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Top 10 US Cities and Regions: Chicago

7 English
Vocabulary
Cultural Insight
2
2
3
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English
Top US 10 Cities and Regions - Chicago

The city of Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois at the southwestern tip of Lake
Michigan. This area experiences the four seasons with summer being hot and humid and
winters being cold, snowy, and windy. The city encompasses 234 square miles, of which 6.9
square miles are water, and is made up of seventy-seven diverse and distinct community
areas.

Chicago is the largest city in the state of Illinois as well as the most populated city in the
Midwest. The population as of 2009 was 2,851,268.

This city is a major hub for industry, finance, and infrastructure. In fact, it is listed as one of
the top ten global finance centers in the world. Chicago is home to numerous Lake Michigan
ports, and fifty percent of the U.S. rail freight passes through Chicago. In addition, O'Hare
International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic.

Many people assume Chicago is nicknamed the "Windy City" because of the cold winds that
come off Lake Michigan in the winter, but really this nickname came from the windy
politicians and city braggarts. This nickname was coined by the editor of the newspaper the
"New York Sun" in 1893, Charles Dana, when New York City and Chicago were in
competition for the rights to host the 1893 Columbian Exposition.

2 Chicago is a great sports town and is home to the Chicago Cubs (baseball), Chicago White
Sox (baseball), Chicago Bears (football), Chicago Bulls (basketball), Chicago Blackhawks
(hockey), and Chicago Fire (soccer). Additionally, this city is home to numerous colleges and
universities that are among the top-ranked educational institutions in the United States. This
city also has several museums and cultural centers that bring tourists to the area.

Vocabulary

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English Definition Class

humid moist, damp adjective
to be made up of to be created from verb
hub a centre of activity, a focal point noun
finance a system of money and credit noun
infrastructure The basic facilities and services noun
needed for the functioning of a
community or society
freight commercial goods carried by train noun
or ship
braggart someone who often boasts loudly noun
or exaggeratedly
to coin to create a new word or phrase verb
exposition a large public exhibition, noun
especially of industrial products
or arts and crafts
community a group of people noun

Vocabulary Sample Sentences

Summer in Shanghai is extremely hot and humid.
The human body is made up mostly of water.
Haneda Airport is Tokyo's domestic air transportation hub.
3 The finance ministry published the national budget for the year.
Infrastructure includes things such as transportation, water and power supplies, schools and prisons.
The freight was unloaded from the ship box by box.
He was a notorious braggart, always boasting and talking about himself.
Many technology-related words were coined on a whim.
The exposition attracted thousands of visitors.
He does a lot of community service work.

Cultural Insight
Fun Facts

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Little known facts about Chicago include:

Sears Tower which is the tallest building in North America at 1,450 feet and the third tallest
building in the world is located here.
The world's largest illuminated fountain, Buckingham Fountain, is located in Grant Park.
The world's largest public library, Harold Washington Library Center, is located here.
The Lincoln Park Zoo is one of three major zoos in the U.S. with free admission.
The world's highest steeple is located at the United Methodist Church on Washington Street.

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