新東方優美背誦短文50篇 Unit23:Ford

23 Ford

Although Henry Ford’s name is closely associated with the concept of mass production, he should receive equal credit for introducing labor practices as early as 1913 that would be considered advanced even by today’s standards. Safety measures were improved, and the work day was reduced to eight hours, compared with the ten-or twelve-hour day common at the time. In order to accommodate the shorter work day, the entire factory was converted from two to three shifts.

In addition, sick leaves as well as improved medical care for those injured on the job were instituted. The Ford Motor Company was one of the first factories to develop a technical school to train specialized skilled laborers and an English language school for immigrants. Some efforts were even made to hire the handicapped and provide jobs for former convicts.

The most widely acclaimed innovation was the five-dollar-a-day minimum wage that was offered in order to recruit and retain the best mechanics and to discourage the growth of labor unions. Ford explained the new wage policy in terms of efficiency and profit sharing. He also mentioned the fact that his employees would be able to purchase the automobiles that they produced – in effect creating a market for the product. In order to qualify for the minimum wage, an employee had to establish a decent home and demonstrate good personal habits, including sobriety, thriftiness, industriousness, and dependability. Although some criticism was directed at Ford for involving himself too much in the personal lives of his employees, there can be no doubt that, at a time when immigrants were being taken advantage of in frightful ways, Henry Ford was helping many people to establish themselves in America.

23亨利•福特
盡管亨利•福特的名字和大生產的概念相連，但他在勞工保護上得到同樣的贊譽，因為
他早在1913年便實行了用今天的標準來衡量依然是先進的標準。安全措施得到改進，日工作時間從當時普遍的10或12小時減少到8小時。
為了適應更短的日工作時間，整個工廠從雙班變成了三班。而且，病假和改善了的工傷醫療得以制度化。福特汽車公司是最早建
立技術學校來培訓專門技工和為移民開設英語學校的工廠之一。公司甚至為雇傭殘疾人和
有前科的人而作出了一些努力。最受廣泛稱贊的革新是實行五美元一天的最低工資。其目的是招收和留住那些最好的技工并阻礙工會的發展。
福特從效率和利潤分享的角度來解釋這項新的工資政策。他也提到這樣一個事實，他的員工可以買他們生產的汽車--這實際上是為其產品另開辟了一個市場。
為了夠資格得到最低工資，員工必須建立一個得體的家庭并顯示出良好的個人習慣，包括節制、儉省、勤勉和可靠。雖然有人批評福特過多地干涉
了員工的私人生活，但毫無疑問，在移民們被用惡劣的方式剝削的時代，亨利•福特卻幫助了許多人在美國扎下根來。