VOA慢速英語：美國比較大單注彩票開出7.59億美元獎金

Largest Single US Lottery Payout Gives Winner $759 Million

美國最大單注彩票開出7.59億美元獎金

A very lucky person has won the largest single lottery payout in United States history - $758.7 million.

一位非常幸運的彩民中了美國歷史上最大的單注彩票大獎，獎金達到7.587億美元。

A 53-year-old hospital worker from Massachusetts, Mavis Wanczyk, came forward Thursday to claim her prize in the Powerball drawing. She said she had quit her job and wanted to take some time to relax.

馬薩諸塞州53歲的醫(yī)院工作人員馬維斯·萬齊克(Mavis Wanczyk)周四來到美國強力球彩票中心兌獎。她說自己已經(jīng)辭掉工作，想要好好放松一下。

Lottery officials say she chose to take a single payment of $480 million, or $336 million after taxes. Winners can also choose to receive the jackpot in 30 payments over 29 years.

彩票官員表示，她選擇一次性領(lǐng)取4.8億美元，稅后大約為3.36億美元。獲獎?wù)咭部梢赃x擇在29年內(nèi)分30次領(lǐng)取這注頭獎。

The winning numbers were drawn Wednesday night in the Powerball, which is played in most U.S. states. The matching numbers were 6, 7, 16, 23 and 26, with the Powerball number 4.

中獎號碼于周三晚上在強力球彩票中心開獎，該彩票在美國大部分地區(qū)銷售。這次中獎號碼為6、7、16、23、26，強力球號碼為4。

Wanczyk bought her ticket Wednesday at a store in a small Massachusetts town. She said for some of the winning numbers, she chose birthdays of people she knows.

萬齊克周三晚上在馬薩諸塞州一個小鎮(zhèn)的商店里購買了這張彩票。她說，其中一些中獎數(shù)字，是她選擇的認(rèn)識的人的生日。

The jackpot was the second-largest overall lottery prize in U.S. history. The biggest jackpot ever was a $1.6 billion Powerball payout in 2016. But that prize was shared among three winners.

這注頭獎是美國歷史上開出的第二大彩票獎金。最大一注頭獎是2016年強力球彩票開出的16億美元巨獎。但是那次獎金是由三名中獎?wù)咂椒帧?/p>

Lottery officials reported the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball were one in 292.2 million.

彩票中心官員表示，周三這期強力球彩票的中獎幾率為2.922億分之一。

The Powerball lottery is held twice a week, with numbers drawn from two containers. One container holds 69 numbered balls, from which five are drawn. Another ball – known as the Powerball - is selected from the other container. To win the full jackpot, a person must match all six numbers.

強力球彩票每周開獎兩次，中獎號碼是從兩個容器中開出的。其中一個容器裝有69個數(shù)字球，從中開出5個中獎號碼。被稱之為強力球的中獎號碼是從另一個容器中開出的。想要中得頭獎，必須匹配所有6個號碼。

Why does the jackpot grow so large?

為何頭獎增長到這么大?

The jackpot continues to grow each time there is no top prize winner. The last time someone matched all six Powerball numbers was June 10, when a California man won $447.8 million.

每次沒人中頭獎，頭獎就會繼續(xù)增長。上次有人買中所有6個強力球號碼是在6月10日，當(dāng)時一名加州男子中了4.478億美元。

The jackpots have been growing larger because there are fewer big winners. This is because lottery officials have made changes to the game that make the odds of winning more difficult, The Washington Post reports.

由于很少有人中大獎，頭獎越積越大。華盛頓郵報報道稱，這是因為彩票中心官員對中獎規(guī)則做出了修改，使得中獎幾率更小。

Two years ago, the chances of winning were about 1 in 175 million. This compares to the latest drawing's odds of one in 292.2 million.

兩年前，中獎幾率大約為1.75億分之一。與此相比，最近這次開獎的中獎幾率為2.922分之一。

This resulted from a change to the game in October 2015, when Powerball increased the number of balls from 59 to 69, according to the newspaper.

根據(jù)該報紙報道，這源于2015年10月對中獎規(guī)則做出的一次修改。當(dāng)時強力球彩票中心將59個獎球增加到了69個。

Experts say the bigger the jackpot gets, the amount of media coverage also increases, driving ticket sales higher and higher. Several studies have shown that lower-income Americans buy most of the lottery tickets.

專家表示，頭獎越大，媒體報道的次數(shù)也會越多，使得彩票銷售越來越高。一些研究表明，美國低收入人群購買了大部分的彩票。

American states benefit from lottery sale

美國各州從彩票銷售中受益

But the huge lottery payoffs do not only benefit the winners. U.S. states participating in lotteries also get a percentage of revenue, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

但是巨額的彩票收益不僅有利于中獎?wù)?，參與彩票的美國各州也按比例獲得達到數(shù)億美元的收入。

Some states put the lottery earnings in a general state fund, which can be used for many things. But many others set the money aside for specific purposes - such as education, environmental programs or anti-crime efforts.

一些州把彩票收益放入普通的州基金中，可以用于任何事情。但是其它很多州將這筆資金放到一邊用于特定目的，例如教育、環(huán)保項目或是反犯罪措施。

Some states even earn more money from the lottery than from income taxes on companies, according to Reuters news agency.

據(jù)路透社報道，一些州從彩票中獲得的資金甚至超過了對企業(yè)征收的所得稅。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩報道。