The requirement here was to discuss briefly the reasons why interest rates may differ between loans of different maturity. Many answers gained low marks because they did not focus on the issue of maturity and discussed other influences on interest rates, sometimes to considerable length. For example, some answers discussed the relationship between interest rates and security, which was not relevant to the issue of maturity. Better answers focused on the structure of interest rates and yield curves, discussing liquidity preference theory, expectations theory and market segmentation.