EC153_Guide.pdf

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 153

TOPICS

American Cities: Chicago; The Star-Spangled Banner ; just versus only versus

mere; to kick (someone’s) butt

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GLOSSARY

windy – with a lot of wind; with air that moves very quickly

* It’s hard to keep an umbrella from blowing away on a windy day.

magnificent – wonderful; something that is very special and impressive

* The singer had a magnificent voice that impressed all of the judges.

skyscraper – a very tall building, usually with apartments or offices

* Do you feel safe living in a skyscraper on the thirty-fourth floor?

public transportation system – a way to move people throughout the city on

shared transportation, without everyone having his or her own car

* The public transportation system in New York City allows most of its residents

to get around in the city without owning a car.

gangster – a person who is in a gang (a group of people who do things that are

against the law, usually to make money)

* In this old movie, the gangsters all wore dark jackets and hats so that it was

more difficult for the police to see them on the streets at night.

Prohibition – the period of time from 1920 to 1933 when it was illegal to make

and sell alcohol in the United States

* During Prohibition, it was more difficult, but not impossible, to buy alcohol.

league – a group of teams that play against each other, usually with one team

beating all the others and winning a prize

* Sasha has played on this soccer league for four years and their team has won

three out of the four years.

anthem – a song that officially represents a country

* Before the ball game, the announcer said, “Please stand as we play our

national anthem.”

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 153

lyrics – words of a song; words that are sung

* Even though I’ve known this song for years, I’ve never listened carefully to the

lyrics.

dawn – the early part of morning when one can just start to see the sun in the

sky

* If we want to catch any fish, we’ll need to go fish at dawn.

twilight – the last light of the day when the sun is going down in the sky

* This postcard shows the city at its most beautiful in twilight.

patriotic – loving one’s country very much; showing support and loyalty to one’s

country

* Emil thought it was his patriotic duty to try to get others to vote.

mere – only; not more than a certain amount; a small amount

* This watch is a mere $30 and is much cheaper than the real thing.

to kick (someone’s) butt – to defeat someone; to use force to achieve a goal; to

fight and hurt someone

* Their team has beaten us the past three years, but this year, we plan to kick

their butt!

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 153

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

The Musical Chicago

Chicago is a Broadway “musical” (theater with singing), which was made into an

award-winning movie in 2002. The musical was originally produced in 1975 and

ran for 936 performances. It was “choreographed” (with steps designed for

dances) by the famous Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse. In 1996, Chicago

was “revived” (brought back for performances) and continues to run today, with

over 4,500 performances so far. The movie version won an Academy Award, the

most prestigious or highly respected movie award in the United States.

The story of the musical is interesting one. The musical is set in the city of

Chicago in the 1920s and is about two women “murderers” (killers). The first

women, Velma, is a singer who murders her husband and her sister, when she

finds out they are having an “affair” (sexual relationship). The second woman,

Roxie, murders her boyfriend when she discovers that he has no intention of

making her a “star” (famous performer) as he had promised. Both of their crimes

are discovered and they are both put on “death row,” which is the section of a

prison where people go if they are waiting to be killed for having murdered

someone. While they wait to die, they both fight for the “fame” (being known and

talked about by many people) that they have both wanted for so long.

Roxie “enlists” (gets) the help of a lawyer who is famous for his “showmanship”

(ability to please a crowd of people) and she gets the fame that Velma had. In

the end, the women realize that they need each other to get what they want.

Like other musicals, Chicago takes a serious subject and turns it into

entertainment, but also “satire,” which makes a point or statement about our

society. Chicago is a satire about “corruption” (dishonesty by people in power) of

our system of justice and the idea of the “criminal celebrity,” someone who

becomes famous because of a crime.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 153

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 153.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 153. I’m

your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational

Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com. You can download this episode’s Learning

Guide, an 8 to 10 page guide we provide for all of our current episodes that gives

you some additional help in improving your English. You can also take a look at

our ESL Podcast Store, with additional courses in English, as well as our ESL

Podcast Blog, where several times a week we provide even more help in helping

you increase your language proficiency.

On this Café, we’re going to continue our series on American Cities, focusing on

Chicago. We’re also going to talk about a song that is very important in

American culture and history, our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner .

And as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

This Café continues our series on American cities. Today we are going to talk

about the city of Chicago, Illinois. Illinois is spelled I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S, but we do not

pronounce the “s”; it’s just “Illinoi,” not “Illinois.” Illinois is located in the north

central part of the United States, and Chicago is in the northeast corner of the

state.

With almost three million people, Chicago is the third largest city in the U.S.

There are, in fact, almost 10 million people in the “metropolitan area,” or the area

surrounding the city, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the United

States as well. New York and Los Angeles are numbers one and two.

Chicago is sometimes called the Windy City, and if you ask people in the U.S.

about Chicago, that’s a term they will be familiar with. Something that is “windy”

(windy) has a lot of “wind” (wind), or air that moves very quickly. Chicago is very

windy because it is built next to Lake Michigan, which is one of the five, what we

call, Great Lakes, five large lakes that are in that north central area of the U.S.

The Great Lakes are the biggest group of freshwater lakes on the earth. When

we say they’re “freshwater,” we mean they are not salty like the oceans.

Some people believe Chicago is called the Windy City because of the weather

there. Other people say that it refers to the politics of Chicago in the 19 th

century,

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 153

when there were a lot of politicians that would give speeches. An informal,

somewhat negative description of a politician giving a speech is that they are

“blowing a lot of hot air,” or “blowing a lot of wind,” in this case, and that is where

Windy City comes from. No one, of course, is quite sure exactly what the

meaning is, or the origin of it is; everyone just calls it the Windy City.

Chicago is fairly “wealthy,” or rich city with many businesses. One part of the

downtown is called the Magnificent Mile. “Magnificent” (magnificent) means

wonderful or something that is very special or impressive. The Magnificent Mile

has some of the world’s tallest buildings, and some of the best restaurants and

stores. Chicago has many “skyscrapers,” or very tall office buildings. In fact,

Chicago has the tallest skyscraper in the U.S., which is the Sears Tower. It is not

the tallest building in the world, of course, but it is the tallest skyscraper in the

U.S. Chicago is also known as a center for arts; the Art Institute of Chicago is

one of the U.S.’ best art schools, and is located there. Chicago also has several

famous universities, beginning with the University of Chicago, a private university

that is famous for many of the economists who had an impact on the United

States’ political system in the 20 th

century, and there are several other

universities there as well.

The airports in Chicago are some of the biggest and busiest in the world.

Chicago, unlike Los Angeles, also has a good “public transportation system,” a

way to move people throughout the city on shared transportation, without

everyone having to own his or her own car. The system in Chicago is called the

“L” (written just with the capital letter L) and it’s the third busiest metro system in

the country. Riding the L lets people move through downtown Chicago very

quickly.

If you ask people what Chicago is famous for, other than being the Windy City

and it’s L, they may also say “gangsters,” because in the 1920s, Chicago

became very well known for its gangsters. A “gangster” (gangster) is a person

who is in a gang, or group of people who usually do things that are against the

law, usually to make money. Back in the 1920s, during “Prohibition,” or the

period of time when it was illegal to make and sell alcohol in the United States,

gangsters made a lot of money by making and selling illegal alcohol. One

gangster, Al Capone, became very famous for fighting against the government.

Today people still talk about Chicago-style politics as a type of politics that isn’t

entirely legal or isn’t entirely, we might say, clean. Chicago has a bad reputation

for its politics, at least in the 20 th

century, or in the early and mid parts of the

century.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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