There were red faces at one of Britain's biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone
order to buy ￡100,000 worth of shares(股票) from a fifteen-year-old schoolboy (they thought he
was twenty-one). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost  
￡ 20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back because, for one thing, this young speculator(投机者)
does not have the money and, for another, being under eighteen, he is not legally liable for his debts.
If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed  ￡ 20,000
profit. Not bad for a fifteen-year-old. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In
another recent case, a boy of fourteen found, in his grandmother's house, a suitcase full of foreign
banknotes. The clean, crisp, banknotes looked very convincing but they were now not used in their
country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his
pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realise that the country in question had reduced the
value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes the notes at their face value at the current
exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took  ￡ 200,000 from nine different banks.
Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this on taxi-rides, restaurant meals, concert tickets
and presents for his many new girlfriends (at least he was generous!) before the police caught up with
him. Because he is also under eighteen the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several
cashiers(出纳员) have lost their jobs.
     Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising(有创业精神的) and showing initiative
(主动精神) or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny
amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs
for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as
fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of
making money than delivering newspapers and baby-sitting. These lads saw the chance to make a lot
of money and took it.
     Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his
six-year-old daughter ￡ 300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate and for
her share of the rent and household bills. After paying for all this, she was left with a few coins for her
piggy bank. "She will soon learn the value of money," he said. "There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better." At the other extreme there are
fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children. While even the most
hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know people in
their late twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone
has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?

Dear editor,
     I am writing to ask what has happened to our young people. They are not as polite or hard-working as
my generation (一代人). I will give you two examples.
     Last Friday, I got on the underground at 9:15 a.m. It was very crowded so there was no free seat. There
were some boys sitting on the seats near me. I didn't know why they were not at school. They were talking
and laughing loudly. It was difficult for me to read my newspaper with all the noise. At the next stop, a
pregnant (怀孕的) woman and her daughter got on with lots of shopping bags. I expected the boys to let them
sit down. They saw the woman but they did nothing. I had to ask them to give the woman and her daughter
seats. They did so but gave me a rude look.
     Last Saturday, I had dinner with my friend's family. I was glad to see his children, who I hadn't seen for
ten years. During the dinner, I started talking about world politics with the children. It soon became clear that
they didn't know much about it. They couldn't tell me the name of the King of Spain or President of Italy. All
they knew about was the Internet or which singers were the most beautiful. In my days, students knew the
kings, the queens and the presidents of every country in Europe.
    I worry about the future of Germany. How could these young people become good workers and parents?
They sit around Mcdonald's after school instead of going to the library as I did at their age. Maybe they have
too much money. Perhaps some readers can give us some ideas about what to do with this "lost generation".
                                                                                                                                  Yours sincerely,
                                                                                                                                   Frantz Vogts