大学英语精读 Unit Six

                   Sam set out to improve efficiency at the shirt fac-         
                        tory  but, as  we  find out later  in this unit, his plans
                        turned out not quite as he had expected.

  
             SAM ADAMS, INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER

        If you ask  my  mother how  I  happened  to  becorne  an  industrial engi-   
     neer, she'll tell you that I have always been one.
         She means that I  have  always wanted  everything  to  be  well  organized 
     and  neat. When  I was still in elementary  school,  I liked to keep my  socks 
     in the upper left-hand drawer of my bureau, my underwear in the upper right
 5  drawer, shirts  in  the  middle drawer, and  pants, neatly  folded, in  the  bot-
     tom drawer.
          In fact , I  was  the  efficiency  expert  for  the whole family.I used to or-
     ganize  my  father's  tools, my  mother's  kitchen  utensils, my  sister's  boy-
10 friends. 
          I needed  to be  efficient. I wanted  to be well  organized. For  me, there 
     was a place  for everything  and everything  was always  in  its place. These
     qualities  gave  me a  good foundation for a career  in  industrial engineering.
          Unfortunately, I  was also a  bit  bossy and  I wasn't a  very  good listen
15 er. You'll  see what I mean when I  tell you about  the first project I ever did 
     after I finished my bachelor's degree at the university.
          After  graduation  I   returned   home  to  my  small  town  in  Indiana.  I 
     didn't  have a  job yet. Mr.Hobbs,  a  friend  of  my  father's, owned a small 
     shirt factory  in  town. Within  the  past  five years it had grown from twenty 
20 to  eighty  workers.  Mr. Hobbs  was worried that his  plant was  getting too
     big and  inefficient, so he  asked  me to  come in on a  short-term basis as.a 
     consultant.
           I went to the plant and spent about a  week looking around and  making 
     notes. I was really amazed at what I saw.
25       Most   curious  of   all,  there 
     was no quality control  whatsoev
     er. No  one  inspected  the   final
     product of  the factory.  As  a re
     sult  some of  the shirts that were
30 put  in boxes  for shipment  were
     missing  one  or two buttons, the
     collar, even a  sleeve sometimes!
          The    working      conditions
     were poor. The  tables where the
35 workers sat were very  high  and
     uncomfortable. Except for a half,
     hour at  lunchtime, there were no 
     breaks  in  the day  to relieve the 
     boring work. There  was  no mu-
40 sic. The walls  of  the workrooms
     were   a  dull  gray  color. I   was 
     amazed  that,  the workers hadn't
     gone on  strike.
          Furthermore,  the  work  flow  was  irregular.  There  was  one   especially 
     absent-minded  young  man  in  the  assembly  line  who  sewed  on  buttons.  
     After a while I  recognized  him as  "Big Jim, "who  used  to sit  behind me in
45 math class  in high school.  He was very slow and all the shirts  were  held up 
     at  his  position.  Workers  beyond  him in  line  on  his shift had  to wait with 
     nothing to do; therefore, a great  deal of time and   efficiency were lost as Big 
     Jim daydreamed while he  worked. All week  I wondered why he wasn't fired.
50       After I made observations for  a week, Mr. Hobbs  asked me for  an oral
     report of my findings. I covered my major points by telling him the following :
          "If you have a quality  control  inspection, you  will greatly  improve  your 
     firished product. "
55      "If the assembly line is  redesigned, a smooth  work flow can be  achieved 
     and time and energy can be saved. "
          "If you  decrease  the  height  of  the  worktables,  the  machine  operators
     will work more comfortably. "
          "If  the  management  provides  pleasant background  music and beautifies 
60 the dull setting, the factory will be much more productive. "
          "If the  workers  have  a fifteen-minute  coffee  break  in the  morning  and
     afternoon, they will be more efficient. "
          "If excellent  work  results  in  frequent  pay  increases or promotions, the 
     workers will have greater incentive to produce. "
65      Mr. Hobbs  thanked  me  for this  report  and  told  me he would talk over 
     my suggestions with his brother, the co-owner and manager of the factory. 
     "We're  interested  in  progress  here, "he said. "We want  to keep up with the 
     times. " 
          He  also  gave me  a check  for  $100 and  a box of shirts  with  his compli
70 ments

