Japanese Snow Festival Begins
日本雪節開始

本新聞影音出處：新唐人電視台英語新聞
//english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_life/2010-02-05/462545114282.html

【新聞關鍵字】
1. kick off : v.phr. 揭幕
2. firebomb: n.燃燒彈
3. overwhelm: vt. 擊潰；壓倒
4. skillfully: adv.巧妙地;精巧地
5. dazzling: adj. 眩目的
6. humble: adj.卑微的

Japan’s famous open-air snow festival kicked off in Sapporo on Thursday, with 290 ice sculptures on display made from thousands of tons of snow.
日本著名的戶外雪季星期四在札幌市展開，有290項冰雕展示品以數千噸的白雪所雕刻而成。

Some of the sculptures are as high as fifteen meters, while others impress locals and visitors because they look so close to the real thing.
有些雕塑品高達15公尺，而給當地人民及遊客留下深刻的印象，是因為他們看起來栩栩如生。

Like this icy model of Frauenkirche, a Lutheran church in Dresden, Germany, which was destroyed in the firebombing during World War II.
就像Frauenkirche雪雕模型，這個在德國德勒斯登的馬丁路德教堂，於第二次世界大戰中被燃燒彈所損毀。

“They are really great. I was quite overwhelmed.”
“它們真的太棒了，我真的難以表達。”

“They are very skillfully created.”
他們是非常巧妙的創作。

Once the sun went down, the sculptures took on a whole new look, with colored lights bringing the designs to life.
一旦太陽下山，雕塑品會呈現一個全新面貌，五顏六色的光線賦予了作品生命。

Preparations for the week-long festival began around a month ago.
為了這為期一週的活動，準備工作一個月前就開始了。

And despite today’s dazzling displays, the festival had humble origins, beginning in 1950 when a group of high school students built six snow statues in a park.
雖然今日已是令人眩目的展示，這個節日的起源卻很卑微，是在1950年，當一群高中生在公園裡建造6個雪雕開始。
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(//www.dajiyuan.com)