禮節(jié)美語lesson 118 Getting Out of Debt 1

 

Jane: (knock knock) Hi, Vincent...got a second?

 

Vincent: Sure, Jane...come in. Grab a seat. What's on your mind?

 

J: Well, I know this doesn't fall under your responsibilities, but I really need some advice. Do you mind?

 

V: Not at all. Shoot.

 

J: Ok...I'll just say it: I'm quite heavily in debt and I need advice on how to get out of this hole I'm in.

 

Jane問Vincent有沒有時間，got a second? 請別人坐，可以說grab a seat. Vincent讓 Jane - shoot. Shoot在這兒不是開槍，而是“說吧”。原來，Jane是因為債務纏身，heavily in debt, 讓Vincent幫她出主意，to get out of this hole，擺脫困境。

 

V: I see. Is this mainly credit card debt?

 

J: Yes. But there's a mortgage and car payments as well.

 

V: You know what? I'm going to ask Anna Wang to join our conversation. She's our company's financial expert.

 

(Picks up phone) Anna? Would you mind joining me for a second? Thanks.

 

J: Oh. I don't want to be a burden.

 

V: No...it's really no problem. Millions of people have fallen into debt and it's great that you are trying to take positive action. Oh, hi Anna. This is Jane.

 

Anna: Hi Vince. Hi Jane.

 

Jane不光信用卡欠了很多錢，還有房貸和車貸。Vincent請公司的財務專家Anna來咨詢。注意聽，Jane欠了多少錢。

 

V: Jane wants advice on how to get out of credit card debt.

 

A: Ah. That's a popular problem these days. Can I ask how much you owe?

 

J: Um...it's kind of embarrassing...but Ok...25,000 dollars.

 

A: Jane, I'm going to be blunt: if I were you, I'd cut up all my credit cards today.

 

J: All of them?

 

A: Well, you might keep one for emergencies, but the point is: stop using the cards.

 

Jane一共欠了兩萬五千美元。Anna說，I'm going to be blunt，我直話直說：要是我，今天就把信用卡都剪碎。The point is: stop using the cards，關鍵是：不能再刷卡了。

 

V: I never used to pay attention to the fine print, but one day I looked up the details from my bank and I discovered I got charged 14% interest!

 

A: Yes, you really have to read the fine print. In Jane's case though, I'd recommend actually canceling the cards.

 

J: Can't I get the bank to lower my interest rates?

 

V: Sure, but you also want to stop new spending. When you buy something with a credit card, you think you are paying what the price tag says. But really there are a lot of extras.

 

消費者一定要注意信用卡的fine print，合同細則，Vince的銀行就收他14%的利率。刷卡購物，你以為付的是商品標價，the price tag, 可實際上有很多額外收費, a lot of extras。Jane具體該怎么做？我們下次繼續(xù)聽。