Chicago ranks as the leading industrial and urban center in North America. Carl Sandburg called it the “City of the Big Shoulder” primarily because in the 1930s, its population contained a large segment of industrial workers, the largest agricultural market, and huge Line airport. This poetic phrase, however, does not do justice to the city’s outstanding array of cultural institutions, such as the symphony orchestra and the museum of art and history.

The downtown business district on the shore of Lake Michigan is the hub fashionable and elegant boutiques, quaint restaurant, and high-rise office building. Lake Shore Drive extends to both the north and south ends of the city, making it one of the most spectacular roadways in the state of Illinois. The Old Water Tower, dwarfed by the John Hancock Center, is the must-see landmark frequented by thousands of tourists each year. Most of the Chicago lakefront is public, with spectacular beaches and wide lawns stretching along the shore line.

Throughout its history, Europeans streamed into the city in search of jobs in steel mills and factories. The large influx of population created tensions in various neighborhoods, and in the 1920s, Chicago gained a reputation for violence and crime that it never lived down. Nonetheless, the booming industries continued to attract new residents into the thriving city, despite its notoriety.

The Chicago metropolitan area has undergone dramatic changes since the 1940s when suburban population almost doubled, and the number of city residents fell. Today, most of the city ethnics enclaves have faded away, but their rich heritage remains. The residents take pride in impressive churches and blocks of homes constructed in the early 20th century by industrious European immigrants who built the city. More than 85% Chicagoans were born in the United States, and access to Irish, Polish, Italian, and German community institutions and businesses is not as important to them as it was to their grandparents. Italian is no longer spoken in Little Italy, and Irish pubs have fewer Irish customers than those mixed, typically American origins.

Question 1: What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Chicago’s industrial urban evolution             B. Cultural and tourist attractions in Chicago

C. The size of the city and its roadways            D. The spectacular arrays of buildings in Chicago

Question 2: The word “hub” in line 6 is closest in meaning to ______.

     A. Hill                           B. Center                      C. Comer                      D. Home

Question 3: The author of the passage implies that _______.

A. Old Water Tower is shorter than the John Hancock Center

B. the John Hancock Center is probably the tallest building in the city

C. the Old Water Tower and the John Hancock Center are located on the lake shore

D. the Old Water Tower and the John Hancock Center are easy to reach by one of the Illinois roadways

Question 4: According to the passage, immigrants from Europe _______.

     A. arrived in Chicago by ships and boats           B. came to the city to enjoy its beaches

     C. arrived in large numbers                                D. came to the Chicago to live in the large city

Question 5: What changes have occurred in the city since 1940s?

A. many residents moved out to neighboring towns

B. its population grew rapidly

C. many residents forgot their ethnic heritage

D. its original builders moved back to Europe