国际英语新闻：Obama answers questions in YouTube Q&A

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President Barack Obama answered questions on YouTube for about 40 minutes on Monday.

The answers streaming live on the Web site cover a wide range of issues including jobs, the economy, health care, foreign policy, energy, the environment, education and financial and government reform.

The questions came via videos as well as text from thousands of YouTube users who supplied more than 11,000 questions. Most questions were straightforward, and the format did not allow for followups.

A math teacher from Ohio by the name Sean asked what the president wants public education "to help students become"? Obama said, "I'm a big believer that the most important thing that a kid can learn in school is how to learn and how to think."

One question from John from Saginaw, Mich. goes: "As a college student who has 14 credits and three part-time jobs, I'm just wondering what are your plans to lower college tuition? "

"This is something that I've made a top priority," Obama said. He explained his proposal to limit student loan payments and forgive federal loans after 20 years.

One hopeful entrepreneur asked: “What is being done to free up funding for small business?”

Obama replied by making the point that Small Business Administration loan authority has increased, among other things.

Frederick from South Florida asked what the White House was doing “to help people stay in their homes?”

Obama replied that 4 million people have taken advantage of a White House-established loan-modification program.

The president also discussed the situation in the Sudan and the Darfur region.

"We continue to put pressure on the Sudanese government," he said.

At the end of the session, Obama said he enjoyed the experience. "I hope we get a chance to do this on a more regular basis," he said, "because it gives me great access to all the people out there with wonderful ideas."

During the presidential campaign, Obama used the Internet to connect with voters, mobilize supporters and raise a record-shattering sum of money. He has continued to take advantage of that online approach as president.