VOA · What's Trending Today?
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed5:562019-02-01public 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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01The Internet can be a dark, oppressive place.
02Readers sometimes do not show their true identities and feel free to leave cruel comments.
03So naturally, a schoolteacher in the U.S.
04state of Florida felt worried when her son wanted to share her artwork on the social media site Reddit.
05Cindy Decker had recently taken an art class and made a painting of a huge white bird called an egret.
06Her proud son posted a photograph of Decker shyly holding her painting.
07Below it, he wrote, My mom painted this and said no one would like it.
08It's her second painting.
09Far from not liking it, more than 24,000 people upvoted her painting, meaning they liked it.
10Then a professional artist in Sweden saw the photo on Reddit.
11Christopher Zetterstrand creates, among other things, paintings for the video game Minecraft.
12He decided to pay tribute to the mother schoolteacher by painting Decker holding her painting.
13He even captured the shy look on her face.
14Zetterstrand photographed himself holding his painting of Decker holding her painting.
15He posted the image on Reddit.
16The caption for his photograph is, I painted somebody's mom.
17Then, two days later, a journalism student in Canada, Leila Amer, painted a picture of Zetterstrand holding his painting of Decker holding her painting.
18She posted a photo of her holding her painting on Reddit.
19Her caption read, But I painted the guy who painted the other guy's mom.
20Well, then, the Internet stepped in and took over as only the Internet can.
21The meme took off.
22The artist, Vince Law, was the next to join in.
23The caption for his photo of his painting is, I painted the girl who painted the guy who painted the other guy's mom who painted an egret.
24Then, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist, artist,!
25artist,!
26artist,
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