It is hard for modern people to imagine the life one hundred years ago. No television, no plastic, no ATMs, no DVDs. Illnesses like tuberculosis, diphtheria, pneumonia meant only death. Of course, cloning appeared only in science fiction. Not to mention, computer and Internet. Today, our workplace are equipped with assembly lines, fax machines, computers. Our daily life is cushioned by air conditioners, cell phones. Antibiotics helped created a long list of miracle drugs. The bypass operation saved millions. The discovery of DNA has revolutionized the way scientists think about new therapies. Man finally stepped on the magical and mysterious Moon. With the rapid changes we have been experiencing, the anticipation for the future is higher than ever. A revolutionary manufacturing process made it possible for anyone to own a car. Henry Ford is the man who put the world on wheels. When it comes to singling out those who have made a difference in all our lives, you cannot overlook Henry Ford. A historian a century from now might well conclude that it was Henry Ford who most influenced all manufacturing everywhere, even to this day, by introducing a new way to make cars—one, strange to say, that originated in slaughter houses. Back in the early 1900s, slaughter houses used what could have been called a "disassembly line." That is, the carcass of a slain steer or a pig was moved past various meat-cutters, each of whom cut off only a certain portion. Ford reversed this process to see if it would speed up production of a part of an automobile engine called a magneto. Rather than have each worker completely assemble a magneto, one of its elements was placed on a conveyer, and each worker, as it passed, added another component to it, the same one each time. Professor David Hounshell, of The University of Delaware, an expert on industrial development tells what happened: "The previous day, workers carrying out the entire process had averaged one magneto every 20 minutes. But on that day, on the line, the assembly team averaged one every 13 minutes and 10 seconds per person." Within a year, the time had been reduced to five minutes. In 1913, Ford went all the way. Hooked together by ropes, partially assembled vehicles were towed past workers who completed them one piece at a time. It wasn’t long before Ford was turning out several hundred thousand cars a year, a remarkable achievement then. And so efficient and economical was this new system that he cut the price of his cars in half, to $260, putting them within reach of all those who, up until that time, could not afford them. Soon, auto makers over the world copied him. In fact, he encouraged them to do so by writing a book about all of his innovations, entitled Today and Tomorrow. The Age of the Automobile had arrived. Today, aided by robots and other forms of automation, everything from toasters to perfumes is made on assembly lines. Edsel Ford, Henry’s great-grandson, and a Ford vice president: “I think that my great-grandfather would just be amazed at how far technology has come." Many of today’s innovations come from Japan. Norman Bodek, who publishes books about manufacturing processes, finds this ironic. On a recent trip to Japan he talked to two of the top officials of Toyota. "When I asked them where these secrets came from, where their ideas came from to manufacture in a totally different way, they laughed, and they said. ’Well. We just read it in Henry Ford’s book from 1926: Today and Tomorrow.’\ The idea of assembly line came from
A. slaughter houses.
B. Japan.
C. auto engines.
D. cars.
What are the components of the British Parliament
A. [A] The Senate and the House of Representatives.
B. [B] The House of Lords and the House of Commons.
C. [C] The Senate, the House of Representatives and the Queen/King.
D. [D] The House of Lords, the House of Commons and the Queen/King.
During the traditional wedding ceremony, the bridal couple promises each other lifelong devotion. Yet, about one out of four American (36) ends in divorce. Since 1940, the divorce rate has more than doubled, and experts (37) that, of all marriages that occurred in the 1970s,about 50% will end in divorce. The U.S. A. has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, perhaps even the highest. The fact that divorce is so (38) in the United States does not mean that Americans consider marriage a (39) ,unimportant relationship. Americans expect a great deal from marriage. They (40) physical, emotional, and intellectual compatibility. They want to be deeply loved and (41) . They prefer no marriage at all to a marriage without love and understanding. With typical American (42) ,they end one marriage in the hope that the next will be (43) . With no-fault divorce laws in many states, it is easier than ever to get a divorce. Some American women stay in unhappy marriages (44) . But most American women believe that, if necessary, they can make it alone without a husband. (45) . If a divorcing couple has children, the court must determine which parent the children will live with and who will provide for their support. In most cases, the children live with the mother. (46) .
