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READING:

A famous song and a quiz show ask, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" For decades, having a million dollars was the goal of the super-rich. Now, the goal is a billion dollars. The anti-poverty charity Oxfam has just issued a report that says in the next ten years, the world will have its first trillionaire. A trillion is a huge number and an unbelievable amount of money. It is a one, followed by 12 zeros. A trillion is equal to one million million. The charity said the wealth gap between the rich and poor is growing. It said the gap has been "supercharged" since the coronavirus pandemic. It added: "We will have a trillionaire within a decade, whereas to fight poverty, we need more than 200 years."

Oxfam spoke about inequality at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. As an example, it said the world's five richest people have seen their wealth increase by 114 per cent since 2020. A charity spokesperson said: "The top five billionaires have doubled their wealth. On the other hand, almost five billion people have become poorer." Tesla CEO Elon Musk is the richest man on the planet. He has a personal fortune of just under $250 billion. The AP news agency said: "If someone does reach that trillion-dollar milestone, he or she would have the same value as oil-rich Saudi Arabia." Oxfam said the world is now at the start of a "decade of division". It called for a "new era of public action" to reduce the wealth gap.

Try easier levels. The listening is a little shorter, with less vocabulary.

Trillionaire - Level 0  |  Trillionaire - Level 1  |   Trillionaire - Level 2

This page has all the levels, listening and reading for this lesson.

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