VOA · What's Trending Today?
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed2:332018-10-24public domain
What's Trending Today? covers viral stories and social media moments in short, punchy reports. The episodes are brief and topical — perfect for a quick daily dictation session.
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01This is what's trending today.
02A small piece of white paper sold at a convenience store in South Carolina is now worth more than $1.5 billion.
03Lottery officials in the southern state say a ticket that matched all six numbers of Tuesday's Mega Millions drawing was sold at the KC Mart shop in Simpsonville.
04The town has a population of about 18,000 people.
05The world may never know who the winner is, however.
06South Carolina is one of eight American states that does not make lottery winners publicly identify themselves.
07The South Carolina Education Lottery tweeted, Our message to the $1.5 billion hashtag Mega Millions jackpot winner, sign the back of the ticket, place the ticket in a safe location, speak with a trusted advisor, and call the lottery.
08Take a deep breath and enjoy the moment.
09The ticket is worth about $877.8 million if the winner chooses to accept a one-time payment.
10That is what most lottery winners do.
11The other choice is to collect the full amount in yearly payments over the next 29 years.
12Earlier estimates had said this week's Mega Millions game would be the largest lottery jackpot ever.
13However, the actual number ended up being just under a record set in 2016.
14Still, the jackpot was huge.
15In fact, it is 20% of South Carolina's yearly budget.
16And it is enough money for the winner to give more than $300 to each of South Carolina's 5 million people.
17And that's what's trending today.
18I'm Ashley Thompson.
19I'm Ashley Thompson.
20I'm Ashley Thompson.
21I'm Ashley Thompson.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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