Asked what job they would take if they could have any, people unleash their imaginations and dream of exotic places, powerful positions or work that involves alcohol and a paycheck at the same time. Or so you’d think. None of those appeals to Lori Miller who, as a lead word processor, has to do things that don’t seem so dreamy, which include proofreading, spell checking and formatting. But she loves it. "I like and respect nearly all my co-workers, and most of them feel the same way about me," she says. "Just a few things would make it a little better," she says, including a shorter commute and the return of some great people who used to work there. And one more thing: She’d appreciate if everyone would put their dishes in the dishwasher. It’s not a lot to ask for and, it turns out, a surprising number of people dreaming up their dream job don’t ask for much. One could attribute it to lack of imagination, setting the bar low or "anchoring," the term referring to the place people start and never move far from. One could chalk it up to rationalizing your plight. But maybe people simply like what they do and aren’t, as some management would have you believe, asking for too much—just the elimination of a small but disproportionately powerful amount of office inanity. That may be one reason why two-thirds of Americans would take the same job again "without hesitation" and why 90% of Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs, according to a Gallup Poll. The matters that routinely rank high on a satisfaction scale don’t relate to money but "work as a means for demonstrating some sort of responsibility and achievement," says Barry Staw, professor of leadership and communication at University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. "Pay—even when it’s important, it’s not for what you can buy, it’s a validation of your work and approval." So, money doesn’t interest Elizabeth Gray as much as a level playing field. "I like what I do," says the city project manager who once witnessed former colleagues award a contractor, paid for work he never completed, with the title of "Contractor of the Year". Thus: "My dream job would be one free of politics," she says. "All advancement would be based on merit. The people who really did the work would be the ones who received the credit." Frank Gastner has a similar ideal: "VP in charge of destroying inane policies." Over the years, he’s had to hassle with the simplest of design flaws that would cost virtually nothing to fix were it not for the bureaucracies that entrenched them. So, the retired manufacturer’s representative says he would address product and process problems with the attitude, "It’s not right; let’s fix it now without a committee meeting." Monique Huston actually has her dream job—and many tell her it’s theirs, too. She’s general manager of a pub in Omaha, the Dundee Dell, which boasts 650 single-malt scotches on its menu. She visits bars, country clubs, people’s homes and Scotland for whiskey tasting. "I stumbled on my passion in life," she says. Still, some night she doesn’t feel like drinking—or smiling. "Your face hurts," she complains. And when you have your dream job you. wonder what in the world you’ll do next. One of the big appeals of a dream job is dreaming about it. Last year, George Reinhart saw an ad for a managing director of the privately owned island of Mustique in the West Indies. He was lured by the salary ($1 million) and a climate that beat the one enjoyed by his Boston suburb. A documentary he saw about Mustique chronicled the posh playground for the likes of Mick Jagger and Princess Margaret. He reread Herman Work’s "Don’t Stop the Carnival," about a publicity agent who leaves his New York job and buys an island hotel. In April of last year, he applied for the job. He heard nothing. So last May, he wrote another letter: "I wanted to thank you for providing the impetus for so much thought and fun." He didn’t get the job but, he says, he takes comfort that the job hasn’t been filled. "So, I can still dream," he adds. I told him the job had been filled by someone—but only after he said, "I need to know, because then I can begin to dream of his failure.\ What is the role of the 4th paragraph in the development of the passage
A. To show that people don’t ask for much about their dream job.
B. To show that most people in America are satisfied with their jobs.
C. To offer supporting evidence to the preceding paragraph.
D. To provide a contrast to the preceding paragraphs.