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 again.
In today's lesson we are discussing the question: Which is the better way to pay
for things, with cash or by credit card?
Two university students, Joyce and Amy, are shopping together when Amy notices
that Joyce is going to buy a lot of stuff.
Joyce says she will pay using her credit card.
Amy thinks it's better to use cash.
Well, what do you think?
How do you pay for things?
Let's continue with the second part of this conversation right now.
(Music).
Cash or Credit Card?
You don't need a credit card to do that.
Besides, credit cards have really high interest rates, and some people end up
owing more than they can repay.
And if you just make the minimum payment each month, you'll spend lots of time -
and money - paying off the loan.
Don't worry.
I have a student card that limits my spending.
Besides, my parents are cosigners, so they'll help if I can't pay a bill.
Would you really feel comfortable forcing your parents to pay for your spending?
Like I said, I usually pay off my entire bill each month.
That's just a backup plan.
(Chinese).
And now let's go back to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, these girls are having a healthy discussion about the use of credit cards.
If you remember just before our break, Joyce said owning a credit card helps you
learn how to track your spending.
Do you agree with that, Gabe?
Well, yes, a credit card will help you learn that.
When you track your spending, you are paying attention to how much you spend
when you spend it, what you spend it on and so on.
But here's the thing, you can track your spending without a credit card, too.
What do you mean?
Well, um, do you keep receipts for the things that you buy?
Sure, sometimes.
I know what you mean.
If you keep your receipts, you can track your spending.
And for the stores that don't give you receipts, you can write down how much you
spent.
There are other ways of tracking spending.
Yes. So that's what Amy means here in this section when she says you don't need
a credit card to do that.
She continues: Credit cards have really high interest rates, and some people end
up owing more than they can repay.
Well, before we look at the rest of her line, let's talk about interest rates.
When you borrow money from banks or schools or the government...
Or any institution for that matter...
Right, you end up paying interest, which means you pay back more than what you
borrowed.
And if a credit card company's interest rate is high, then you need to be
careful because you might end up paying back a lot more than what you borrowed.
If you don't pay back right away.
Now there's another phrase in Amy's line and a phrase that Carolyn just used:
end up.
People end up owing more than they can repay.
If you end up doing something, that means you do it as a result of something
else.
It's what you do after all.
So if you don't pay off your credit card bills right away, the result is you
repay more.
You end up paying more.
But let's use this phrase in another way.
After the show there was no room in my friend's car, so I ended up taking a bus
home.
Or there were too many options on the menu at that restaurant, but I ended up
ordering the steak.
Hmm. My friends forgot to bring money to pay for their food, so I ended up
paying the bill.
Ooh. Think of some ways to use this phrase today.
Well, Amy says some people end up owing more than they can repay.
If you just make the minimum payment each month, you'll spend lots of time and
money paying off the loan.
And the phrase she uses here is: make the minimum payment.
That's what you do with the payment, you make it.
Those words go together.
If you need to pay your telephone bill, for example, you make the payment to the
phone company.
You could say you are paying your bills.
Or you could say you are making a payment.
However, if you go to a restaurant and you need to pay for your food, you just
say you are paying the bill.
Or if the restaurant owner's name is Bill, you can just say you are paying Bill.
Very funny, Gabe.
Well, anyway, you use the phrase "make a payment" especially on bills that
have... that you have to pay regularly,
like your phone bill once a month or your cable TV bill once a year or your
credit card bill at the end of each month.
Well, Amy mentions that people make minimum payments each month.
That's true.
But many people advise to pay off as much as possible whenever you can.
And that's what I do when I use a credit card.
I try to pay off the full balance or however much I owe right away.
I think that this is a really good idea, too.
And doing that will help with your credit rating.
Now this is not a phrase you will see in the lesson, but it's a good thing to
know about.
Right.
Now what company do you use a credit card with?
Well, that company sees how good you are at paying back money and how fast you
do it.
The better you are, the higher your credit rating will be.
And why is that good?
If you have an excellent credit rating, the company will allow you to spend more
with your credit card in the future.
Why?
Because they trust you.
So if you use a credit card, try to maintain a good credit rating.
Pay off your bills right away.
Whatever you do, don't miss a payment.
If you need to pay something by a certain time, do it.
If you don't, that's not good for your credit rating.
Well, we see that Joyce in our lesson has cosigners.
And a cosigner is someone who agrees to pay your debt if you can't do it.
In Joyce's case, it's her parents.
When I was in college, I had to have cosigners if I wanted to rent my apartment.
My parents were the cosigners, too.
Well, right now it's time for us to visit Liz in the Grammar Gym.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
Here's our Grammar Tip sentence from today's article:
Like I said, I usually pay off my entire bill each month.
Notice the phrase at the beginning of the sentence: Like I said.
It's a short way of saying as I've mentioned earlier or as I've mentioned
before.
So going back to today's sentence, the speaker means: As I've mentioned earlier,
I usually pay off my entire bill each month.
Native speakers usually use this phrase "like I said" to bring attention to what
was already mentioned,
especially in situations where there might be different viewpoints.
Here are some examples.
It's a waste of time to go out right now; like I said, stores are already
closed.
Or: I really don't want to go to that restaurant; like I said, I just want to
eat at home.
So friends, give this phrase a try next time when you're having discussion with
your friends.
And if you have a copy of this month's magazine with you, be sure to check out
today's Grammar Tip section for more example sentences.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thanks, Liz.
Well, Joyce doesn't plan on forcing her parents to pay her debts.
It's just a backup plan.
Or as we sometimes call it, it's plan B.
Plan A, of course, is to pay the bills herself.
Well, right now our plan is to enjoy the Editor's Summary.
Let's join Linda now.
Amy and Joyce, who are students, are shopping.
And Amy comments on how much stuff Joyce has.
Joyce just answers by saying she'll use her credit card, which Amy then
questions as she feels it is easy to go into debt that way.
But Joyce does not seem to worry about it, and she thinks it helps develop
financial skills.
Amy is concerned about the high interest rates charged.
But Joyce responds by saying that she always pays her bills off at the end of
every month, and if she can't, her parents have cosigned as a backup plan.
Thank you, Linda.
Well, how do you feel so far?
Do you feel the same way you did about using your credit card?
Or is your opinion starting to change?
Well, the dialogue isn't over yet.
There's a lot more to learn from this lesson.
And we will be continuing the conversation between Amy and Joyce tomorrow.
We'll see if anything changes in our minds tomorrow.
What do you prefer using, cash or credit?
Thank you for joining us again today.
And of course we will see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.
See you tomorrow.