Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
It’s a tempting thought: “I’ll just charge it.” You can pay for almost anything with a credit card these days, and it’s easy to feel like plastic money isn’t real money.
Until you get your monthly bill, that is. A lot of Americans today are stuck with more credit card debt than they can handle. But cards are so convenient, why bother carrying a bunch of bulky cash?
Plus, if you pay attention, you can actually earn money by spending money through credit card rewards systems. As Mason says, you just have to know how to play the game. Find out if he and Marni prefer to pay with cash or cards.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Mason: I got 10,000 new credit card applications in the mail. And they just bug me, ‘cuz I’ve got my one, I’m signed on to the whole credit card thing, and I need everybody else to just leave me alone.
Marni: Yeah, but you’re gonna be inundated with offers if you have good credit.
Mason: I have great credit.
Marni: Right, that’s the thing.
Mason: The secret is pay it off.
Marni: But that’s why so many Americans and so many people get into trouble, is because they carry debt.
Mason: It is. It’s so easy, you’re just like “Hey, it’s just a little piece of plastic, and sure, put this on my tab, I’ll run that one, no problem, I’ll pick up this check.”
Marni: So, I had been using my credit card relentlessly, just paying for everything with my credit card.
Mason: A vicious cycle, it’s a vicious cycle.
Marni: Because I never have cash on me. And then my balance started just getting so high that I felt like I was spending money that I really didn’t have. So I had to scale back and actually start budgeting and paying for things with cash again.
Mason: Well and you know, you’re just robbing yourself, because the credit card companies, if you can use them right, you get great benefits, you get cash back or you get the miles, or you get shopping rewards or whatever.
Marni: Right. And I think that’s such a good incentive to use your credit card. But it does…I feel like it becomes a vicious cycle.
Mason: It’s like a game. You play the game and you get your little points…Stick it to the man! That’s what the credit card’s all about. The magnetic man. Stick it to him.
Grammar Point
Go Super to learn "Past Perfect Progressive" from this lesson
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Discussion
Paying your credit card bill on time every month and never carrying debt are good habits to get into. But as Mason has discovered, they also have a downside. When you have really good credit, you tend to receive tons of annoying offers for more credit cards in the mail.
Most places in the U.S. let you pay with a credit card, so it’s almost unnecessary to carry cash with you these days. Marni didn’t like to carry cash, so she used her credit card all the time. But she realized that she was spending too much money that way. Now she tries to pay with cash more often.
Do you usually pay for things with cash or a card? Do you think there are more pros or cons to using a credit card?
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