Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[susan_wu]

Hello,

I read one article in Chinadaily about Detroit. There are some sentences and phrase which I can't understand. I have labeled is as bold. Could you explain it to me. Thanks a lot for your help.

Lots of people know that Cadillacs come from Detroit. But what they probably don't know is that Detroit came from a Cadillac. Enterprising French trader and explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac stumbled upon what is now Detroit in 1701, figuring it would make a good base from which to send furs to Canada. Cadillac named his new find Ville d'Etroit (City of the Strait) because the Detroit River connects Lake St Clair with Lake Erie, and from that point on the town grew steadily, using its river as an economic channel to the world.

Detroit might have remained little more than a stomping ground for trader types had it not been for an ambitious industrialist named Henry Ford. Born on a farm in nearby Dearborn, Ford left for Detroit to establish the Ford Motor Company in 1903. Within five years he was mass producing cars and perfecting the assembly line. The assembly line inspired another Detroit innovation known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), who kicked off the industrial union movement from the 'Motor City.' Driven by the automobile's success, Detroit was the first city to have a paved concrete road (in 1909), the first to install a traffic light (in 1915) and the USA's first to have an urban freeway (in 1942).

Good Luck!

[obelix]

Stumbled upon means that he accidentally discovered it. That is he was not looking for it, but he found it anyway.

Detroit might have remained little more than a stomping ground for trader types had it not been for an ambitious industrialist named Henry Ford

Detroit might have remained just a favourite haunt (place) for traders if an ambitious industrialist named Henry Ford had not changed it.

"Kicked off" means started (The kick off is what starts a soccer or other football game.)

[susan_wu]

Thanks, obelix,

You always can rewrite a complex sentence in one way which we can understand it easily. Hoping I myself can do it in some day.

Good luck.