Chicago, Illinois (2822)

Chicago [∫fi'ka:gou] – Чикаго

Illinois [,ili'noi] – Иллинойс, штат

Lake Michigan ['mi∫igən] – оз. Мичиган

Stock Yards [stok ja:dz] – загон, скотопригонный двор

Chicago, located in the state of Illinois, is the second largest city in the United States. It is one of the most popular and exciting cities in the USA.

The first people who lived in this region were Native Americans (Red Indians). They gave the name Chicago to the region that means “the place of the wild onion.” Chicago is not an old city as its history started in the 18^th century when the first white settlers decided to build their houses in the region. Then, in 1803 the US Army built a fort in the location of the present day city. In 1812 Native Americans burnt down the fort and most people left. Soon, however, more and more people came to live in the region. They built many new houses and the settlement grew to the size of a city. In 1837 it was big enough to be called a city.

Between 1850 and 1914 waves of immigrants from different European countries settled in Chicago. There were many Polish people among these immigrants. In 1871 a great fire destroyed a large part of the city. Soon after the fire people built the first skyscraper in Chicago. They were the first skyscrapers in the history of the world. It is no surprise then that today you can find the tallest American building in Chicago. This is the Sears Tower. It is taller than any skyscraper in New York.

The area of the city is slightly over two hundred square miles. It curls along the southern and south-western beaches of Lake Michigan in a long mass of cities, towns, villages and communities, extending from several to a dozen miles inland to where it fades off into prairies. Two rivers, the Chicago and Calumet, formed the plain, on which the city is situated, the Chicago River dividing the city into parts known as the North Side, the South Side and the West Side.

The Chicago River is widely known as the river which flows backward, or which runs up-hill. This is because the flow of the water was reversed in 1900. Until that time the river flew into Lake Michigan where it polluted the drinking water and contributed greatly to diseases. Lake Michigan provides an unfailing supply of water for drinking and industrial purposes. More than that, Lake Michigan acts as an air conditioner. In summer the cool breezes from the lake moderate the intensity of the heat. In winter the water is warmer than the air, and the warmer lake winds diminish the cold on land.

The population of the city is more than three million, together with the population of the suburbs; it comes up to over six million people. About one million of them are Negroes.

Chicago is the country's greatest railway centre where thirty eight railroads meet. The city has been well named the nation's bread basket for it is the nation's leading market place for the assembling, processing and distribution of the products of American farms. There are many large markets in the city. The Stock Yards, for example, cover a square mile area and contain pens and other facilities for keeping and feeding many thousands of heads of livestock; facilities for selling, weighing, delivering or reshipping live animals; the factories of meat packers and the home for the Annual International Live Stock Exposition – the International Amphitheatre.

The city has many modern faces today. It is an important industrial and cultural centre. Poets write poems about the city, singers sing songs about it and all NBA fans know the city for its basketball team the Chicago Bulls.

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