ESL Podcast 424 – 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 exorbitant¹ 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 decided² against borrowing money from him after talking to my brother about it. With his help, I found a good credit counselor³ and got my finances under control. My two main creditors⁴ agreed to defer⁵ 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!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 exorbitant   

adj.过分的；过度的

参考例句：

• More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
• The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

4 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。