ESL Podcast 923 – Having Bad Credit

 　　Alisha: This is the second time I’ve been turned down for a credit card in a month. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

　　James: Have you checked your credit report recently? Maybe you have a bad credit rating.

　　Alisha: I have a full-time¹ job with a good income, which they can easily verify, and I don’t have any outstanding debt, so what could be the problem?

　　James: Have you had a credit card before?

　　Alisha: Yes.

　　James: Did you always make your payments on time?

　　Alisha: Well, no.

　　James: Then that may be your answer. Your payment history makes a big difference with the credit bureau. If you’ve missed payments or been late, that’s a big strike against you.

　　Alisha: You mean if I were late a few times, I wouldn’t be able to get another credit card?

　　James: A few times? How many times?

　　Alisha: Well, maybe a lot of times.

　　James: And why do you need another credit card if you already have one?

　　Alisha: Had one, past tense. The credit card company cancelled it.

　　James: Ah ha, I think we’ve just found the crux² of the problem.

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

2 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。