Chicago is a very famous American city.
Almost 10,000,000 people live there and it is the headquarters of McDonald’s, Boeing, American Airlines, and Caterpillar.
In 2018, the city’s produced goods and services worth 689 billion dollars.
Most people know that Chicago is an important city.
But, today I will tell you three things that you probably didn't know.
Did you know, that in 1850s and the 1860s the buildings of downtown Chicago were raised by 1.8 meters.
Why would a city want to raise its buildings?
Well, Chicago sits on a lake and is very flat.
When people originally arrived Chicago, there were not many people, but as the city grew, the city was having problems with pollution and flooding.
To fix the flooding and pollution problems, the people from Chicago used something called a jack screw in order to raise the height of their buildings.
So, why don't people know about these buildings.
In 1871, a fire destroyed most of the building raised and none of the original buildings are still in downtown Chicago.
Chicago was rebuilt using steel and stone, instead of wood.
Did you know that Chicago was the location of world’s first skyscraper?
In 1885, the world’s first skyscraper was built in downtown Chicago.
It was only 52 meters tall.
The tallest skyscraper in the USA, today, is 543.1 meters tall.
The tallest skyscraper in China is 632 meters tall.
And the tallest skyscraper in the world is 828 meters tall.
★重点单词：Key words
famous: 有名
headquarters: 本部
produced: 生产
goods: 商品
services: 服务
worth: 价值
buildings: 房子/建筑
raised: 提高
flat: 扁平
pollution: 污染
flooding: 洪水
jack: 千斤顶
screw: 漏选
original: 本来
rebuilt: 改建
skyscraper: 摩天大楼
★小测试：Questions
1. How do the people of Chicago raise their buildings?
2. What companies are headquartered in Chicago?
3. After the fire, what were the buildings made of?
★上期答案：Answers to "Did you know this about the Effiel Tower?"
1. In the past, did French people like the Eiffel Tower?
No, in the past French people did not like the Eiffel Tower.
2. What happened to the man who said the tower would be destroyed and he could sell the metal?
He ran away to America, and then was arrested.
3. How do we know other people around the world like the Eiffel Tower?
People around the would keep making similar towers.
集团总部总裁办 Ian Antrim