新视野课外阅读4-6 Henry Ford text.doc

Henry Ford, 1863-1947: He Revolutionized the Auto Industry Many people believe Henry Ford invented the automobile. But Henry Ford did not start to build his first car until eighteen ninety-six. That was eleven years after two Germans -- Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz -- developed the first gasoline-powered automobile. Many people believe Henry Ford invented the factory system that moved a cars parts to the worker, instead of making the worker move to the parts. That is not true, either. Many manufacturers used this system before Ford. What Henry Ford did was to use other peoples ideas and make them better. Others made cars. Henry Ford made better cars. And he sold them for less money. Others built car factories. Henry Ford built the biggest factory of its time. And he made the whole factory a moving production line. Henry Ford had great skills in making machines work. He also had great skills as an organizer. His efforts produced a huge manufacturing company. But those same efforts almost ruined the company he built. Henry Ford was born on a farm in the state of Michigan on July thirtieth, eighteen sixty-three. The farm was near the city of Detroit. Henry was always interested in machines. He was always experimenting with them. He enjoyed fixing clocks. And he helped repair farm equipment. When Henry was sixteen years old, he left the family farm. He went to Detroit to learn more about machines. In eighteen seventy-nine, when Henry began work in Detroit, the city was a center of industrial development. Travelers could tell they were near Detroit by the cloud of smoke that hung over the city. Detroit was a center of iron and steel making. Nearby mines of lead and salt brought chemical companies to the city. And Detroits copper and brass business was the largest in the world. One thing Henry Ford learned in Detroit was to have the right tool to do the job. It was something he would never forget. After three years in Detroit, Henry returned to his family farm. He rem