胡敏读故事记单词托福词汇138

The New Laundry

Bruno Pirelli proudly took a lease on premises¹ for his new laundry last week. It had required a big leap of faith to get this project completed. A rival had leaked Bruno’s plans to the press. This had led to noisy demonstrations² by opponents on the lawn in front of his residence. It had required a great deal of maneuvering³ to get those demonstrators leashed in and to lay those protests to rest. Then came the lawsuit⁵ to try to stop him. Bruno was forced to spend a great deal of time in court, defending the proposed layout of the laundry. Next there was the compromise that had to be reached with the leading opponent of his plans. Then it turned out that the hot water pipes were leaking. Bruno had to negotiate hard with the landlord—a leading Hollywood actor---to get those leaky pipes replaced. Only when that matter had been settled, had Bruno finally decided⁶ to lease those premises. The premises were magnificent. The walls consisted of alternative layers of granite⁷ and lava⁸ from Mount Etna (to remind him of his native Sicily). This layering produced a striking effect and had been commented on favorably in the press. Now it was time for the inaugural⁹ party, a lavish¹⁰ affair. Just to make sure nothing would go wrong, several of Bruno’s assistants stood at a discreet¹¹ distance, each with a pit bull terrier on leash⁴. Bruno was proud to have become a leading member of San Francisco’s Italian community, having recently been elected to a position of a leadership in the Italian Chamber¹² of Commerce. This clearly put him in the big league. Still, Bruno was fully¹³ aware that he would not be able to rest on his laurels¹⁴.
138 新洗衣店

上个星期，布鲁诺皮列里骄傲地拿到了他的新洗衣店的房屋租约。完成这项工程需要在信仰上有一个大跃进。一个竞争对手已经把布鲁诺的计划泄露给了新闻界。这引起反对者在他家房子前的草坪上举行了喧闹的集会。约束住集会者，并且使那些反对者平息需要很巧妙的引导。接着是企图阻止他行到的诉讼。布鲁诺被迫在法庭上花了很多时间，为洗衣店的设计方案进行辩护。下一步，必须和他的计划的主要反对者达成和解。然后，发现热水管居然漏了。为了更换那些漏的管道，布鲁诺和身为好莱坞主要的男演员的房东进行了艰苦的磋商。当那件事情解决完之后，布鲁诺才最终决定租赁那些房屋。

房子很华丽。墙壁是由来自艾特那山的花岗岩和熔岩层交替组成的（使他想起他的家乡西西里）。这种分层堆砌的方式造成了惊人的效果，报刊对此给予了好评。

现在是举行开业宴会的时候了，这是一个铺张的活动。为了保证不发生意外，布鲁诺的几个助手站在不显眼的远处，每个人手里都牵着一个拴着狗皮带的好斗的杂种狗。布鲁诺最近被选入意大利商会的领导层，他非常骄傲能成为旧金山的意大利人团体的领导成员。这显然使他进入了大型联盟。不过，布鲁诺清楚地知道，他不能停留在自己的桂冠上而不思进取。

1 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

4 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

8 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

9 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

10 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

11 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

12 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。