【生词预览】

pastor牧师，plead for乞求，coffer资金,congregation会众

【笑话原文】

Good News and Bad News

The pastor of my church hates to plead for money. But when the coffers were running low, he had no choice. “There’s good news and there’s bad news,” he told the congregation. “The good news is that we have more than enough money for all the current and future needs of the parish. The bad news is, it’s still in your pockets.”

【中文译文】

好消息和坏消息

我们教会的牧师羞于开口要钱。但是，到了捉襟见肘的时候他就非开口不可了。他告诉会众说：“我有一个好消息，也有一个坏消息。好消息是我们的钱超过我们教区目前的和将来的需要。坏消息是这些钱还在你们的口袋里。”

【词汇讲解】

1.plead for乞求。 She went down on her knees, pleading for mercy.
她双膝跪下, 乞求谅解。也可以指“在法庭上为…辩护”：Mr. Jones will plead for you in this case.在此案中, 琼斯先生将为你辩护。

2.coffer资金。 There’s nothing left in the government’s coffers.国库已空无一物了

3.congregation (教堂里的)会众：The congregation knelt to pray.会众跪下来祈祷。

4.current 现在的, 现行的。They suggested measures to overcome current difficulties.他们提出了克服目前困难的措施。“通用的” ：This word is no longer in current use.这个字已经不再通用了。

5.parish教区。也可以指“郡以下的地方行政区／知识领域, 职权范围, 工作区域”。