factory

Everyday

1. A factory is a big building where people and machines make things, like cars, toys, food or clothes. tree →
2. Many things are made in a factory one after another on a line, called a production line. tree →

In the lessons

In maths: a place that makes things at a rate: items per hour or per day; total = rate × time. In history and science: factories began in the Industrial Revolution and can cause pollution. Everyday life: a toy factory, a chocolate factory, factory workers. In stories: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Phrases: factory worker, factory floor, made in a factory, factory line.

Examples

• A factory makes 250 toys a day. tree →
• The factory has 120 workers. tree →
• How many cars does the factory make in a week? tree →
• Each factory worker packs 30 boxes an hour. tree →
• The factory makes bread for all the shops in town. tree →
• Smoke came out of the factory chimney. tree →
• We visited a cheese factory on our school trip. tree →
• Machines in the factory fill 60 bottles a minute. tree →
• And the Mexican lapdog barked all the time, till the church bells tinkled, and the chimney of the apple factory rocked again. tree →

Note

Plural «factories» (y changes to ies). Usually a rate: total = rate × time. Trap: a working week may have 5 days, not 7; read the problem. Trap: two machines together make the sum of their rates.