History of the Automobile Industry

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Vocabulary to be remembered

Tinker – чинить

Innovation – новшество

Envision – предположить

Steam carriage – повозка с паровым двигателем

To decline – снижать

Maintain – поддерживать (обслуживать)

internal-combustion engine – двигатель внутреннего сгорания

Carburetor – карбюратор

Liquid hydrocarbons – жидкие углеводороды

Vapor – пар

Ignite – зажигаться

Tricycle – трехколесный велосипед

Royalty – лицензионный платеж

Usher – сопровождать

Split up – прекращать отношения

Automobiles as we know them today are the product of centuries of tinkering and innovation. Automobile production has grown from small companies making simple so-called horseless carriages to international corporations that mass-produce advanced, reliable automobiles for consumers.

Early Automobile Concepts

In the 15th century, Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci envisioned possibilities for power-driven vehicles. By the late 17th century, English physicist Sir Isaac Newton had proposed a steam carriage, and by the late 18th century French army captain Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot had actually built one. By the mid-1800s, the popularity of steam vehicles began to decline because they were dangerous to operate and difficult to maintain. At about the same time, inventors became interested in the internal-combustion engine.

Robert Street of England filed a patent in 1794 that summarized how an internal-combustion engine might work, but it was Belgian-born French inventor Jean-Joseph-Étienne Lenoir who built the first commercially successful internal-combustion engine in 1859. Lenoir’s engine had a carburetor that mixed liquid hydrocarbons, which formed a vapor. An electric spark in a cylinder ignited the vapor. By 1876 German shop clerk Nicolas August Otto had improved on Lenoir's engine, and the Otto engine became the model of the internal-combustion engines used today. Germans Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz attached motors to tricycles and automobiles, building what are regarded as the first modern cars in 1885 and 1886 (Daimler Chrysler AG).

In America, lawyer George Baldwin Selden studied many of the European engines at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, and then redesigneк what he considered to be the best among them. He reduced the engine weight so it could power a light road vehicle. Selden patented his engine, so he ultimately received a royalty, or small payment, for almost every car made in the United States.

Charles Edgar Duryea and his brother Frank are credited with the first production automobile made in the United States. Their small company produced 13 cars in 1896, ushering in the automobile industry. Only a few more cars were sold in the following year, and the brothers split up to follow separate interests.

Complete the sentences

1. Automobiles are the product of ______.

2. By the late 17th century, English physicist ______ had proposed a steam carriage.

3. ____ built the first commercially successful internal-combustion engine in 1859.

4. Lenoir’s engine had a_______, which formed a vapor.

5. ______ had improved on Lenoir's engine, and his engine became the model of the internal-combustion engines used today.

6. _____ reduced the engine weight so it could power a light road vehicle.

7. _____ are credited with the first production automobile made in the United States.

Answer the questions

1. To what has the auto production grown from small companies making simple so-called horseless carriages?

2. Who was the first to envision possibilities for power-driven vehicles?

3. Describe the further development of the automobile.

Retell the text

Henry Ford and Mass Production

Vocabulary to be remembered.

Court – суд

Initial – начальный

Efficiency – эффективность

Sturdy – крепкий

Affordable – возможный

Improve – улучшать (ся)

A two-cylinder motor – двигатель с двумя цилиндрами

Windshield – лобовое стекло

Minor – незначительный

lb –(сокр. от pound) фунт

Make up the dialogue using the words from the vocabulary.

Several small automobile manufacturers were making cars in the early 1900s, but American Henry Ford helped popularize the idea that anyone could own a car. Ford successfully challenged the Selden patent in court, opening the door for increased automobile manufacturing. Ford achieved initial success by making cars in large quantities to reduce costs and by making them simple enough so many consumers could easily operate them. Ford standardized parts and reorganized factory production to maximize efficiency. Ford made the sturdy, black Model T using mass production, the most economical way to make the maximum number of similar copies of the car. He understood that efficient mass production would lower car prices, making cars affordable for the average person, thus generating a huge market. From 1910 to 1924, Ford cars decreased steadily in price as they improved in quality. The Ford Model F in 1904 weighed 630 kg (1,400 lb), had a two-cylinder motor, and sold for $1,200. By 1924 the Ford Model T touring car was heavier at 680 kg

(1,500 lb), had a more powerful four-cylinder motor, and included a top and windshield—yet it sold for only $290. Ford made only minor changes to the Model T for nearly two decades, and more than half of the cars sold in the United States were Model Ts during many of those years.

Retell the text.

Unit II

Power System

Vocabulary to be remembered

diesel fuel-дизельное топливо

solar energy-солнечная энергия

ignition key-ключ зажигания

battery-аккумулятор

starter motor-стартер двигателя

flywheel-маховое колесо

crankshaft -коленчатый вал

pistons-поршни