《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》32 The Founders of Rolls-Royce (I)

　　Unit 32
The Founders¹ of Rolls-Royce (I)
Strive for perfection in everything you do.
Take the best that exists and make it better.
When it does not exist, design it.
-- Henry Royce
Rolls-Royce is any of the large luxury cars manufactured by the British company Rolls-Royce. Many people recognize them by the small metal statue on the front of every Rolls-Royce. The company was founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce, who came from very different backgrounds with different educations and, until shortly before they met, their careers were going in very different directions. Yet in 1904, they joined forces to build and sell motor cars. And, just two years later, the partnership² had produced the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost: a car acclaimed³ as the "best in the world".
In the late 1800's, Henry Royce and Charles Rolls were going through experiences which made their meeting and the cars they produce almost inevitable⁴. Royce, the son of a miller⁵, had, by any standards, a difficult start in life. He began work at 10, selling newspaper. But he soon found his first real job working as an apprentice⁶ for the Great Northern Railway in Peterborough. It was while he was there that he learnt most of the basics of engineering. Even at that age, Royce was determined⁷ to do well because he set about teaching himself foreign languages, algebra⁸ and the fundamentals of electricity. At 19, he went to Liverpool as technical advisor⁹ to the Lancashire Maxim¹⁰ and Western Electric Company. And then, just three years later, he and a partner set up business in Manchester, making electric light fittings and cranes. Such was Royce's determination that by the turn of the century the order books were full and the business was going from strength to strength.
All this, of course, was quite an achievement for someone who had started almost literally¹¹ with nothing. But the real turning point was yet to come. This happened in 1903 when Royce bought himself a second hand French car. The car was difficult to start; it overheated with depressing regularity¹²; it vibrated; it was unreliable and the ignition system was hopelessly inefficient¹³. This may be the point which annoyed Royce the most. He was, after all, quite an expert in electricity in his own right. Royce later became so disappointed with the car that he decided¹⁴, in his characteristic style, that he could do better himself. And just a few days later, he announced to his colleagues that he was going to build three 2 cylinder¹⁵ motor cars of his own design. The first of these, designed and built almost completely by Royce himself, rolled out the factory gates in the spring of 1904. The first car was a success in almost every way; it started easily, ran smoothly¹⁶ and quickly was very reliable, something which  never failed to impress everyone who saw or rode in the car.

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

6 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

9 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

10 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 regularity   

n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The idea is to maintain the regularity of the heartbeat.问题就是要维持心跳的规律性。
• He exercised with a regularity that amazed us.他锻炼的规律程度令我们非常惊讶。

13 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

16 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。