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 is equipped with assembly lines， fax machines， computers. Our daily life is cushioned①by air conditioners， cell phones. Antibiotics helped created a long list of miracle drugs. The bypass② 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， 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 after 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 car—one， strange to say， that originated③ in slaughterhouses.
Back in the early 1900s， slaughterhouses used what could have been called a “disassembly line”. That is， the carcass④ of a slain steer or a pig was moved past various meat-cutters， each of whom cut off only a certain portion. Ford reversed⑤ 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.
As a result， the previous day， workers carrying out the entire process had averaged one assembly 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 economical⑥ was this new system that he cut the price of his cars in half to 260 dollars， putting them within reach of all those who， up until that time， could not afford them. Soon， automakers 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.
① cushionv. 给……安上垫子
② bypassn. ［医］分流术
③ originatev. 发源，来自，产生
④ carcassn.（除脏去头备食用的） 畜体
⑤ reversev. 颠倒，翻转
⑥ economicaladj. 经济的，节约的
亨利·福特
对今天的人们来说，很难想象100前的生活。没有电视、没有塑料、没有自动提款机、没有DVD。像肺结核、白喉和肺炎这类的疾病就只能意味着死亡。当然，克隆只能出现在科幻小说中，更不用说电脑和互联网了。
今天，我们工作的地方，装有流水线、传真机、电脑。我们的日常生活由于空调、手机的出现而变得安逸。抗生素的发现帮助创造了一大批能创造生命奇迹的药；心脏搭摄手术挽救了数百万的生命；DNA的发现使科学家对治疗方法的认识发生了翻天覆地的变化。人类终于迈入了魅力无穷、神秘莫测的月球。随着科学技术的迅速发展，我们正对未来怀着前所未有的憧憬。
一种革命性的制造程序使任何人都能够拥有一辆小汽车。是亨利·福特给世界装上了轮子。
如果要选出那些对我们所有人的生活都产生了非凡意义的人物，那么就必定不能忽略亨利·福特。从现在起，100年后的一位历史学家很可能会得出结论说：是亨利·福特，对所有的制造业都产生了最大的影响。世界各地，甚至直到今天，都采用一种新的方法来制造汽车，而奇怪的是，这种方法却起源于屠宰场。
回溯到20世纪末，屠宰场所使用的可以被称作“拆卸线”，那就是说，将一头宰好的牛体或猪体从很多切肉工人面前移动经过，每一个切肉工人只能够切下特定的某个部位。福特将这一程序颠倒过来，试图看看这样能否加速汽车上一个叫做磁石发电机的部件的生产。不让每个工人全部组装一台磁石发电机，而是将发电机的一个部件放在传送带上，而每个工人，在它经过时，将另一个部件给它安装上。每一次都装配同样的一个部件。
结果是，就在前一天，完成整个组装过程的工人，平均每人每20分钟组装一台磁石发电机。但是，在那一天，在这条装配线上的装配组，平均每人每13分10秒钟就组装了一台。
不到一年的时间，这个时间就减到了5分钟。1913年，福特大刀阔斧地进行了改革。用绳子钩在一起，部分组装好的车辆被拖着从工人身旁经过，他们一次只完成一个部件。不久，福特公司一年就生产出几十万辆汽车，在当时来说，是一个非常伟大的成就。而且，这一项新的系统是如此有效而又经济合算，以致他将自己生产出来的汽车削价一半，降至每辆260美元，将汽车送到了那些在此之前一直都买不起的人的手中。不久，全世界的汽车制造商都纷纷仿效他。事实上，他通过写了本名为《今天和明天》的书来讲述他的革新，从而鼓励他们这样做。汽车的时代已经到来。今天，在机器人和其它形式的自动化的帮助下，从烤面包机到香水，所有的事物，全都是在装配线上生产出来的。
