一生必知英语话题背诵 42信用卡的流行

Today, more and more people are using credit¹ cards instead of cash to buy the things they need. Almost any one who has a steady income and a continuous² work record can apply for a credit card. With a credit card , you can eat dinner, take a trip, and even buy a car by charging the cost to your account. In this way, you can pay for purchases several months later without any extra charge. Or you may choose to make your payments³ over several months and pay only parts of the total amount each month.

如今，越来越多的人流行用信用卡而不是用现金购买他们所需要的东西。几乎所有收入来源稳定，有持续工作记录的人都可以申请信用卡。如果你拥有一张信用卡，只要刷卡，你就可以用餐、旅行甚至买汽车。你可以在几个月以后再支付货款，而不需缴纳任何额外的费用。或者，你可以选择在几个月期间内进行支付，每个月只付其中的一部分。

In fact, the concept⁴ of using a card for purchases was described in 1887 by Edward Bellamy in his utopian(乌托邦式的) novel Looking Backward. Bellamy used the term "credit card" first in this novel.

事实上，爱德华·贝拉密早在1887年便在他的乌托邦小说《回顾》中描述了持卡消费的理念。在他的小说中，爱德华·贝拉密曾第一次使用了"信用卡"这个词。

1 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

2 continuous   

adj.继续的，连续的，持续的，延伸的

参考例句：

• She finally got in after 10 years'continuous effort.坚持不懈地努力了十年后，她终于当选了。
• We must be continuous to study.我们必须不断学习。

3 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

4 concept   

n.概念，观念，思想

参考例句：

• A small baby has no concept of right and wrong.婴儿没有是非概念。
• He was asked to define his concept of cool.他被要求说明自己关于“酷”的定义。