VOA慢速英语：美国比较大单注彩票开出7.59亿美元奖金

Largest Single US Lottery Payout Gives Winner $759 Million

美国最大单注彩票开出7.59亿美元奖金

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

一位非常幸运的彩民中了美国历史上最大的单注彩票大奖，奖金达到7.587亿美元。

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.

马萨诸塞州53岁的医院工作人员马维斯·万齐克(Mavis Wanczyk)周四来到美国强力球彩票中心兑奖。她说自己已经辞掉工作，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.

彩票官员表示，她选择一次性领取4.8亿美元，税后大约为3.36亿美元。获奖者也可以选择在29年内分30次领取这注头奖。

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.

中奖号码于周三晚上在强力球彩票中心开奖，该彩票在美国大部分地区销售。这次中奖号码为6、7、16、23、26，强力球号码为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.

万齐克周三晚上在马萨诸塞州一个小镇的商店里购买了这张彩票。她说，其中一些中奖数字，是她选择的认识的人的生日。

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.

这注头奖是美国历史上开出的第二大彩票奖金。最大一注头奖是2016年强力球彩票开出的16亿美元巨奖。但是那次奖金是由三名中奖者平分。

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

彩票中心官员表示，周三这期强力球彩票的中奖几率为2.922亿分之一。

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.

强力球彩票每周开奖两次，中奖号码是从两个容器中开出的。其中一个容器装有69个数字球，从中开出5个中奖号码。被称之为强力球的中奖号码是从另一个容器中开出的。想要中得头奖，必须匹配所有6个号码。

Why does the jackpot grow so large?

为何头奖增长到这么大?

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.

每次没人中头奖，头奖就会继续增长。上次有人买中所有6个强力球号码是在6月10日，当时一名加州男子中了4.478亿美元。

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.

由于很少有人中大奖，头奖越积越大。华盛顿邮报报道称，这是因为彩票中心官员对中奖规则做出了修改，使得中奖几率更小。

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.

两年前，中奖几率大约为1.75亿分之一。与此相比，最近这次开奖的中奖几率为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.

根据该报纸报道，这源于2015年10月对中奖规则做出的一次修改。当时强力球彩票中心将59个奖球增加到了69个。

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.

专家表示，头奖越大，媒体报道的次数也会越多，使得彩票销售越来越高。一些研究表明，美国低收入人群购买了大部分的彩票。

American states benefit from lottery sale

美国各州从彩票销售中受益

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.

但是巨额的彩票收益不仅有利于中奖者，参与彩票的美国各州也按比例获得达到数亿美元的收入。

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。但是其它很多州将这笔资金放到一边用于特定目的，例如教育、环保项目或是反犯罪措施。

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

据路透社报道，一些州从彩票中获得的资金甚至超过了对企业征收的所得税。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布莱恩·林恩报道。