【正确答案】Q1: OK, that's great. We've been talking about a young person and I'd like to discuss one or two more questions that are related to this. Firstly, let's consider attitudes. In your country, what is the attitude older people have toward younger people? A1: Hmm... I think, the older generation tend to look at the younger generation as being in a hurry to go somewhere or do something. I suppose this is pretty natural considering when a person gets old, he tend not to move so quickly... you know, instead of going out, most old people tend to just stay at home. I don't mean all old people are like this, but I think it's probably true of a majority of the older generation. Q2: in your country, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being younger? A2: Well, I'm young so I obviously think it's an advantage! Um, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that technology is changing so quickly, it takes an alert, young mind to keep up with it... um... there are benefits in keeping up with technology... um... you can do things quicker. For example, if you understand email, then you can communicate faster with people... all around the world. A lot of older people may use email but they may not know all the functions... urn... to use it to their best advantage. If you don't know how to properly use new computer software, you can end up wasting great amounts of time... um... the disadvantages... well... the disadvantage of being young... um... let's see... well, I think one disadvantage is that you have a little life experience. What I mean is that you don't have much wisdom, you're starting out. You might make a lot of silly mistakes in your life because you don't know any better um... that's a definite disadvantage. Q3: Good. Let's now consider young people and education. Can you tell me about the numbers of young people in your country studying overseas? A3: I'm not too sure about that... the total numbers, that is... um... I know from my high school... er... when I graduated there were 4 or 5 students who wanted to travel and study in England. I've lost contact with them. I assume they went ahead with their plans. Considering my high school had around 1,000 students... urn... and we had 4 or 5 who wanted to study overseas, I assume there are a lot of students who had the same goal. Q4: Do young people receive an3' government assistance in your country when it comes to education? A4: Actually, yes and no. Yes, because if they decide to study at university and they have no money—this is assuming they are accepted into a course—urn, they can apply for a student loan. What happens is the government pays the money for their education— that's the good news... but the bad news—and this is the "no" part of my answer—is you have to pay the money back once you get a job. I believe if you don't pay it back by a certain time, the government starts to charge you interest on the loan or something... Q5: What future changes would you like to see in your country regarding young people and education? A5: Oh, that's another difficult question to answer... you sure seem to know how to ask difficult questions! Um, I guess a change I would hope for is that the student loans would not have to be paid back! I don't think this is realistic. After all, it would be too expensive for the government... perhaps removing the repayment with interest part of the loan would be a good change for the future... oh yea... another thing that came to mind... I think education will become more "hands on"—less theory and more practical. I think "head knowledge" is fine, but it must be backed up with practical application... I'd like to see this change in the future.