Bruno Pirelli proudly took a lease on premises 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 demonstrations by opponents on the lawn in front of his residence. It had required a great deal of maneuvering to get those demonstrators leashed in and to lay those protests to rest. Then came the lawsuit 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 decided to lease those premises.
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。
The premises were magnificent. The walls consisted of alternative layers of granite and lava 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.
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。
Now it was time for the inaugural party, a lavish affair. Just to make sure nothing would go wrong, several of Bruno’s assistants stood at a discreet distance, each with a pit bull terrier on leash. 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 Chamber of Commerce. This clearly put him in the big league. Still, Bruno was fully aware that he would not be able to rest on his laurels
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。
Words:
laundry n. 洗衣店，洗熨
laurel n. 月桂树，桂冠
lava n. 熔岩，岩浆
lavish adj. 过分丰富的，浪费的
lawn n. 草地，草坪，草场
lawsuit n. 诉讼
lay vt. 产卵，下蛋，使…处于某状态或情况
layer n. 层，层次，阶层
layering n. 分层堆积
layout n. 规划，设计
leadership n. 领导能力，领导阶层
leading adj. 最主要的，主演的
league n. 同盟，联盟，联合会
leak vt. 漏，渗，泄露
leaky adj. 漏的
leap n./vi. 漏的
lease n. 租约 vt. 出租，租借
leash n. 牵狗皮带 v. 束缚，约束
