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Paying Bills
简体
Paying Bills
支付账单

Learn English with this money English lesson

Date: Jan 16 2013

Themes: Time

Grammar: Simple Present Tense

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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It’s a time of the month that no one looks forward to: bill-paying time! Between all the utilities, including electricity, heat, cell phone, land line, cable, Internet, and more, all those bills can sure add up!

Our modern world means not only more bills, it also means more ways of paying bills. You can write a check, pay online, or even pay with your phone. Some people prefer the old school method of paper and pen, while others prefer to do everything as virtually as possible. Learn how Vanessa and Jason prefer to deal with bills in this English lesson.

这是一个月中所有人都不期望到来的时刻:支付账单的日子!所有公用设施(包括电力、供暖、手机、陆上线路、有线(电视)、互联网等)的账单加起来确实是一笔很大的支出!

现代世界不仅仅意味着账单越来越多,还表现为账单支付的途径也日趋多样。你可以写支票、在线支付,甚至可以通过手机支付。一些人喜欢纸和笔这种传统的方式,而有些人则更喜欢尽可能利用网络的虚拟方式做每件事。在这节英语课上,了解瓦内萨和詹森喜欢如何处理账单。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Vanessa

Vanessa

Jason

Jason

Vanessa:  It’s that time of the month again! My bills are due.

Jason:  Oh yeah, I think I just got a final notice on one of my bills.

Vanessa:  A final notice? Are you kidding me?

Jason:  They just pile up. I don’t even open them half the time, you know?

Vanessa:  So you’re telling me that you don’t pay your bills when they arrive in the mail, you wait?

Jason:  You know, the ones I do pay are the ones that come online, because I can just hit a button, take money out of my account, it’s done. But the ones that come in the mail and I actually have to write a check…it’s like, oh my God, what year is it? Why do I have to pay this paper bill? This is insane.

Vanessa:  See, I’m the opposite. I like getting the paper thing in the mail that comes and it tells me when the bill is due, and I can keep my little receipt from it and file it away in my filing cabinet. So if there is ever a question, I can look it up and see the date and the check number that I paid the bill with.

Jason:  Woah, that’s old school. I just wish I had a bill paying app for my phone where I could do it in like one click.

Vanessa:  I guess that would be convenient but how would you keep track of things?

Jason:  I would just put my faith in technology.

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Vanessa tells Jason that it’s time for her to pay her bills. Jason says that he just got a final notice on one of his bills, meaning that if he doesn’t pay immediately, that service will be shut off.

Vanessa can’t believe that Jason is so irresponsible about bill paying. He’s better about paying his online bills on time, because all he has to do is press a button, but he just can’t get it together to do the paper bills. He feels as if paper bills are really old fashioned.

It’s the opposite for Vanessa. She likes the paper bills, because it’s easier for her to keep track of the hard copies. If Jason had the choice, he would just pay all his bills with his phone. He’s got lots of faith in technology.

Do you prefer to pay your bills by mail or electronically? Are you responsible or irresponsible about bill paying? Have you ever forgotten to pay a bill?

 

Comments

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mojtaba

mojtaba

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I pay all utilities whit phone cuase it is the best way for me and my dad

05:21 AM Jan 16 2013 |

Ariel Zhou

China

I usually pay the bill on line by credit card when getting the paper in the mail, just like Vanessa mentioned in dialoge

05:16 AM Jan 16 2013 |

bb fallata

bb fallata

Saudi Arabia

my dad is responsible about all the bills. except the internet me & my bro sharing to paying for it .

04:43 AM Jan 16 2013 |

Jerry08

Jerry08

Dominican Republic

I used to pay the telephone bill, but as I am not working by the moment, I cannot pay any utilities.

02:43 AM Jan 16 2013 |

hot-cabbage

China

I just need pay my visa cards every month,it is simple and convenience.

01:33 AM Jan 16 2013 |

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