Question

The modern automobile represents a centuries-old collaboration between inventors and business people. Its development began many years earlier than you might expect. For much of the nineteenth century, steam-powered vehicles made deliveries in England. In the United States during the late 1800s, an electric car was introduced even before most homes had electricity.

2 Along the way to our present-day automobiles, numerous inventors added parts we now take for granted, such as headlights (a luxury add-on for the first Oldsmobile®!), fenders, rubber tires, and the internal combustion engine. Those who contributed to the development of the car include Daimler, Olds, Benz, Ford, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, Duryea, and many others.

Ford’s Vision

3 Even on that long list of luminaries, the name Henry Ford stands out. Ford’s greatest innovation, arguably, lay in his recognition of market forces. After experimenting with designs such as the Model A, he realized that cars could be more than expensive luxury devices for the wealthy. They could be attainable for average working people, “the great multitude.” Making cars affordable meant, first, that their production had to be streamlined. Previously, one small group of people might have built a car from start to finish. Beginning in 1913, though, each Ford Model T® was built on an assembly line. A different worker was responsible for each component. Conveyor belts carried the car from worker to worker. This method required sophisticated planning and extensive resources. But it was so much more efficient that it allowed the price of a new Model T to drop from $850 in 1908 to just below $300 in 1925. (The equivalent in today’s prices would be, respectively, about $23,400 and about $4,000.)

5 Mass production also meant that the customer had fewer choices. Other manufacturers might assemble a car with custom features to suit a wealthy client, but the Ford Model T was the same for everyone. Only a few variations were available. Ford quipped in 1909 that “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it’s black.”

A Revolution That Continues

6 Ford’s vision of the market had been accurate. At one point, 40 percent of the cars on American roads—an enormous share—were Model Ts. Ford’sapproach to industrial production soon spread far beyond the automotive industry. It has had an impact on almost everything we buy today, from housewares to food to clothes. It has changed the way millions of Americans work—as well as how they get there.

Ford and Model T are registered trademarks of Ford Motor Company in the U.S. and in other countries.What is the central idea of Passage 1?
A. Innovative ideas can create changes that affect an entire society.
B. Manufacturing a product as complicated as a car requires many workers.
C. Streamlining and reducing waste lowers prices without affecting quality.
D. Understanding the market is more important than understanding manufacturing.

Answer 1

A. Innovative ideas can create changes that affect an entire society.

The passage traces how inventors (especially Henry Ford) introduced innovations—most notably the assembly line and mass production—that made cars affordable and reshaped industry and everyday life, showing broad societal impact.