They are the knickknacks of your personal financial lives: those old credit cards you seldom use. You might dust them off occasionally and charge something, but they often remain tucked away in a drawer or wallet, unused and overlooked.
Every once in a while, though, you may wonder what do they do to your credit scores. A consumer recently asked us:
“How frequently should I use my seldom-used credit cards?” (“Such store credit cards that I might use every few years?”)
The basic answer is that most credit scoring models don’t reward you for frequent activity on your accounts-or penalize you for lack of activity. Instead they generally focus on factors such as your balances and whether you pay on time. (There are models that may look at your activity to target you for special promotions, but that’s another matter.)
If you stop using a card, there is a risk that your issuer may close it: and that may reduce your available credit.
On the other hand credit card expert Jason Steele says he doesn’t worry too much about issuers cancelling his old accounts. He said:
“In most cases, you will not have your credit card account closed for inactivity. Many credit cards charge an annual fee, which the banks are certainly happy to collect, even if you don’t cancel your card. Yet even the no-fee cards rarely have inactivity clauses, so it is not much of a concern. I have some cards that I use very rarely: less than once a year on average: but I keep the account open and have never been canceled for inactivity.”
1、What does credit card expert Jason Steele say about inactivity?
A. Credit cards’ holders never need to worry about inactivity.
B. Inactivity will affect the normal function of the issuers.
C. Inactivity will lead to the cancelation of the credit card account.
D. Inactivity hasn’t caused the cancelation of his credit card accounts.
2、According to the passage, what will people do to the credit cards they seldom use?
A. They will not use those cards any longer.
B. They will throw those cards away.
C. They may use those cards once in a while.
D. they may lock those cards in their drawer.
3、What kind of question will you have if you seldom use some credit cards according to the passage?
A. When is the appropriate time to cancel those cards?
B. How often should I use those cards?
C. Should I use those store credit cards?
D. How much fee should I pay if I don’t use them?
4、If you don’t use some credit cards frequently, will this have any bad impact on your credit score?
A. The author thinks so.
B. The author is not sure about it.
C. The author didn’t mention this topic.
D. The author doesn’t think so.
5、In the author’s opinion, if you stop using a credit card, one possibility is that.
A. the bank issuing the card may close it
B. your available credit will remain the same
C. your credit score will surely be reduced
D. your financial situation will be at risk
1、答案：D 【解析】A选项出现了绝对词never，但是倒数第二段中的not worry too much 和最后一段in most cases, you will not have your credit card account closed for inactivity 说明长期不用的信用卡还是有一定风险被注销的； B选项说的是长期不用的信用卡会影响发卡银行的活动，原文根本没有提到； C选项说长期不用信用卡会导致账户注销，跟原文意思不符；D 选项符合文章最后一句话but I keep the account open and have never been canceled for inactivity。所以这题应该选择D。
2、答案：C 【解析】根据文章第一段You might dust them off occasionally and charge something, but they often remain tucked away in a drawer or wallet, unused and overlooked这一句话，我们知道这些信用卡仍然有时会被使用，所以C选项正确。
3、答案：B 【解析】根据文章第二段，消费者经常问的问题How frequently should I use my seldom-used credit cards，B选项多久用一次那些卡正确。
4、答案：D 【解析】 根据文章第四段中， The basic answer is that most credit scoring models don’t reward you for frequent activity on your accounts-or penalize you for lack of activity，表明发卡银行不会因为你不使用信用卡而减少你的信用评分，D选项正确。
5、答案：A 【解析】根据倒数第三段， If you stop using a card, there is a risk that your issuer may close it: and that may reduce your available credit 说明信用卡长期不用，是有可能被发卡银行注销的。所以A选项正确。
