芝加哥是美国最重要的文化科教中心之一，拥有世界顶级学府芝加哥大学（The University of Chicago）、西北大学（Northwestern University）和享誉世界的芝加哥学派，截至2017年，逾百位诺贝尔奖得主曾在芝加哥工作、求学过。

　　芝加哥是世界著名的旅游圣地，2016年共接待超过5400万名世界各地的游客。

　　New Words：

　　constantly adv. 不断地；时常地

　　freshwater adj. 淡水的；无经验的

　　skyscraper n. 摩天楼，超高层大楼；

　　demolish vt. 拆除；破坏；

　　planetarium n. 天文馆；行星仪

　　populous adj. 人口稠密的；人口多的

　　neighborhood n.街坊；街区

　　Chicago is known as the "Windy City". Some people think this is because of the breeze that blows almost constantly. The city is located in the state of Illinois on the shore of one of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan, which is the fifth largest freshwater body in the world. Chicago may also be called the windy city because of the wind tunnel effect created in downtown by many tall buildings.

　　芝加哥被称为“风城”，有些人认为这是因为它不断有风吹来。这座城市位于伊利诺斯州的密歇根湖沿岸，密歇根湖是世界第五大淡水湖。芝加哥被称为风城，可能是因为许多高楼大厦在市中心产生的风洞效应。

　　Skyscrapers are an important part of Chicago's history. The first skyscraper in the U.S. was built in the city in 1884. At only 10 stories, it was impressive for its time. The skyscraper was eventually demolished. Chicago is the home of other famous firsts. It was the birthplace of the refrigerated rail car, mail-order catalogs, the car radio, the TV remote control, the first Ferris wheel, the first steel rail road, the first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere. Chicago is also the home to the first blood bank and the first drive-in bank. It is also the home to The Lincoln Park Zoo, the oldest public zoo in the U.S. Maybe the windy city should be called the city of firsts.

　　摩天大楼是芝加哥历史的重要组成部分。美国的第一座摩天大楼建于1884年。它只有10层，但是在当时已经很了不起了。这座摩天大楼最终被拆毁了。芝加哥是著名的创举之乡。它是冷藏火车车厢、邮购目录、汽车收音机、电视遥控器、第一个弗累斯大转轮、第一条钢道、西半球第一座天文馆的诞生地。芝加哥也是第一血库和第一家银行的所在地。它也是林肯动物园——美国最古老的公共动物园之家，也许风城应该被称为“第一城”。

　　Chicago is the third most populous city in the U.S., after New York City and Los Angeles. A little more than two and a half million people live in the city that has more than 100 neighborhoods. President Barack Obama used to live in Chicago.

　　芝加哥是美国第三大人口城市，位列纽约和洛杉矶之后。大约有250万城市人口，100多个社区。贝拉克·奥巴马总统以前住在芝加哥。

　　Nearly 40 million people visit Chicago every year. Many of them visit the Willis Tower. Formally known as the Sears Tower, it is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. It takes only a minute to get up to the 103rd floor Sky deck thanks to some of the fastest elevators in the world. From the Sky deck visitors can see four states: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

　　每年有近4000万人来芝加哥旅游。有许多人会参观希尔斯大厦。它正式的名字叫做西亚士大厦，是西半球最高的建筑物。多亏了世界上最快的电梯，登上一百零三层的天空甲板只需一分钟。从空中甲板可以看到四个州：印第安娜、伊利诺斯、密歇根和威斯康星。