你是否有太多东西？ Have you got too much stuff?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是爱丽丝。
And I’m Rob. Now, Alice, what did you get up to at the weekend?
大家好，我是罗伯。爱丽丝，你周末做什么了？
I did some spring-cleaning, which means cleaning a place very well, especially places you don’t clean often. So, I was tidying up my wardrobe, trying to organise things… and suddenly hundreds of shoes tumbled on my head!
我进行了大扫除，也就是把一个地方上上下下打扫了一遍，尤其是你不经常打扫的地方。所以我整理了我的衣柜，把东西归置一下，突然几百双鞋掉下来，都砸到了我的头上。
Poor Alice! But why do you have so many shoes?And why do you keep them at the top of your wardrobe?I only have three pairs.
可怜的爱丽丝。但是你怎么有那么多鞋？为什么要把鞋放在衣柜最上面呢？我只有三双鞋。
I like to match my shoes to my outfit – and three pairs wouldn’t do the trick.Well, the subject of today’s show is having too much stuff. And you’re making me feel guilty, Rob. You must have too much of something.
我喜欢买不同的鞋来搭配我的衣服，三双鞋怎么能达到效果呢。今天节目的主题是有太多东西。罗伯，你让我感到很愧疚。你一定也有很多某种东西。
Yes, plastic bags.I think they’re useful, but they’re getting out of hand – and that means not under control.They’re taking over my kitchen!
是的，塑料袋。我觉得它们很有用，但现在太多了，我都束手无策了，也就是说失控了。它们已经占领了我的厨房！
You can recycle plastic bags, you know, Rob?
你可以重复利用你的塑料袋，你不知道吗，罗伯？
Well, you can recycle shoes too, you know, Alice!
你也可以重复使用你的鞋子，爱丽丝！
Yes.
好吧。
Now, usually I don’t have a lot of clutter in my flat – and that means an untidy collection of objects.Clutter makes it harder to find the things you need.And it makes moving house a nightmare! All those boxes full of things you don’t need…
我的公寓没有很多凌乱的东西，也就是杂乱无章的收藏。房间一片凌乱，使你很难找到需要的东西。搬家时更是噩梦！所有的箱子里都是你不需要的东西……
Good point. I have a friend who suggested the three buckets system. You sort things into three different buckets:one you label as ’to keep’, one as ’to get rid of’, one as ’maybe to get rid of’. Get rid of, by the way, means to remove something you don’t want. It’s the ’maybe’ bucket that’s tricky, isn’t it?– You never know if you might need something in the future.
说的没错。我的一个朋友给我提了“三桶法”的建议。你将东西分类放入三个桶中：一个标为“保留”，一个标为“扔掉”，一个标为“可能扔掉”。扔掉就是移除你不需要的东西。“可能”那个桶是最棘手的，是吧？你永远也不知道未来是否会用到某件东西。
Yes, it would need to be a big bucket too.
是的，需要为这个准备一只大桶。
Yes, it would.
没错。
Well, l think we could all live better with less.OK, well, let’s have today’s quiz question before we talk more about de-cluttering our lives:So which word, Alice, means a belief that physical possessions are the most important thing in life?Is it…a) metaphysics?b) materialism?Or c) existentialism?
我认为东西少一些，我们生活得会更舒服一些。在我们继续探讨“断舍离”的生活方式前，我们先回答今天的问题，爱丽丝，哪个词代表物质财富是生活中最重要的这种观点？a) 形而上学?b) 物质主义?还是 c) 存在主义?
OK… I think it’s b) materialism.
我认为是b) 物质主义。
OK. Well, we’ll find out if you got the answer right or wrong later on in the show. Now let’s listen to Bea Johnson, author of Zero Waste Hometalking about how she and her family have adopted a minimalist – or deliberately simple – lifestyle in their California home.
好的，之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。现在我们来听听《零费物家庭》的作者Bea Johnson的采访，她介绍了她和家人在加利福尼亚过着极简主义的生活。
We’ve really asked ourselves ’what is it that we really need?’We’ve asked really true questions, and evaluated every single thing that we have.There is nothing that we overlooked.I even came to one day look at my vegetable peeler for example and asked myself, ’Do I really need that vegetable peeler’?
我们会问自己，“什么才是我们真正需要的？”我们的问题都很现实，对每一件我们拥有的东西进行评估。我们没有忽视任何一件东西。例如我有一天甚至看到蔬菜削皮器，自问“我真的需要蔬菜削皮器吗”
So one day Bea Johnson decided to evaluate, or to judge the importance of something, to see if she needed it.
