Becoming a Minimalist ( 极简主义者 )
I have too many things. My bedroom is often in a mess. I have shelves with dirty books I never read and CDs I don’t listen to. My drawers are filled with clothes I never wear. I was getting upset ( 心烦意乱的 ) that I never had any space in my bedroom. Then I read about minimalist. Minimalist suggests that you only keep the most necessary and important things and get rid of ( 处理掉 ) everything else. After reading about minimalism, I felt encouraged to solve my problem.
I started clearing out a lot of the things which I didn’t use. I collected bags of clothes to give to charity ( 慈善机构 ). I sold some of the CDs and books online. Although I knew that I would never need these things again, I still found it very difficult to get rid of them. My brain tried to stop me from letting them go. I said to myself “I might need that in the future!” or “Won’t I be sad if I lose that?” But the thing was, I knew I couldn’t keep everything.
After getting lots of things out of my room, I actually became quite excited to see the tidy room with some fresh space. And a tidy room also makes me have a clear mind! The main idea behind minimalism is to cut down what you own and really value the things you have. It’s not easy to be a minimalist. We are often told that it is better to have more things. Advertisements try to make us believe that we will only be happy by spending more money buying more things. Of course, I’m not a perfect minimalist — I’ve only just started. I still own a lot of things which I don’t really need, but I think this was a good start. In the future, I will be more mindful of what I buy. And I will continue to make an effort to get rid of what I don’t need.
根据短文内容，回答下列问题。
1 ． Is the writer’s bedroom often in a mess?
__________________________
2 ． When did the writer feel encouraged to solve the problem?
__________________________
3 ． How did the writer get rid of some of the CDs and books?
__________________________
4 ． What is the main idea behind minimalism?
__________________________
5 ． Why is it not easy to be a minimalist?
__________________________
答案
1 ． Yes, it is.
2 ． After reading about minimalism, the writer felt encouraged to solve the problem./After reading about minimalism.
3 ． The writer sold some of the CDs and books online./By selling them online.
4 ． The main idea behind minimalism is to cut down what you own and really value the things you have./To cut down what you own and really value the things you have.
5 ． Because we are often told that it is better to have more things.
【分析】
本文讲述了作者开始过上简约生活之后发现房间由之前的乱糟糟变得整洁了，思维也变得有序了，更加理性地购物，也可以分辨什么是对自己有价值的东西。
1. 根据 “My bedroom is often in a mess.” 可知，作者的房间经常乱糟糟的，故填 Yes, it is.
2. 根据 “After reading about minimalism, I felt encouraged to solve my problem.” 可知，读了关于极简主义的文章后，作者感到有勇气去解决这些问题，故填 After reading about minimalism, the writer felt encouraged to solve the problem./After reading about minimalism.
3. 根据 “I sold some of the CDs and books online.” 可知，作者在网上售卖一些 CD 和书籍，故填 The writer sold some of the CDs and books online./By selling them online.
4. 根据 “The main idea behind minimalism is to cut down what you own and really value the things you have.” 可知，简约主义背后的主要思想是减少你所拥有的东西，真正珍惜你所拥有的东西，故填 The main idea behind minimalism is to cut down what you own and really value the things you have./To cut down what you own and really value the things you have.
5. 根据 “It’s not easy to be a minimalist. We are often told that it is better to have more things.” 可知，我们经常被告知，拥有更多的东西更好，所以要做一名极简主义者不容易，故填 Because we are often told that it is better to have more things.
