Section A
Barack and Michelle Obama understand the heavy burden of
student loan debt. The Obamas did not pay off their student loans until Obama’s
best-selling books earned them millions of dollars. With the
cost of a college education (47) , more than 60% of students
take out loans to fund their undergraduate education. On average, students who
borrow graduate with debts of 22,700--a (48) of more than
18% from 2000. But some of those with a newly acquired bachelor’s degree are
restrained with debts of 40,000 or more. You think this economy’s tough Try
finding a job with the (49) of repaying tens of thousands of
dollars in debt. Now, a new federal program--Income-Based
Repayment--is making it (50) to pay back these loans. If a
student chooses to repay her or his loan with this plan, payments are then
readjusted--based on their income to something they can (51)
afford. All debt will be forgiven after 25 years. A graduate who earns less than
150% of the (52) line won’t have to make any payments. This
is in addition to the year-old Public Service Loan For-giveness program for
those (53) in jobs such as law enforcement, public health
and social work. Their loans will be forgiven after 10 years.
This (54) isn’t perfect; the loans have to be federal
loans, not (55) But students with more than one federal
student loan can combine them under the program. In some cases, borrowers with
large debt and low-to- moderate incomes may benefit at the end of 25 years, with
the (56) of their debt forgiven. Others with higher incomes,
though, will pay more. A) earning
B) State C) rising
D) jump
E) pressure F) initiative
G) poverty H) public
I) balance J) raising
K) private L) barely
M) easier
N) working O) reasonably