例如我有一天甚至看到蔬菜削皮器，自问“我真的需要蔬菜削皮器吗”
She evaluated her vegetable peeler and decided to put it in the ’get rid of’ bucket!
她对蔬菜削皮器也进行评估，然后决定将其放到“扔掉”那个桶。
Yes, and to overlook something means not to see it.Now, I don’t blame Bea at all because I don’t like peeling vegetables either.And you could actually get the benefit of the vitamins and minerals by eating the skins.
是的，忽视某物是指没有看到。我觉得Bea 的做法没有什么值得责备的，因为我也不喜欢蔬菜削皮器。食用蔬菜表皮可以获得维他命和矿物质。
Very healthy, Rob!
很健康！
We can really live with fewer things.But some people can’t help looking for the latest version of something or go for designer goods. Writer and journalist James Wallman warns us about this. He wonders how much stuff is too much.
即便东西很少我们也可以生活。但是一些人就是忍不住购买最新版的东西或时髦产品。作家兼记者James Wallman就这一点表达不满。他在想多少东西才算太多。
This thing about need is such a dangerous term because what do you need?And I’m not anti-stuff – stuff is good.I’m anti too much stuff and I’m anti the wrong stuff. Don’t go out and buy that labelled good that you think is going to make people think something more of you. That’s not going to make you happy.
“需要”这个词是一个很危险的术语，因为到底什么是我们需要的？我不反对物质，物质是好的。我反对的是太多的物质，我反对购买错误的物质。不要出门就去买那些你觉得人们凭此就可以高看你一眼的名牌商品。那不会让你快乐的。
James Wallman there. Now, Alice, do you buy labelled goods?
上述是James Wallman的采访。爱丽丝，你会买那些名牌商品吗？
I’m afraid I do. And labelled goods or products are the ones with a famous brand name, like Gucci, Dior, Prada etc.But I do think James Wallman is right – buying things just because other people have them, for example, doesn’t make us happy.
恐怕会的。名牌商品是指像古驰、迪奥、普拉达等著名品牌的产品。但是我认为James Wallman的观点是正确的，只是因为其他人拥有，自己就跟风去买，不会让我们真正快乐。
Yeah, that’s true, but as he says, not everything is the wrong stuff.For example, I’m very fond of my large schoolboy collection of superhero comics.I might not need them, but they make me happy.So what stuff makes you happy, Alice?
没错，但就像他所说，并不是所有东西都不好。例如，我非常喜欢学生时代时收藏的那些超级英雄漫画。我也许不需要它们，但它们让我很快乐。有什么东西会让你很开心吗？
Oh, well, I like my music CDs and my books– even though I’ve got the music on an mp3 player and I don’t often pull a book out from the bookcase.
我喜欢我的音乐CD和书，虽然我用MP3听音乐，也很少从书架中抽书来读。
They have sentimental value, don’t they?
它们具有情感价值，是吧？
Yes.
没错。
And that means the importance of something because of a personal or emotional feeling that we attach to it.Well, I sold all my music CDs online ages ago.
情感价值是指某件东西之所以重要，是因为上面承载了个人情感。但很多年前我把我所有的音乐CD都卖了。
That sounds like the sensible thing to do.OK, I think it’s time for the answer to today’s quiz question, Rob.
听上去是明智的做法。好了，我觉得是时候公布今天问题的答案了。
Yes, I asked you: Which word means a belief that physical possessions are the most important thing in life?Is it… a) metaphysics, b) materialism or c) existentialism?
我问你，哪个词代表物质财富是生活中最重要的这种观点？a) 形而上学?b) 物质主义?还是 c) 存在主义?
I said b) materialism.
我选的是b) 物质主义。
And you were right, Alice! Well done!The answer is indeed b) materialism. This is the word used to refer to a desire for material things and wealth and little or no interest in ethical values.Now, can we hear the words we learned today please, Alice?
你答对了！做得好！答案就是b) 物质主义。这个词用来表示渴望物质和财富，很少关注伦理价值。我们再听一遍今天提到的单词吧？
Yes, of course. They are:
好的，今天学到的单词有：
spring-cleaning
大扫除
out of hand
失控
clutter
杂乱无章
get rid of
扔掉
materialism
物质主义
minimalist
极简主义
evaluate
评估
overlook
忽视
labelled
贴标签的
sentimental value
情感价值
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.Don’t forget to join us again soon!
好了，今天的六分钟英语就到这里。别忘了下期节目再会！
Bye.
再见！