Page 22 - Reading Success B4

Before 1908, only rich people could afford to buy cars. Automobile
manufacturers turned out a small number of expensive cars one at a time. In

1908, Henry Ford began to make a new car that many people could afford. It was
called the Model T Ford and was nicknamed the “Tin Lizzie.” Fifteen million Model

T Fords were sold by 1927.
Henry Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan. He went to Detroit

when he was 16 and worked in a machine shop. Later he worked as a machinist
and engineer. He built his first automobile by hand in 1896. He founded the Ford

Motor Company a few years later. It was entirely a family-owned business for
many years. Today, the company is one of the world’s largest automobile

manufacturers.
Ford was able to sell his cars at a much cheaper price than other companies

because he was the first automobile builder to use mass production methods.
Each worker did just one small job on each car put on a part or tightened a

screw before the car passed on to the next worker. Workers and machines on
assembly lines produced large numbers of identical cars. This method was

cheaper, faster, and more efficient. Today mass production methods are used in
all factories.

Main Idea

What is the main idea of this story?

a. how the Model T was built
b. how cars were built before 1900

c. why Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company
d. how Henry Ford began building cars and introduced mass production methods

to the industry

24_Reading Success B 4