Murder in Chicago: Online Listening Practice:

50-minute English Lesson

In this free online listening practice lesson, we look at Chicago, a big US city with big problems.

Online Listening Practice
Crimes with guns

Read the story

Can Chicago be Fixed?

With 2.7 million people, Chicago is America’s third largest city. It’s famous for deep dish pizza and spectacular attractions.

It’s also famous for violence.

Chicago has a history of social turbulence, but the problems seem to be getting worse. In 2016, there were about 700 murders.

That’s more than all of Canada or the UK in 2015. In addition to homicides, about 4000 people were shot. That’s almost 80 people per week.

Why is the city so violent? There are many ideas about root causes. Guns, gangs and drugs are common reasons along with poverty and unemployment.

Can anything be done to curb urban violence? With insufficient funding, deep corruption and shocking income gaps, the answer might be no.

The city is billions of dollars in debt. Even if someone had a great idea to fix Chicago’s massive problems, there really isn’t much money available to implement solutions.

Corruption runs deep in Chicago politics. Bribery, fraud and graft are all bad because they influence government spending.

According to one study, corrupt governments spend more on construction projects and police and less on education, health and welfare. In other words, the services that low income people need to improve their lives don’t receive enough support.

Finally, Chicago is a divided city. The northern part is wealthy and beautiful. The southern and western parts are poor and run down. The contrasts are stark. Museums and murder. Galleries and ghettoes.

Whatever the cause, one thing seems clear. The old ways of improving a society – economic growth that produces benefits for all coupled with government spending – don’t seem to work anymore.

If practical solutions can’t be found for Chicago, what then lies ahead for similar cities in America and around the world where entire classes of people are left to struggle on their own while small groups profit?

Listen without reading

Online Listening Practice

Audio

Here is the listening file for this lesson.

Listening level: 5
Audio file: 2:30 min
Story length: 305 words

 

Online Listening Practice learn English
Chicago ranks high for murder by gunshot
[quiz-cat id=”7388″]

ESL listening activity: gap fill

Listen to the ESL listening story again and fill in the blanks.

With 2.7 million people, Chicago is America’s _________ largest city. It’s famous for deep dish pizza and spectacular _________ .

It’s also famous for violence.

Chicago has a history of _________ turbulence, but the problems seem to be getting worse. In 2016, there were about 700 murders.

That’s more than all of Canada or the UK in 2015. In addition to _________ , about 4000 people were shot. That’s almost 80 people per week.

Why is the city so violent? There are many ideas about _________ causes. Guns, gangs and drugs are common reasons along with _________ and unemployment.

Can anything be done to curb _________ violence? With insufficient funding, deep corruption and shocking _________ gaps, the answer might be no.

The city is billions of dollars in _________ . Even if someone had a great idea to fix Chicago’s massive problems, there really isn’t much money available to _________ solutions.

Corruption runs deep in Chicago politics. Bribery, _________ and graft are all bad because they influence government spending.

According to one study, corrupt governments spend more on construction projects and police and less on education, health and welfare. In other words, the services that _________ _________ people need to improve their lives don’t receive enough support.

Finally, Chicago is a _________ city. The northern part is wealthy and beautiful. The southern and western parts are poor and _________ _________ . The contrasts are stark. Museums and murder. Galleries and ghettoes.

Whatever the cause, one thing seems clear. The old ways of _________ a society – economic growth that produces benefits for all coupled with government spending – don’t seem to work anymore.

If _________ _________ can’t be found for Chicago, what then lies ahead for similar cities in America and around the world where entire _________ _________ people are left to struggle on their own while small groups _________ ?

ESL discussion questions

Talk about the online listening practice story.

  1. What kind of story is this?
  2. Why is crime such a big problem in that city?
  3. What is graft? Can you think of any examples?
  4. In what way is Chicago a divided city?
  5. Can money fix the problems?
  6. Does this story have a message?

Synonym match

Match the word or phrase on the left with the correct synonym.

1. spectacular
2. turbulence
3. root cause
4. ghetto
5. massive 
a. violence
b. breathtaking
c. slum
d. colossal
e. main reason

Online English listening practice: Anagrams

Move the letters. Make a word from the online listening practice activity.

  1. CIOASL
  2. YOREVPT
  3. GOSKIHCN
  4. CSEAU
  5. RLUETSGG
  6. USINNCETFFII

Writing practice

Write the five sentences. Put the words in the correct order.

  1. southern / poor / western / and / down / run / parts / and / the / are
  2. famous / for / violence / it’s / also
  3. dollars / the / city / debt / in / of / billions / is
  4. causes / about / ideas / root / many / there / are
  5. a / turbulence / worse / history / has / be / of / social / seem / getting / but / Chicago / problems / to / the

Another ESL listening story

Ready for some more online listening practice? Try this free online listening comprehension lesson which has a food quiz.

Watch a video and take notes

Did you like this online listening practice activity about Chicago? Take a tour with this National Geographic video.

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Take notes.
  3. Make a list with at least eight facts.

Get the worksheet

Want to print out these ESL listening activities? Click to download PDF worksheet.

Click to see the activity answers.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.