A reader submitted the following long chunk of text for the free editing service which is limited to 300 words. The first paragraph only has been edited.
Essay Question: The Automobile
Starting from the 1700′s, creative thinkers began to wonder about ways to travel to places without using horses which would tire. All types of motors were tested by the mid 1800′s including steam, combustion, and electric. It was unclear which motor was best fit to handle an automobile’s job, which included carrying people and things safely to a certain place. Every motor was tested and all them had certain problems, the electric cars were tough to operate, and expensive. The steam motor was more accessible but no one wanted to risk a boiler explosion. The light seemed to be shining on the combustion engine, which were reliable and the safest compared with the other motors. The production started on the commercial scale in France on 1890, and ten years later, American pioneers started to build cars in factories. One of the few negative sides about the automobile was that it was expensive and only the wealthy could afford one. Moreover, the productions of cars were very slow, and people had to wait forever, in order to purchase a car. That huge problem was fixed by Henry Ford, who sped up production by using a new method, the assembly line. He produced the Model-T as a car for the average American citizen. By 1920, he sold more than a million of his cars; the automobile became a national need. People worked hard to get a car; they would be freed to live anywhere they liked, and they could explore the wonderful work of nature. Of all the inventions during the 1920′s, the invention of the automobile was the most important, it affected America economically, socially and geographically.
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Suggested changes are below in red.Starting from the 1700s, creative thinkers began to wonder about ways to travel to places without using horses which would tire. All types of motors were tested by the mid 1800s including steam, combustion, and electric. It was unclear which motor was best fit to handle an automobile’s job, which included carrying people and things safely to a certain place. Every motor was tested and all them had certain problems: the electric cars were tough to operate, and expensive. The steam motor was more accessible but no one wanted to risk a boiler explosion. The light seemed to be shining on the combustion engine, which was the most reliable and the safest compared to the other motors. Production started on a commercial scale in France on 1890, and ten years later, American pioneers started to build cars in factories. One of the few negative sides to the automobile was that it was expensive and only the wealthy could afford one. Moreover, the production of cars were very slow, and people had to wait forever in order to purchase a car. That huge problem was fixed by Henry Ford, who sped up production by using a new method: the assembly line. He produced the Model-T as a car for the average American citizen. By 1920, he had sold more than a million of his cars; the automobile became a national need. People worked hard to get a car; they would be freed to live anywhere they liked, and they could explore the wonderful world of nature. Of all the inventions during the 1920s, the invention of the automobile was the most important, it affected America economically, socially and geographically.Editor’s notes: I deleted the apostrophe in the years because we do not use an apostrophe in simple plurals; numbers are no different. It is common to use an apostrophe in this context; however, it is still wrong. I replaced a comma with a colon in two places: “…certain problems: the electric cars … and “…using a new method: the assembly…” Additionally, although the phrase “work of nature” is not wrong grammatically, it seemed more natural to write “world of nature.” The other changes should be self-evident.