VOA标准英语2008年-It's a Big Year for 'Tin Lizzies'

As the 19th century rolled into the 20th, a young entrepreneur named Henry Ford¹ boasted, I will build a car for the great multitude. He tried and tried, naming each of his models of what was then called the horseless carriage after a succeeding letter in the Roman alphabet.

　

This beautifully maintained (or restored) Model T is no stripped-down model. It even has running boards to step on and a windshield to keep bugs2 out!

It took 20 models – 20 of the 26 letters. But in 1908, 100 years ago this year, he achieved his goal.

The 20-horsepower Model T, the first automobile³ to be mass-produced with interchangeable parts on an assembly line, was eminently⁴ affordable⁵. A stripped-down model with no top, windshield, or gas lamps cost $850 – less than half what comparable cars cost.
　

The centennial Model T-party — a play on words from the famous Boston Tea Party of the American Revolution — includes many parades and antique car shows

The assembly-line idea was borrowed from a dis-assembly line – the production line at meatpacking plants where animal carcasses were cut apart as they moved down a conveyor belt. The process of building Model T's was streamlined further, and soon Ford was turning out an unheard-of 100 Model T's a day.

He was able to cut the selling price in half, to about $500. Just about any working American could afford that.
　

Before the days of the electric self-starter, owners of Model T's had to start the engine with a couple of hearty6 turns of a crank

The Model T proved so dependable that people called it the Tin Lizzie. Lizzie was a popular nickname back then for a reliable house servant. And this servant on wheels drove Americans places many of them had never ventured.

Henry Ford is often quoted as saying that any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black. Most Model T's were covered in black paint, which for some reason was cheaper and dried faster. But other colors could be ordered.

By the time the last Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1927, Ford had sold more than 15 million of the reliable cars in the United States alone. And at antique automobile shows – especially this centennial year – thousands of old, carefully polished and preserved Tin Lizzies survive as the symbol of an entire era: the Automotive Age.

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

4 eminently   

adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地

参考例句：

• She seems eminently suitable for the job. 她看来非常适合这个工作。
• It was an eminently respectable boarding school. 这是所非常好的寄宿学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。