看笑話學英語：傳教士買鸚鵡
A preacher is buying a parrot.
"Are you sure it doesn't scream, yell, or swear?" asked the preacher.
"Oh absolutely. He's a religious parrot," the storekeeper assures him.
"Do you see those strings on his legs? When you pull the right one, he recites the lord's prayer, and when you pull on the left he recites the 23rd Psalm."
"Wonderful!" says the preacher, "but what happens if you pull both strings?"
"I fall off my perch, you stupid fool!" screeched the parrot.
傳教士買鸚鵡
一個傳教士在買鸚鵡。
“你確信它不會尖叫，大叫或詛咒別人嗎?”傳教士問。
“噢，絕對不會。它是一隻虔誠的鸚鵡。”店主向他保證。
“你看見它腿上的那些細繩了嗎?當你拉動右邊這根，它會背誦天主經;當你拉動左邊那根，它會背誦讚美詩。”
“太棒了!”傳教士說，“但是如果我同時拉動兩根繩子，會發生什麼呢?”
“我會從樹幹上掉下去，你這個笨蛋!”鸚鵡尖聲說道。
【註釋】
這個笑話中出現了三個含有“大喊”、“大叫”意思的詞語：scream，yell 和 screech。
scream 指“因痛苦、恐懼、驚奇、快樂等而發出尖叫聲”，如：
She screamed when she saw the child fall. 當她看見那個孩子跌倒時，她尖聲叫了起來。
yell 多指求援、鼓勵時的呼叫，也可指因外界因素刺激而發出尖厲聲音。如：
yell the team to victory 用喊聲鼓勵運動隊取勝
screech 指“發出尖銳刺耳的聲音”，如：
The car screeched to a halt. 車子發出尖嘎聲停了下來。
