芝加哥（Chicago），位于美國中西部、密歇根湖的南部，是世界著名的國際金融中心之一。此外，芝加哥還擁有很多世界著名的高樓大廈，被譽為“摩天大樓的故鄉”。截至2016年，芝加哥人口約為270多萬。
芝加哥是美國最重要的文化科教中心之一，擁有世界頂級學府芝加哥大學（The University of Chicago）、西北大學（Northwestern University）和享譽世界的芝加哥學派，截至2017年，逾百位諾貝爾獎得主曾在芝加哥工作、求學過。
芝加哥是世界著名的旅游圣地，2016年共接待超過5400萬名世界各地的游客。

New Words：
constantly adv. 不斷地；時常地
freshwater adj. 淡水的；無經驗的
skyscraper n. 摩天樓，超高層大樓；
demolish vt. 拆除；破壞；
planetarium n. 天文館；行星儀
populous adj. 人口稠密的；人口多的
neighborhood n.街坊；街區

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.
芝加哥被稱為“風城”，有些人認為這是因為它不斷有風吹來。這座城市位于伊利諾斯州的密歇根湖沿岸，密歇根湖是世界第五大淡水湖。芝加哥被稱為風城，可能是因為許多高樓大廈在市中心產生的風洞效應。
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.
摩天大樓是芝加哥歷史的重要組成部分。美國的第一座摩天大樓建于1884年。它只有10層，但是在當時已經很了不起了。這座摩天大樓最終被拆毀了。芝加哥是著名的創舉之鄉。它是冷藏火車車廂、郵購目錄、汽車收音機、電視遙控器、第一個弗累斯大轉輪、第一條鋼道、西半球第一座天文館的誕生地。芝加哥也是第一血庫和第一家銀行的所在地。它也是林肯動物園——美國最古老的公共動物園之家，也許風城應該被稱為“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.
芝加哥是美國第三大人口城市，位列紐約和洛杉磯之后。大約有250萬城市人口，100多個社區。貝拉克·奧巴馬總統以前住在芝加哥。
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4000萬人來芝加哥旅游。有許多人會參觀希爾斯大廈。它正式的名字叫做西亞士大廈，是西半球最高的建筑物。多虧了世界上最快的電梯，登上一百零三層的天空甲板只需一分鐘。從空中甲板可以看到四個州：印第安娜、伊利諾斯、密歇根和威斯康星。

想知道卡卡老師的發音秘訣?關注微信公眾號 卡卡課堂