New Rules for Student Loan Payments
學生貸款還款新規定
Introduction
The U.S. Department of Education has a new plan. Seven million people must change how they pay their student loans.
美國教育部有一個新計劃。七百萬人必須更改其學生貸款的還款方式。
Main Body
The old SAVE plan is gone. The government will send letters starting July 1. People have 90 days to pick a new plan. If they do not pick, the government picks for them. This new plan might cost more money.
舊的 SAVE 計劃已取消。政府將從 7 月 1 日起發信通知。民眾有 90 天時間選擇新計劃。如果未選擇，政府將代為選擇。這個新計劃的成本可能會更高。
Some leaders disagree. One leader says this stops big debts. Other leaders want the cheapest plans for everyone. There is a new plan called RAP, but it is more expensive than the old one.
部分領導者對此持反對意見。一名領導者表示這能防止巨額債務。其他領導者則希望每個人都能使用最便宜的計劃。現在有一個名為 RAP 的新計劃，但其費用比舊計劃更高。
Many people are waiting for help. There are 530,000 old requests. Because of this, some people owe more money now. Their debt grew by $2,500 because of interest.
許多人正在等待協助。目前有 53 萬件舊申請待處理。因此，部分人的欠款隨之增加。由於利息影響，其債務增加了 2,500 美元。
Conclusion
Wait for your letter. Pick a new plan soon or you will pay more money.
請等待通知信函。請儘速選擇新計劃，否則您將支付更多費用。
Vocabulary Learning
The 'Action' Words
In this story, we see words that tell us what happens. Notice how we use must, will, and do not to talk about rules and the future.
1. Strong Rules (Must) When something is necessary, we use must. → People must change. (They have no choice).
2. Future Things (Will) When we talk about what happens next, we use will. → The government will send letters. → You will pay more money.
3. Stopping Action (Do not) To say 'no' to an action, we use do not. → If they do not pick... (They stay silent/do nothing).
Quick Word Pair: Old → New (The old plan is gone. The new plan is here.)