Amir hoped to open a magnificent（壮观的）/mæg'nifisnt/ cafe on Pearl（珍珠）/pә:l/ Street, an affluent（富裕的）/'æfluәnt/ district with a bright skyline（城市天际线）/'skailain/. He and Rosa wanted to begin anew（重新开始）/bɪˈgɪn əˈnu/ after leaving a failed catering venture（创业项目）/'ventʃә/. Their main asset（资产）/'æset/ was a small grant（补助金）/grænt/; their cash margin（现金余量）/kæʃ ˈmɑrʤən/ was narrow. Sue, a bank broker（经纪人）/'brәukә/, asked for the budget beforehand（提前）/bi'fɒ:hænd/. In a quiet economy（经济）/ɪˈkɑnəmi/, she warned, charm alone could not eliminate（除去）/i'limineit/ the risk of going bankrupt（走向破产）/goʊɪŋ ˈbæŋkrəpt/. “If we invest（投资）/in'vest/ now, the lunch crowd will repay（偿还）/ri'pei/ us quickly. The odds（可能性）/ɒdz/ are good.”

“That is a gamble（赌博）/'gæmbl/, not economics（经济学）/.i:kә'nɒmiks/. Your projected revenue（预计收入）/prɑˈʤɛktəd ˈrɛvəˌnu/ may fluctuate（变动）/'flʌktʃueit/ by season.” Sue pointed to a monthly deficit（每月赤字）/ə ˈmənθli ˈdɛfəsət/. Rent, insurance, and the penalty（处罚）/'penәlti/ on late loan payments would confine（限制）/kәn'fain/ their choices. A recession（经济衰退）/ri'seʃәn/ could make sales plunge（骤降）/plʌndʒ/, while a broken oven might compel them to expend（花费）/ik'spend/ their reserve. Amir's proud glow（神采）/glәu/ faded. He had heard friends brag（吹嘘）/bræg/ about fast success, but their stories were an echo（回响）/ˈɛkoʊ/, not evidence.

“We can fasten（拴紧）/'fɑ:sәn/ the budget buckle（收紧）/'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）/'dʒelәs/ gaze（注视）/geiz/; she feared a smaller cafe would look broke. Yet Sue's scheme（方案）/skim/ was prompt（及时的）/prɒmpt/ and practical: lease the rear（后面）/riә/ section to a barber（理发师）/'bɑ:bә/, insure only essential equipment, and keep a three-month surplus（剩余）/'sә:plәs/. That would restrain（抑制）/ri'strein/ debt and make Amir less liable（有义务的）/'laiәbl/ for sudden costs. No miracle（奇迹）/'mirәkl/ was required.

They toured the building. A cane（手杖）/kein/ lay beside a damaged stair rail, and a loose screw made the counter buckle. The problems seemed to haunt（困扰）/hɒ:nt/ the place, but the landlord agreed to repair them. Rosa called the neglect（疏忽）/ni'glekt/ naughty（不像话的）/'nɒ:ti/ and then laughed at her own odd word. She had once been called a bitch（泼妇）/bitʃ/ for negotiating firmly, and she would not let that insult silence her. Amir refused to drown（淹没）/draun/ in doubt or retreat（退出）/ri'tri:t/ from the plan; he would simply reduce it（缩小它的规模）/rɪˈdus ɪt/. “I would rather open carefully than rally（围绕团结）/'ræli/ around a dream that leaves us in debt.”

The entrepreneur（企业家）/.ɒntrәprә'nә:/ revised the budget: fewer seats, no pearl lamps, and prices listed in both euro（欧元）/'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. Closing after one month would be a financial tragedy（悲剧）/'trædʒidi/. The cafe might not be magnificent at first, but it could grow. For an underdeveloped（尚不成熟的）/.ʌndәdi'velәpt/ business, survival was the foremost achievement; scale could follow after steady revenue（稳定收入）/ˈstɛdi ˈrɛvəˌnu/.