President Bush gave the wrong number when he announced a new plan to help homeowners on Thursday
 
US homeowners who could face crippling mortgage payments will have a hard time getting help if they call a telephone number President George W. Bush recommended on Thursday -- he gave them the wrong number.

"I have a message for every homeowner worried about rising mortgage payments: The best you can do for your family is to call 1-800-995-HOPE," Bush said after a White House meeting with administration officials and lenders on a new plan to help.

Unfortunately he was a couple digits¹ off, it is actually 1-888-995-HOPE. That gets you through to the Homeownership Preservation² Foundation, a non-profit group which offers free housing counselling for homeowners.

Moments after Bush completed his remarks, a White House aide told reporters the president misspoke and gave the correct number.

Calls by the reporters to the wrong number Bush gave out were met with an engaged tone. A search on the Internet showed it belongs to the Freedom Christian³ Academy which offers religious-based curriculum for home schooling⁴ and is located in Ponder, Texas.

President Bush had announced an agreement to freeze rates on some subprime mortgages. The agreement between the government and the lending industry would freeze rates for five years on some variable rate mortgages and provide assistance to as many as 1.2 million homeowners.

美国那些需要偿还巨额抵押贷款的购房者们如果要打电话寻求帮助，那可得费一番周折了，因为布什总统上周四提供的电话号码是错的。

当天，布什总统与政府官员和抵押贷款借贷方在白宫召开会议商讨一项旨在救助美国次级抵押贷款者的新计划。布什总统在会后发表讲话说：“我为每个担心房贷利率上调的购房者们带来了好消息。你们只需拨打电话1-800-995-HOPE，就能把福音带回家。”

可不幸的是，总统先生报错了两个数字，正确的号码应该是1-888-995-HOPE。这是“美国住房保护基金会”的电话号码，该非赢利组织主要为购房者提供免费住房咨询。

布什总统的讲话结束后，白宫立即做出了更正。一名白宫助理告诉记者，总统先生报错了电话号码。

当记者试着拨打布什总统提供的那个号码时，电话一直占线。经过网上搜索才发现，原来这是自由基督教学会的咨询电话号码，这个位于得克萨斯州庞德市的机构主要为家庭自修提供宗教类课程。

当天，布什总统宣布了一项冻结部分次级抵押贷款利率的计划。该项由白宫和抵押贷款借贷方签订的协议规定，将在未来五年内冻结部分可变利率抵押贷款的利率，帮助120万名贷款购房者保住“家园”。

Vocabulary:

engaged tone:占线音

subprime mortage:次级房贷