IELTS Practice with a Friend: Should University Be Free?

Okay, my turn to be the examiner.

好，換我當考官了。

Should university education be free for everyone?

大學教育應該對所有人免費嗎？

Oh, easy. Absolutely, yes!

喔，簡單。當然應該！

Hang on, you need to justify that properly.

等一下，你得好好說明理由。

Fine. Education is a public good, not a luxury.

好。教育是公共財，不是奢侈品。

Society benefits when more people are highly educated.

受過高等教育的人越多，社會就越受益。

Otherwise, crippling debt puts off students from poorer backgrounds.

否則，沉重的債務會讓家境較差的學生望而卻步。

Nice, 'crippling debt' is a strong collocation.

不錯，「crippling debt」是個很有力的搭配。

But who foots the bill? Taxpayers?

可是誰來買單？納稅人嗎？

Well, yes, ultimately...

嗯，是的，說到底……

Ha, so a plumber subsidises a future lawyer's degree?

哈，所以是水電工在補貼未來律師的學位？

Ugh, you sound exactly like my uncle!

唉，你講得跟我叔叔一模一樣！

Seriously though, examiners love it when you concede a point.

不過說真的，考官很喜歡考生讓步承認某個論點。

Hmm, okay. I'll admit that's a fair objection.

嗯，好吧。我承認這個反對意見有道理。

Perhaps graduates could repay through higher taxes later on.

也許畢業生之後可以透過繳納更高的稅來償還。

That way, it's free at the point of entry.

這樣一來，入學時就是免費的。

Ooh, that's a really sophisticated answer!

哇，這個回答真有水準！

Next one. Are some degrees more valuable than others?

下一題。有些學位比其他學位更有價值嗎？

Wow, that's quite a loaded question!

哇，這個問題可真帶有預設立場！

In purely economic terms, engineering probably pays off more.

純粹從經濟角度來看，工程科系可能回報更高。

But it'd be tragic to dismiss the arts as worthless.

但把藝術貶為毫無價值就太可悲了。

Why tragic? Isn't that just the market at work?

為什麼可悲？這不就是市場機制在運作嗎？

Because creativity drives entire industries, like film and design.

因為創造力帶動著整個產業，像是電影和設計。

Plenty of successful companies rely on humanities graduates, actually.

其實，很多成功的公司都仰賴人文科系的畢業生。

Okay, you've won me over. Brilliant answer!

好吧，你說服我了。回答得太棒了！

Right, swap! Now it's your turn to suffer.

好，交換！現在換你受苦了。

Oh no. Go easy on me, please...

哎呀，不要啦。手下留情啊，拜託……

Not a chance. Describe a book that changed your life!

沒門。描述一本改變了你人生的書！