                              New Words

    efficiency / n.                       the state or quality of being efficient 效率
   industrial / a.                        of industry 工业的 
   neat / a.                               orderly and. clean 整洁的
   elementary / a.                     of or for beginners 初等的 , 初级的 
   sock / n.                              短袜
   drawer/n.                             抽屉
   bureau / n.                           a chest of drawers for bedroom use 衣柜
   underwear / n.                      内衣
   pants / n.                             trousers 
     expert / n.                            a person with special knowledge or skill 专家,能
                                手 
   kitchen / n.                           room used for cooking 厨房 
   utensil / n.                            any tool or container used in the house, esp. for 
                                                      cooking 用具, 器皿
   qnality / n.                           the degrse of goodness which a thing or a person 
                                                      possesses 质量, 品质
   foundation / n.                     基础		
   career / n.                            profession; way of making a living 职业;生涯
   engineering n.                       工程学；管理
   unfortunately ad.                  不幸的是；遗憾的是
   bossy / a.                            always telling other people what to do and how
                                                     to do it, like a boss 爱指挥人的；专横的
   project / n.                          a piece of work; a big plan 项目 ;方案
   bachelor / n.                        a person who had the first university degree 学士
   graduation / n.                     completion of an educational course 毕业 
    graduate vi. 
     short-term a.                       involving or lasting a short period of time 短期的
   basis / n.                             基础 ; 根据
   consultant / n.                     a person who gives professional or technical ad- 
                                                    vice 顾问 
    consult v. 
     amaze / vt.                          fill with great surprise or wonder 使大为惊讶,
                                                   使惊愕
   curious / a.                          strange 奇怪的 
   whatsoever / a.                    of any kind , at all 任何的 , 丝毫的
   inspect / vt.                         examine 检查
   shipment / n.                       the act of sending, carrying or delivering goods
                                                  装运，运送         
   miss vt.                               be mthout; lack 
     button / n.                           纽扣
   collar / n.                             领子
   sleeve / n.                            袖子
   relieve / vt.                           make less or easier 减轻
   boring / a.                            uninteresting and tiresome 令人厌烦的
     bore vt.
     workroom n.                        a room specially kept for working in 工场（间）
   dull / a.                                not bright or clear 阴暗的
   flow / n.                               a smooth steady movement or supply 流 ( 动)
     work flow n.                        工作流程
   irregular / a.                          uneven; not continuous 不规则的,不稳定的
    regular a.
     absent.minded / a.               so concerned with one's thoughts as not to notice 
                                                    what is happening, what one is doing, etc. 
                                                    心不在焉的
   absent a.                             not present
     inspection / n.                     the act of examining (sth. )closely or in detail 
                                                    检查
   assembly / n.                       组装；集合
     assemble v.
        assembly line / n.              装配线
   shift n.                                 班；轮班，
   daydream v.                         have pleasant dreamlike thoughts ( abour) 做白
                                日梦，空想
   fire vt.                                 make (sb. )leave his job 解雇
   observation / n.                    the act of watching carefully 观察 ,
          observe zit.
          observer n. 
     oral / a.                                spoken, not written 口( 头 ) 的
   findings / n.                                the results of any research or enquiry 调查( 或研
                               究）的结果
   major / a.                             important 较大的; 主要的 ,
     redesign / vt.                       重新设计
     design vt.                         设计
   achieve / vt.                         get by effort (经努力)得到;实现,
     decrease / vt.                       make smaller or fewer 减少
   worktable n.                        a table at which work is done 工作台
   operator / n.                        a person who makes sth . work 操作人员
     operate vt.
     management / n.                 资方；管理（部门）
   background / n.                  背景
   beautify / vt.                       make beautifui 美化, 装饰 
   setting / n.                          surroundings 环境
   productive / a.                    producing much;able to produce 多产的;
                                                  富有成效的
   frequent / a.   .                    appening often 频繁的 
   promotion / n.                    提升；促进
     promote vt. 
     incentive / n.                       刺激
   suggestion / n.                    an idea or plan put forward for people to think
                                                  about 建议
   co-owner / n.                      a joint owner 共同所有者 
   manager / n.                        a person responsible for running a section of a
                                                   business 经理
   compliments / n.                 formal respects or greetings 贺词 ; 问候

                          Phrases & Expressions

     find out                           learn or discover 查明 ; 发现
   turn out                           happen to be or found to be in the end 结果是
   quality eontrol                 the activity of checking that products are all of 
                                               satisfactory standard and quality, usu. by testing
                                               samples of them 质量控制( 管理 )
     as a result                       because of 作为结果 , 因此
   except for                      apart from; with the exception of 除了…外
   go on strike                    refuse to continue working 罢工
   hold up                          delay 延迟 , 耽搁 ; 阻碍
   result in                          have as a result; cause 结果是;导致
   talk over                        discuss 商量 ; 讨论
   keep up with                  go or move as fast as 跟上

                              Proper Names·

     Sam Adams /                       萨姆·亚当斯
   Indiana /                              印第安纳（美国州名）
   Hobbs /                               霍布斯 (姓氏 )