Amir hoped to open a magnificent（华丽的、高尚的）/mæg'nifisnt/ cafe on Pearl（珍珠、珠灰色）/pә:l/ Street, an affluent（支流、富人）/'æfluәnt/ district with a bright skyline（天涯、地平线）/'skailain/. He and Rosa wanted to begin anew（重新开始）/bɪˈgɪn əˈnu/ after leaving a failed catering venture（冒险、风险）/'ventʃә/. Their main asset（资产、有益的东西）/'æset/ was a small grant（授予、授予物）/grænt/; their cash margin（现金余量）/kæʃ ˈmɑrʤən/ was narrow. Sue, a bank broker（掮客、经纪人）/'brәukә/, asked for the budget beforehand（预先）/bi'fɒ:hænd/. In a quiet economy（经济；节约）/ɪˈkɑnəmi/, she warned, charm alone could not eliminate（除去、排除）/i'limineit/ the risk of going bankrupt（走向破产）/goʊɪŋ ˈbæŋkrəpt/. “If we invest（投资、花费）/in'vest/ now, the lunch crowd will repay（偿还、报答）/ri'pei/ us quickly. The odds（可能性、几率）/ɒdz/ are good.”

“That is a gamble（赌博、冒险）/'gæmbl/, not economics（经济学）/.i:kә'nɒmiks/. Your projected revenue（预计收入）/prɑˈʤɛktəd ˈrɛvəˌnu/ may fluctuate（变动、起伏）/'flʌktʃueit/ by season.” Sue pointed to a monthly deficit（每月赤字）/ə ˈmənθli ˈdɛfəsət/. Rent, insurance, and the penalty（处罚、刑罚）/'penәlti/ on late loan payments（付款）/ˈpeɪmənts/ would confine（限制、使不外出）/kәn'fain/ their choices. A recession（后退、凹处）/ri'seʃәn/ could make sales plunge（钻进、跳进）/plʌndʒ/, while a broken（坏掉的、打破的）/'brәukәn/ oven might compel them to expend（花费、消耗）/ik'spend/ their reserve. Amir's proud glow（赤热、光辉）/glәu/ faded. He had heard（语境补充词）/hərd/ friends brag（吹牛）/bræg/ about fast success, but their stories were an echo（回响；重复反映）/ˈɛkoʊ/, not evidence.

“We can fasten（拴紧、使固定）/'fɑ:sәn/ the budget buckle（皮带扣、扣子）/'bʌkl/. What if we utilize（利用）/'ju:tilaiz/ half the room and postpone the luxury equipment?” Rosa gave him a jealous（嫉妒的、羡慕的）/'dʒelәs/ gaze（注视、凝视）/geiz/; she feared a smaller cafe would look broke（一文不名的）/brәuk/. Yet Sue's scheme（方案；计划）/skim/ was prompt（激励、提示）/prɒmpt/ and practical: lease the rear（后面、背后）/riә/ section to a barber（理发师）/'bɑ:bә/, insure（保险、确保）/in'ʃuә/ only essential equipment, and keep a three-month（语境补充词）/three-month/ surplus（剩余、过剩）/'sә:plәs/. That would restrain（抑制、阻止）/ri'strein/ debt and make Amir less liable（有义务的、应负责的）/'laiәbl/ for sudden costs. No miracle（奇迹、奇事）/'mirәkl/ was required.

They toured the building. A cane（手杖、细长的茎）/kein/ lay beside a damaged stair rail, and a loose screw made the counter buckle. The problems seemed to haunt（常到的地方、生息地）/hɒ:nt/ the place, but the landlord agreed to repair them. Rosa called the neglect（疏忽、忽略）/ni'glekt/ naughty（顽皮的、没规矩的）/'nɒ:ti/ and then laughed at her own odd word. She had once been called a bitch（母狗、母狼）/bitʃ/ for negotiating firmly, and she would not let that insult silence her. Amir refused to drown（淹死）/draun/ in doubt or retreat（休息寓所、撤退）/ri'tri:t/ from the plan; he would simply（语境补充词）/ˈsɪmpli/ reduce it（缩小它的规模）/rɪˈdus ɪt/. “I would rather open carefully than rally（重振旗鼓、集合）/'ræli/ around a dream that leaves us in debt.”

The entrepreneur（企业家、主办人）/.ɒntrәprә'nә:/ revised the budget: fewer seats, no pearl lamps, and prices listed in both euro（欧元（欧盟的统一货币单位））/'juәrәu/ and local currency. He would repay the loan over three years（在三年内）/ˈoʊvər θri jɪrz/ and retain a reserve rather than spend every grant payment（付款）/ˈpeɪmənt/. Closing after one month would be a financial tragedy（悲剧、惨案）/'trædʒidi/. The cafe might not be magnificent at first, but it could grow. For an underdeveloped（开发不充分的、不发达的）/.ʌndәdi'velәpt/ business, survival was the foremost achievement; scale could follow after steady revenue（稳定收入）/ˈstɛdi ˈrɛvəˌnu/.