Vocabulary Practice. I. Choose a synonym from the text to the underlined words and word combinations
I. Choose a synonym from the text to the underlined words and word combinations.
1. The only further step required is to get rid of the idea of producing on what the traffic will bear. 2. In the early years of the company’s existence, Ford took part in legal battles challenging patents which limited his opportunities to alter the internal combustion engine… 3. Alongside of the political reforms of the Progressive Era, Ford’s dedication to the free market, to making a socially useful products …, suggested that a new and better way of life was coming. 4. Ford was a real hero for the common Americans. 5. Though he closed his factories for 18 months in 1927-1928 to prepare for a new Ford car, the Model A, he never achieved his position of leadership in the car industry again. 6. Yet Ford himself was frequently criticized. 7. Ford continued to manufacture the Model T until General Motors left it behind in sales with its more stylish-looking Chevrolet. 8. Ford was fond of all vegetables, but he adored the soybean with a feeling close to admiration. 9. To him it was the medicine for every decease. 10. Ford’s peace campaign was the momentary caprice of an inventor and manufacturer who got involved into a too difficult task when entering the sphere of politics.
II. Translate the following words and word combinations into English:
− служить подмастерьем − лошадиная сила − предпринять шаги, начать − излагать − составлять реальный рынок для какого-либо продукта − всестороннее обслуживание − враг монополий − шасси − сходить с конвейера − утроить − достижения − с помощью нейтрального посредничества − делать вклад в уничтожение аграрного общества − шикарный − в огромной степени − противоречивая фигура − быть побежденным − высмеивать − навязчивая идея − оценочный − производный продукт − прославлять кровопролитие − в полном смысле слова, без преувеличения − потерпеть крах − скопить − что касается продукта
III. Translate into Russian:
− to revolutionize − humble farming background − internal combustion engine − to become completely knowledgeable − to buy the biggest dollar’s worth of quality − to meet a demand − pricing on what the traffic will bear − pricing on what it costs to manufacture − the champion of the common man − boxy − tinny-looking − mass production assembly line − to conduct a test − to fit in well with smth. − to discourage war − self-reliance − to muss up smb.’s mind − to unionize − a curse − to dramatize the value of human incentives − to lose the common touch − to dehumanize − parched guests − to feature − to fiddle with smth. − a colorful figure − within the purchasing power − at hand − charitable causes − collective bargaining
You have read the text about Henry Ford and his contributions to the US car industry. Now read another text about the development of automobile industry in Britain. Find the reasons for the decline in the UK car manufacturing. Then do the tasks below. History of the UK car industry For the last hundred years British car-making capitalists have shown two distinguishing features – greed and stupidity. The motor industry, together with passenger air transport and the computer, is probably the defining technology of the twentieth century. A hundred years ago the engineering capitalists who had the technological know-how to move into this vast potential new market were not that bothered. They were doing very nicely out of arms contracts with the government. Then as now imperialism and militarism crowds out innovation. In any case they lacked the vision of the likes of Henry Ford (a thoroughly nasty piece of work) who foresaw homes with a car on every drive, and laid plans for mass production accordingly. As early as 1913 his US plant was churning out 200,000 cars a year while the biggest UK producer, Wolseley, was only making 3,000. British motor manufacturers saw themselves as producing a plaything for the rich while Ford wanted to sell the Model T to every well-paid worker and small farmer in the USA. Ford realised that, to make his cars affordable, he had to produce them on a mass scale. He introduced techniques of mass production (now known as ‘Fordism’) and made sure his car plants were planned to the last detail. Everything possible was done in-house: he didn’t want any nasty surprises. The trouble, for his imitators in Britain, was that this would involve a
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lot of costly investment. They preferred to rely on outside suppliers for components. Morris, which emerged as the biggest domestic producer, was family owned and did not even raise finance by launching its shares on the Stock Exchange till the mid-1930s. The families that owned these car firms saw them as tickets to buy town and country homes and places in London ‘society’ – rather than factories to be invested in for the future. Their preference for dividends over investment promoted a short term outlook within the firm. Morris did not appoint an experimental engineer till 1949, and spent just 1% of turnover on research.
