er to the end of the word, as in, “Jacob is smarter than Ed.” For short adjectives ending in y, like “happy,” we drop the “y” and add -ier, as in, “I am happier now that I quit my job.”

Similarly, we form superlatives with the most or by adding -est, depending on the length of the adjective. With long adjectives we say, “He is the most intelligent person I’ve ever met. With short adjectives we say, “Johhny is the fastest runner on the team.” For short adjectives ending in y, we drop the “y” and add -iest, as in, “She is the prettiest girl in the world.”

Which is correct, “He is the quickest swimmer on the team,” or, “He is the quicker swimmer on the team”?