VOA · What's Trending Today?
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:542018-10-22public 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.
02Who wants to be a billionaire?
03For a $2 ticket, people have a chance to win the Mega Millions record-breaking lottery jackpot of $1.6 billion.
04The drawing is on Tuesday night in the United States.
05People also have a chance at winning the Powerball jackpot, which is now up to $620 million.
06That drawing will be on Wednesday night.
07Mega Millions is a lottery game played in 44 American states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S.
08Virgin Islands.
09The winning ticket must match six numbers, from 1 to 70.
10Several states permit online ticket purchases.
11Out-of-state or overseas purchases are not permitted.
12The first Mega Millions drawing was on May 17, 2002.
13That winner received a jackpot of $28 million, a small amount compared to this week's jackpot.
14The most recent Mega Millions drawing on October 19th was for a jackpot of $1 billion.
15But no one won.
16It was the 25th drawing in a row that did not result in a winner.
17About 280 million tickets were sold for the October 19th drawing.
18Those tickets covered 60% of all possible number combinations.
19So what are your chances of winning the $1.6 billion jackpot this time?
20Very, very small.
21The financial website, The Motley Fool, says the chance of someone winning the Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 302,575,350.
22The chance is a little better with the Powerball.
23It is 1 in 292,201,338.
24You are more likely to get struck by lightning than win the jackpot, at least in the United States.
25The National Weather Service says a person has about a one in a million chance of getting hit.
26You are much more likely to get accepted to Harvard University.
27The Ivy League school accepted 5% of its 39,000 applicants for its 2021 class.
28That is a 1 in 20 chance.
29Americans even have a better chance at becoming president than they do at winning this week's jackpot.
30The U.S.
31population is about 326 million.
32There are about 10 presidents in an average lifetime.
33So a person's chances at becoming president are 1 in 32.6 million.
34However, the U.S.
35Constitution requires that a person be at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen to be elected president.
36And that's what's trending today.
37I'm Ashley Thompson.
38I'm Ashley Thompson.
39I'm Ashley Thompson.
40I'm Ashley Thompson.
41I'm Ashley Thompson.
42I'm Ashley Thompson.
43I'm Ashley Thompson.
44I'm Ashley Thompson.
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