B1 Preliminary (PET) Practice Paper 29

alice: I'm trying to declutter my flat before I move next month. Any advice on where to start? george: I'd suggest starting with one category at a time, like clothes, rather than going room by room. alice: That's a good idea. What do you do with things you're not sure about keeping? george: I usually put uncertain items in a box and revisit them after a month. If I haven't missed them, I donate them. alice: That sounds sensible. What about things with sentimental value, like old letters or gifts? george: Those are the hardest. I keep a small box just for sentimental items, but I limit myself to one box only. alice: That's a helpful rule. Where do you usually donate things? george: There's a charity shop near the station that accepts clothes and books, and a recycling centre for electronics. alice: Great, I'll definitely try the one-month box idea for the things I'm unsure about.

Minimalism, a lifestyle movement centred around owning fewer possessions and prioritising experiences over material goods, has attracted growing interest in recent years, partly through social media and popular books on the subject. For Clara, however, the decision to embrace minimalism began not from a trend but from practical necessity after she moved into a much smaller apartment. Faced with far less storage space, Clara was forced to sort through years of accumulated belongings, many of which she realised she had not used or even thought about in years. The process of deciding what to keep proved surprisingly emotional at times, particularly with items connected to specific memories, such as gifts from her late father. Over several months, Clara donated, sold, or recycled the vast majority of her possessions, keeping only items she genuinely valued or used regularly. Unexpectedly, she found that having fewer possessions reduced the mental clutter she had not realised she was carrying, making her feel calmer and more focused in her daily life. Clara now spends considerably less time cleaning and organising, freeing up time for hobbies and socialising that she previously claimed she never had time for. While she acknowledges minimalism is not right for everyone, she encourages people feeling overwhelmed by possessions to at least try decluttering one room as an experiment.

Minimalism ___1___ considerable attention in recent years, as more people question whether accumulating possessions truly leads to happiness. When my neighbour ___2___ to declutter her home last spring, she initially expected the process to take only a weekend. Instead, sorting through years of belongings ___3___ nearly two months, partly because many items carried sentimental value that made decisions difficult. She ___4___ boxes of old letters, photographs, and gifts that she had not looked at in over a decade. Deciding what to keep ___5___ far more emotionally challenging than she had anticipated beforehand. However, once the process was complete, she ___6___ that her home felt noticeably calmer and easier to maintain. She now ___7___ that having fewer possessions has genuinely improved her daily wellbeing. She recommends that anyone feeling overwhelmed by clutter ___8___ start with just a single drawer or shelf, rather than attempting everything at once.