A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of this bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and  laced  with  profanity.

　　John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by constantly saying polite words, playing soft music, and anything he could think of to set  a  good  example. Nothing worked.

　　Finally, John got  fed  up  and he  yelled  at the  parrot. And, the bird yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the bird got angrier and ruder. Finally, in a moment of desperation, John put the bird in the refrigerator freezer.

　　For a few minutes, John heard the bird squawk and kick and scream... then suddenly there was quiet. Not a peep for over a minute. 

　　Fearing that he'd hurt the bird, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arm and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am truly sorry, and I will do everything to correct my poor behavior."

　　John was astonished at the bird's change of attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

　　"May I ask what the chicken did?"

Key  words：

obnoxious　（adj.）討厭的、令人反感的　click  發音  

profanity　（n.）穢言穢語　click  發音  

lace　（v.）抨擊

set  a  good  example　作好榜樣

fed  up　極度厭倦的

freezer　（n.）冷凍庫　click  發音   

squawk　（v.）嘎嘎叫

peep　（n.）啾啾聲　click  發音

outstretch　（adj.）伸出的　click  發音