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大學英語精讀第一冊第6課內容及詞彙

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導語:工業工程師就是將掌握的數學、物理學和社會科學等知識和技能,結合工程分析等方法,去對一個生產整合系統進行優化設計。下面YJBYS小編分享一篇有關工業工程師的英語課文,歡迎閱讀!

大學英語精讀第一冊第6課內容及詞彙

  Unit Six : Sam Adams,Industrial Engineer

  TEXT

San set out to improve efficiency at the shirt factory 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 become an industrial engineer, 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 drawer, shirts in the middle drawer, and pants, neatly folded, in the bottom drawer.

In fact, I was the efficiency expert for the whole family. I used to organize my father's tools, my mother's kitchen utensils, my sister's boyfriends.

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 listener. 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 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.

Most curious of all, there was no quality control whatsoever. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were 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 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 music. 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 math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shifts 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.

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 finished product."

"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 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."

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 compliments.

  NEW WORDS

efficiency

n. the state or quality of being efficient 效率

industrial

a. of industry 工業的

neat

a. orderly and clean 整潔的

elementary

a. of or for beginners 初等的,初級的

sock

n. 短襪

drawer

n. 抽屜

bureau

n. a chest of drawers for bedroom use 衣櫃

underwear

n. 內衣

pants

n. trousers

expert

n. a person with special knowledge or skill 專家,能手

kitchen

n. room used for cooking 廚房

utensil

n. any tool or container used in the house, esp. for cooking 用具,器皿

quality

n. the degree of goodness which a thing or a person possesses 質量;品質

foundation

n. 基礎

career

n. profession; way of making a living 職業;生涯

engineering

n. 工程學;管理

unfortunately

ad. 不幸的是;遺憾的是

bossy

a. always telling other people what to do and how to do it, like a boss 愛指揮人的;專橫的

project

n. a piece of work; a big plan 專案;方案

bachelor

n. a person who had the first university degree 學士

graduation

n. completion of an educational course 畢業

graduate

vi.

short-term

a. involving or lasting a short period of time 短期的

basis

n. 基礎;根據

consultant

n. a person who gives professional or technical advice 顧問

consult

v.

amaze

vt. fill with great surprise or wonder 使大為驚訝,使驚愕

curious

a. strange 奇怪的

whatsoever

a. of any kind, at all 任何的,絲毫的'

inspect

vt. examine 檢查

shipment

n. the act of wending, carrying or delivering goods 裝運。運送

miss

vt. be without; lack

button

n. 鈕釦

collar

n. 領子

sleeve

n. 袖子

relieve

vt. make less or easier 減輕

boring

a. uninteresting and tiresome 令人厭煩的

workroom

n. a room specially kept for working in 工場(間)

dull

a. not bright or clear 陰暗的

flow

n. a smooth steady movement or supply 流(動)