地道美语听力练习:Being in Debt

Chang: I don’t mean to be nosey, but all of those bills are red or pink. Are you behind on all of those bills?

Ilya: I am, but it’s no big deal. I can catch up on them next month.

Chang: You know that being late on bills is bad for your credit score, right? You also have to pay exorbitant interest if you have credit card debt.

Ilya: Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine.

Chang: I’m only speaking from experience. When I first started working, I had a loan that I defaulted on and I ran up my credit cards. I had to borrow money from my family and friends to pay my bills. I was so desperate at one point, I even went to see a loan shark.

Ilya: Did he lend you money?

Chang: I decided against borrowing money from him after talking to my brother about it. With his help, I found a good credit counselor and got my finances under control. My two main creditors agreed to defer payment for a couple of months, but not before I sold my car and most of what I owned to raise money.

Ilya: Maybe I can do that.

Chang: Do what?

Ilya: Work with a credit counselor so I don’t have to pay my bills.

Chang: You’ve got it all wrong. It took me years to pay off those bills. I just didn’t have debt collectors calling me at all hours of the day, that’s all. A little advice: A little restraint now will save you a lot of pain.

Ilya: Okay, okay. I got the message. Remind me never to pay my bills in front of you again!

词汇解释：

1. behind on 此处指账单延期付款

2. exorbitant interest 很高的利息

3. debt n. 负债

4. speaking from experience经验之谈

5. loan n. 借款

6. defaulted违约

7. ran up 增长

8. borrow 借入

9. loan shark放高利贷的人

10. lend 借出

11. credit counselor 信用咨询师

12. creditors 债权人，债主

13. to defer payment 延期付款

14. to raise money 筹集资金

15. to pay off 偿清

16. debt collectors 收债人

17. restraint n. 节制