房间整洁了，脑子会更清醒吗？

Tidy space, tidy mind?

常速 | 五级（中等） | 335词 | 2min17s

刘立军供稿

Part I. QUESTIONS

Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What can be inferred about people who prefer cluttered spaces?

A. They are always disorganized.

B. They find comfort in their belongings.

C. They are more likely to feel depressed.

D. They avoid sentimental attachments.

Q2. According to the study ‘No Place Like Home,’ what effect does a messy home have on mothers?

A. It improves their sleep quality.

B. It increases their stress levels.

C. It reduces their attachment to belongings.

D. It sparks joy in their daily lives.

Q3. What does Marie Kondo recommend to achieve her style of minimalism?

A. Discarding all possessions.

B. Organizing items by their size.

C. Keeping items that ‘spark joy.’

D. Avoiding sentimental belongings.

Q4. According to Chris Stiff, why are nostalgic items valuable?

A. They evoke happy memories.

B. They are always practical.

C. They help improve organization.

D. They reduce anxiety and stress.

Q5. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A. To prove that a tidy space always leads to a happy and healthy life.

B. To discuss whether clutter has a negative impact and if tidiness is essential.

C. To introduce effective methods of decluttering from professional organisers.

D. To explain why some people enjoy collecting sentimental items instead of minimalism.

Part II. TRANSCRIPT

Tidy space, tidy mind?

Are you the kind of person who needs a pristine, orderly environment for you to feel relaxed? (1) Or perhaps being surrounded by your clutter isn’t a big deal – it might even bring you comfort. ‘Professional organisers’, who help people declutter their space, have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly on the Internet. But does shedding your possessions always make you happier? Or, does clutter matter?

pristine adj. 干净的，纯净的

clutter n. 杂乱，凌乱

declutter v. 清除，清理（杂物）

shed v. 去除，摆脱

Living in a messy space can have various negative effects on our lives. (2) For example, a study called ‘No Place Like Home’ by Repetti and Saxbe, found that mothers with messy homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and an increased depressed mood throughout the day. Messy homes can also make it harder to fall asleep, according to the 2021 study ‘The association between sleep and late life hoarding’, and no one wants that!

hormone n. 激素

cortisol n. 皮质醇（一种压力激素）

late life hoarding 指老年人倾向于储物的现象

So perhaps Marie Kondo, author of ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’, was on to something when she said, “tidying can transform your life”. (3) To achieve Kondo’s style of minimalism, she recommends gathering all your things together, choosing which items ‘spark joy’ and then discarding the rest. Some may find it invigorating to begin again on a clean slate, while others, particularly extreme hoarders, can find the process anxiety-inducing, because of an attachment to their belongings.

invigorating adj.令人振奋的

clean slate （俚）尽弃前嫌，重新开始

hoarder n. 储藏者，囤积者

Then there are those who simply enjoy collecting. Vintage style expert Kate Beavis has a home filled with handbags, toys, phones and cookware from the 1960s. Others may call this clutter, but she argues that minimalist homes are “boring and bland”. Some items may not have a practical use, but instead hold sentimental value, and spark joy in a nostalgic way. (4) And things that “evoke happy memories are valuable, especially to people with memory problems,” says Chris Stiff, senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University.

vintage adj. 复古的，经典的

minimalist adj. 极简派风格的

bland adj. 平淡的，乏味的

nostalgic adj. 怀旧的，令人怀念的

Maybe a giant mess isn’t all bad. And as Albert Einstein once said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Part III. KEY

Q1. B.【解析】推理题。题目出处为：Or perhaps being surrounded by your clutter isn’t a big deal - it might even bring you comfort. 意为：或者，被杂物包围对你来说没什么大不了的——它甚至可能带来安慰。因此正确答案为B。

Q2. B.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：…a study called ‘No Place Like Home’ by Repetti and Saxbe, found that mothers with messy homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and an increased depressed mood throughout the day. 意为：一项名为《家一样的地方》的研究发现，居住在杂乱环境中的妈妈们，体内的压力激素皮质醇水平更高，并且全天抑郁情绪增加。因此正确答案为B。

Q3. C.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：To achieve Kondo’s style of minimalism, she recommends gathering all your things together, choosing which items ‘spark joy’ and then discarding the rest. 意为：为了实现Kondo的极简主义风格，她建议把所有东西收集起来，选择能“激发喜悦”的物品，然后丢弃其余的。因此正确答案为C。

Q4. A.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：… things that ‘evoke happy memories are valuable, especially to people with memory problems,’ says Chris Stiff, senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University. 意为：“唤起美好回忆的东西是有价值的，尤其是对有记忆问题的人来说，”基尔大学心理学高级讲师Chris Stiff说。因此，正确答案为A。

Q5. B.【解析】文章开篇以“整洁空间是否带来清晰思维” 设问，随后从两方面展开论述：一方面提到杂乱环境可能引发压力、影响睡眠等负面影响，引用相关研究和整理专家 Marie Kondo 的观点支持 “整洁有益”；另一方面又指出部分人喜欢收藏物品（看似杂乱），这些物品可能具有情感价值，甚至对记忆障碍人群有意义，还引用爱因斯坦的名言质疑 “整洁至上”。整体核心是围绕 “杂乱是否一定有害”“整洁是否必不可少” 展开讨论，而非单一支持某一方或介绍具体方法、原因，因此选项 B 最符合文章主旨。

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