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耽搁 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."

irregular
n. uneven; not continuous 不规则的，不稳定的
regular
n.
absent-minded
a. so concerned with one's thoughts as not to notice what is happening, what one doing, etc. 心不在焉
absent
a. not present
inspection
n. the act of examining (sth.) closely or in detail 检查
assembly
n. 组装；集会
assemble
v.
assembly line
n. 装配线
shift
n. 班；轮班
daydream
v. have pleasant dreamlike thoughts (about) 做白日梦，空想
fire
vt. make (sb.) leave his job 解雇
observation
n. the act of watching carefully 观察
observe observe sb. doing sth.
vt.
observe
n.
oral
a. spoken, not written 口（头）的
findings
n. the results of any research or enquiry 调查（或研究）的结果
major
a. important 较大的；主要的
redesign
vt. 重新设计
design
vt. 设计
achieve
vt. get by effort （经努力）得到；实现