FROM COFFEE TO WHEELS FOR ALL MANKIND

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 549.

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Assignment 1.

UNIT V. MADE IN THE USA

Ex. 2. Read the illustrative examples in pairs, noting how advice is given in various situations and how it is accepted or rejected.

- I've got a terrible headache.

- Why don't you lie down for half an hour?

- I think I will.

- I haven't seen your brother lately. How is he?

- As a matter of fact, he's laid up.

- Oh, dear! What's up with him?

- We don't know but we are having the doctor in tomorrow.

- How's your friend these days?

- He hasn't been too well just recently.

- I'm sorry to hear that. What's the matter?

- I think he's been overworking.

- I hope he soon gets over it.

- Thank you. He'll be pleased to hear you asked after him.

- (A person sneezes). Bless you. What's the matter? Are you all right?

- No, I feel sick. I've got a headache.

- Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like to call the doctor?

- No, I think there is nothing serious. I'll take an aspirin and lie in bed.

- How annoying for you to lie in bed.

Read the text. Translate it (orally). Make use of the Notes and the Vocabulary.

In 1873, when Joel Owsley Cheek reached the ageof twenty-one, his father gave him the traditional silver dollar. This represented hisfreedom to go out into the world to seek his fame andfortune.

Joel left the family farm in Kentucky andjoined a firm of wholesale grocersasa travelling salesman, going from village to village. However, it was the coffeethat held a specialfascination for him and in his spare hours he experimented,selecting different beans,varying their proportions and roasting times –creatingnew blends.

He spent most of his time searching for the elusive «perfect blend» of coffee. In 1882, he felt that he had found it. Now he wanted to let the world know, but how could he do this?

Joel knew that the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville was where the president, senators, diplomats, and leading Europeans met and stayed. Could he persuade the management to let him demonstrate «his» blend there? He was sure this would be the best way of testing his judgement. The hotel did co-operate and within weeks distinguished visitors were enjoying his coffee and singing its praises. Many years later, when President Theodore Roosevelt visited the hotel, he was heard to say of the coffee, «It is good to the last drop».

Unfortunately, in 1961, the Maxwell House, Hotel-caught fire, and was destroyed Few people may know of Joel Cheek, but around the world people drink his blend of coffee, Maxwell House, thus commemorating the inventor and the hotel where the coffee first found fame.

In many ways the tale of Henry Ford and the product associated with his name is a microcosm of American economic history — a story of trial and error, of innovation and ultimate success. A fanner with a penchant for things mechanical, the young Ford quit school at 17, began building small steam engines, and drove his first bicycle-wheeled, engine-driven device in 1896.

It was a primitive affair, much simpler than cars already on the roads in Europe, and it was not until 1901 that the stubborn tinker, after several false starts, got enough financial support to start the Henry Ford Automobile Company. Financial disputes arose and Ford left. Two years later, with new backers, he established the Ford Motor Company. (When in 1919 Ford bought all outstanding shares original investors reaped heavy rewards; a share that cost $100 was then worth $260,000.)

Ford was convinced that he could produce a good car at a reasonable price, and on October1, 1908, he realized his dream with the unveiling of the Ford Model T. This was a straightforward, sturdy machine made of the best metals young Henry could obtain and propelled by a single 4-cylinder, 22-horsepower, 167-cubic-inch engine. As early as 1913, his company was able to produce an astonishing 1,000 Ts per day.

The T was an instant success and within months was outselling other American cars combined. What is more, Ford promised to reduce the T's price. From $850 in 1909, the price dropped steadily to $260 for some models by 1924. By then, however, other manufacturers' inexpensive cars with better methods of changing gears and more speed were outperforming the Ton America's improved roads.

Recognizing this, Ford and his engineers went to work, and in late 1927 they were ready with the company's second breakthrough — the Model A. The car caught America's imagination, and like its predecessor, the Model T, was an instant success. There was nothing revolutionary about the engine, but the car's classic good looks and sturdiness endeared it to millions. Some 4.5 million Model A's were built in five years, and even the most expensive version sold for under $600. Today the Model A Restorers Club has thousands of members, who proudly drive their prizes.

But times were changing. The Detroit manufacturers realized that the mass market was not only growing but would buy a wide variety of cars. This trend was encouraged by General Motors, which began to make annual model changes, supported by intensive advertising campaigns. The Detroit design syndrome was soon established. Each year the new models had to be sufficiently different from the ones before, to set them clearly apart (so that one's neighbours would be sure to know that a car was new); yet it could not be so drastically changed as to put it out of character with previous models.

Today-the Big Three — General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler — manufacture many different products. But the automotive industry owes an enduring debt to a mechanical genius named Henry Ford, the man who first put Americans on wheels.