VOA慢速英语2017 公司帮助留学生获得美国信用卡（在线收听）

Company Helps International Students Get American Credit Cards

More than one million international students are studying in the United States. Many of them find it helpful to have a smartphone and an American credit card. These things make it easy to pay for many kinds of goods and services.

超过一百万的留学生在美国学习。他们中的许多人发现有智能手机和美国信用卡是很有帮助的。这些东西使支付各类商品和服务变得容易。

But getting a credit card as an international student is not a simple process. Normal U.S. lenders ask for a social security number. They also ask to see a person’s credit history. This helps the lenders trust that someone is responsible and will make timely payments.

但是作为留学生获得信用卡并不简单。普通美国贷款人要求有社会保障号码。他们还要查看一个人的信用记录。这有助于贷款人相信有人负责，并将及时付款。

These are the things most international students do not have.

这些东西是大多数留学生所没有的。

But one company is trying to make the process easier and fairer for them.

但一家公司正试图使这个过程更容易、更公平。

Jack Guo is from China. He now studies at a university in California.

郭杰（Jack Guo）来自中国。他现在在加利福尼亚的一所大学学习。

He says having an American credit card makes it easier for students to get around town. And, he says, credit cards are important for international students who hope to live in the country in the future.

他说有一张美国信用卡使留学生更容易去城市。他指出，信用卡对于未来希望生活在美国的留学生来说很重要。

A lot of my friends who have had the cards already because it’s pretty important to get around L.A. And also if you’re going to stay here afterwards for a job, for internship, for career, Yes, of course, you are going to consider buying property to live here, and having credit is pretty important if you want to get a loan.

“我的很多朋友已经有了这些卡，因为这在洛杉矶走动是相当重要的。而如果你打算以后留在这里，工作、实习、拼事业，当然，你会考虑购置房产住在这里，如果你想得到贷款，有信用卡是相当重要的。”

In some countries, paper money, or cash, remains a common way to pay for goods. But in the United States, people often use credit cards. They have become even more common with the rise of e-commerce.

在一些国家，纸币或现金仍然是支付货物的常用方式。但在美国，人们经常使用信用卡。随着电子商务的兴起，这变得更加普遍。

Kalpesh Kapadia came from India to study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He faced the same difficulties that many international students face when trying to get an American credit card.

Kalpesh Kapadia来自印度，在宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡的卡内基梅隆大学学习。他和许多试图获得美国信用卡的留学生面临着同样的困难。

He decided to open SelfScore. The company has a different way of measuring a person’s financial trustworthiness, Kapadia says. Instead of asking for credit history and a social security number, SelfScore looks at documents such as passports, visas, and acceptance letters to American schools. The company also considers a student’s ability to pay.

他决定打开SelfScore。Kapadia说，该公司有不同的方法来衡量一个人的财务可信度。SelfScore不查询信用记录和社会保障号码，而是查看诸如护照、签证和美国学校的录取通知书等文件。公司还考虑学生的支付能力。

The traditional system was designed in the 20th century before Internet, before smartphones, before social media, and it’s kind of antiquated. We are inventing a new system.”

“传统的系统设计于20世纪，在互联网、智能手机、社交媒体之前，是一种过时的设计。我们正在发明一个新系统。”

About 10,000 international students from more than 66 countries now have credit cards through SelfScore.

来自66个国家的大约10,000名留学生现在通过SelfScore拥有信用卡。

Kapadia says less than 1 percent of SelfScore’s credit card holders are past due on their payments.

据Kapadia表示说，SelfScore信用卡持有人逾期还款的比例不到1%。

He calls international students “highly motivated,” or driven to succeed.

他称留学生“积极性高”，或是渴望成功。

This is a highly motivated population. Someone who comes here, 10,000 miles away, to make their life better through education is going to behave quite differently.

“这是一个积极性高的群体。他们有的从10000英里远的地方来到这里，通过教育使他们的生活更好，他们将有所作为。”

Words in This Story

antiquated- adj. very old and no longer useful, popular, or accepted.

cash – n. money in the form of coins and bills.

e-commerce – n. commercial transactions done electronically on the Internet.

internship – n. a position for someone who works in an organization, sometimes without pay, in order to gain work experience.

lenders – n. an organization or person that lends money

motivated – adj. to have a reason to do something

social-security – n. any government system that provides to people who need money.

trustworthiness – n. the ability to be relied on as honest or truthful.