节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-24
难易度:Medium
关键字:purchase, financial, repay, backup plan, interest rate, cosigner
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And our VIEWPOINT article today is called Cash or Credit Card?
The question is: When you buy things, is it better to use cash or credit cards
to pay?
Ah, so let's listen to a conversation between two friends in university, Amy and
Joyce.
And then we'll discuss this topic together.
So open up your magazine and let's begin.
Cash or Credit Card?
Which do you prefer to use?
Joyce and Amy, two university students, are shopping together.
Wow, Joyce! That's a lot of stuff!
How are you going to pay for everything?
Easy. I'll just use my credit card.
Really? But you go into debt each time you make a purchase.
It's no big deal.
I usually pay off my entire credit card bill at the end of the month.
I think it's better to pay up front.
That way you know exactly how much money you really have.
But owning a credit card helps you learn financial skills like tracking your
spending and paying pills.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thanks, Michelle.
We just heard the beginning of a conversation that sounds like it could turn
into an argument.
Now before we get started discussing the text, I want to know what your first
thoughts are.
Gabe, do you think it's better to pay with cash or credit card?
Hmm, I prefer paying with cash but that's just because I feel like it's safer.
I worry about forgetting to pay off my credit card in time, so I think paying
with cash is better.
What about you, Carolyn?
Do you prefer paying with cash or credit?
That's an interesting question, Gabe.
Actually, it's changed.
When I lived in the U.S., I loved using my bank card.
It was so easy.
It was connected to my account and just really convenient.
But now I have a different banking system here in Taipei, and so I prefer to pay
with cash.
Hmm, interesting.
Well, we'll see how we both feel at the end of this lesson.
Maybe we'll change our minds.
Wait a minute.
You are one of the writers for this lesson.
I don't think you'll be changing your mind.
Oh. Well, we'll see.
Well, we have a question in our title today: Cash or credit card?
Sometimes when we go shopping in the U.S., the person helping you check out may
ask: Cash or credit?
And what that means is, how would you like to pay, with cash or with your credit
card?
But they simply might say: Cash or credit?
So if you have a chance to go to the U.S., and you go shopping, don't be
surprised when someone asks this question, Cash or credit?
Just be ready to respond by saying either cash or credit.
Or by giving another option of payment.
In many places you may use your debit card, which is using money that you
already have in the bank.
Or some people like to pay using checks.
They always carry around their checkbook so they can write checks to pay for
things.
So cash, credit, debit or check.
But the main two we will focus on today are cash and credit.
So far we know that Amy and her friend Joyce are two university students, and
they are shopping together.
How nice.
Oh. Amy's opening line is: Wow, Joyce! That's a lot of stuff!
How are you going to pay for everything?
Good question.
How are you going to pay for everything?
This reminds me of a time someone paid for my groceries while I was in
university.
Someone paid for your groceries?
Yes, a lot of them, but I didn't know she was going to pay.
She?
Yes! She was like an older sister, the daughter of my dad's friend.
I loaded my shopping cart with food, and I thought that I needed it, I was
prepared to pay for everything.
But when we got to the check-out line, she insisted on paying.
Wow. It's nice to have older sisters, Gabe.
Yeah, yeah. You know, it ended up being $150?
U.S. dollars?
Yeah.
Wow! So when someone asked you how you're going to pay for everything, I'm sure
it was nice to be able to say: My sister will pay for everything.
Yeah. Well, that was the only time that happened.
I probably shouldn't have let her pay.
Well, it sounds like you regret that decision terribly.
Yeah.
As for the girls in our lesson, I don't think Amy will be helping Joyce buy
anything.
Well, I think you're right.
Joyce is planning on buying her own stuff.
She answers Amy's question with a single word: Easy.
If something really is easy for us, then we can answer with just that one word.
Hey, Gabe, how will you get home?
Easy! I'll take my scooter.
Carolyn, how do you plan on doing your math homework?
Easy. I'll use a calculator.
Nice. So we can just say the word when it's easy for us to do something.
Joyce thinks paying for things is easy because she has a credit card.
But Amy is afraid Joyce might go into debt.
Let's look at that phrase: to go into debt.
That means you buy more than you can pay for with a credit card, or it could
just mean that you owe someone money.
Have you ever gotten into debt before?
Some people get into debt when they go shopping with credit cards.
Some people go into debt when they go to school.
If you take out loans, you go into debt, and you need to pay off your loans.
That's right. And that brings us to our next point, something that Joyce says in
her next line:
It's no big deal.
I usually pay off my entire credit card bill at the end of the month.
When you use a credit card to buy something, you need to pay off your bill.
And when else can you use that phrase?
Like I just said, you might need to pay off your loans if you borrowed money
from the government for school.
That means you pay everything that you owe.
Right. And if you can't pay everything off at one time, then you pay down.
When you pay down, you're paying a little at a time.
Each time you pay down, you get closer to paying off your entire bill.
Well, I like something that Joyce said at the beginning of her line: It's no big
deal.
If something is a big deal, that means it's something that you should worry
about.
It could be a big problem.
So when she says it's no big deal, she means it's not a problem she needs to
worry about.
Sometimes we say something is no big deal or not a big deal.
For example, maybe you borrow money from a friend, you tell them you will pay
them back, and they say:
Don't worry about it.
It's no big deal.
That probably means they don't even care if you pay them back or not.
Or your friend tells you a test is coming up, and that you should start
studying.
But you say: That's no big deal. I'll study for it later.
Think of other times when you could respond with: That's no big deal.
Well, later in today's conversation, Amy uses the word: besides.
This word is similar to the word: moreover.
And so Steve and Ken have something to share about these words in the
Information Cloud.
Let's go there now.
In today's dialogue, both Amy and Joyce use the word "besides." This is a useful
word that shows transition from one point to another.
Another useful word to show transition is "moreover," but there is a slight
difference between besides and moreover.
The main difference is that with besides, the statement after it argues the same
thing as the statement before it,
whereas moreover is often an introduction to a new point or statement.
Ken, I'm afraid we have to cancel the picnic tomorrow because everyone's sick.
Besides, the forecast calls for rain.
So Steve just made two statements - both argue that the picnic should be
canceled.
The second statement that besides introduces serves to support or strengthen the
first statement.
OK. Now moreover, on the other hand, is simply an introduction of a new point
which may or may not argue the same thing as the first statement.
Ken, can you give us an example?
Sure.
The government is telling people to save electricity.
Moreover, it's promoting the use of solar energy.
So this is a case where besides doesn't work because the two statements Ken made
argue two different things.
The first one is about saving electricity, and the second one is about promoting
solar energy.