Be Careful What You
Wish For
Everyone
at one point in the life has been asked what would you wish for if you had a wish. Popular responses are fame, love, and of
course fortune. In today’s society, people often wish to win the lottery. They
hope the lottery will be their ticket to wealth. The lottery remains popular
despite your chances of winning the Powerball jackpot are about one
in 175.2 million. You're more likely to die from a bee sting (one in 6.1
million), be struck by lightning (one in 3 million) or have conjoined twins
(one in 200,000). However these poor odds don’t prevent people from playing. In
fact, in 2010, U.S. lottery sales totaled $58 billion. More than
half of Americans have played the lottery in the last year, although 20% of customers
buy the majority of the tickets. But, is being a lottery winner all it is
cracked up to be? Read the two articles
below and view the video. Then respond
in the comments by addressing these questions:
1.
What is your initial reaction to all three pieces?
2.
What was the most interesting thing you learned?
Why?
3.
Would you still consider playing the lottery
after hearing all of these stories? Why?
