台湾建巨型水晶鞋教堂 春节开放

 　　A 16m-high glass church in the shape of a high-heeled shoe has been built in Taiwan, apparently¹ in a bid to attract more women.

　　台湾建了一座高16米的水晶高跟鞋教堂，以吸引女性游客。

　　A huge glass... what?

　　巨型水晶…啥？

　　Yes, you read that right: a glass church, shaped just like a vast high-heeled shoe as if lost by a titan Cinderella while racing² through Chaiyi.

　　是的，你没看错：一座玻璃教堂，外观就像一只巨大的高跟鞋，仿佛有一位灰姑娘巨人跑过（台湾）嘉义，不小心把鞋落在了这里。

　　Made out of over 320 tinted³ glass panels, the shiny blue building measures more than 10m wide and cost about T$23m.

　　这座闪耀着蓝色光辉的建筑由320多块有色玻璃构建而成，其宽度超过10米，造价高达2300万台币（约合450万元人民币）。

　　台湾建巨型水晶鞋教堂 春节开放

　　Aerial footage taken in the area also showed the size and scale of the waterfront church, including an open blue stage with spotlights⁴.

　　空中航拍画面不仅可以清楚地展现这座滨海教堂的形状和规模，还能看到一个配备着聚光灯的露天蓝色舞台。

　　It's set to open its doors to the public on 8 February, just in time for Chinese New Year.

　　教堂定于2月8日（春节）当天面向公众开放。

　　Who was the shoe-maker?

　　教堂是谁主张建的？

　　It is the creation of local officials in the Southwest Coast Scenic⁵ Area, a prominent tourist area in Taiwan, which decided⁶ to build it last June.

　　去年6月，台湾著名的云嘉南滨海风景区决定建造这样一座教堂。

　　But Pan Tsuei-ping, its recreation section manager, told the BBC that the church will not be used for regular services, but pre-wedding photo shoots and wedding ceremonies.

　　但负责休闲区的经理潘翠平对BBC表示，教堂不会用于每周做礼拜，而是专门用来拍婚纱照和举办婚礼。

　　"In our planning, we want to make it a blissful, romantic avenue… Every girl imagines how they will look like when they become the bride," Ms Pan told the BBC.

　　“我们计划把教堂打造成一个幸福浪漫的场所……每个女孩都曾梦想过自己成为新娘时的情景，”潘女士告诉BBC。

　　The shoe was inspired by a local story. According to officials in the 1960s, a 24-year-old girl surnamed Wang from the impoverished⁷ region suffered from Blackfoot disease. Both of her legs had to be amputated, leading to the cancellation⁸ of her wedding. She remained unmarried and spent the rest of her life at a church.

　　鞋子的设计灵感来源于当地一个故事。据官方记载，上世纪60年代，贫困区有一位24岁的王姓女孩不幸患上了黑脚病，不得不截掉双腿，她的婚礼也因此取消。最后她终生未婚，在一座教堂里度过了余生。

　　The high heel is intended to honour her memory.

　　这只高跟鞋就是为了纪念她而设计的。

　　To attract women?

　　为了吸引女性游览？

　　This does appear to be the reason behind the design.

　　这正是设计这只鞋的真正原因。

　　"There will be 100 female-oriented features in the church like maple⁹ leaves, chairs for lovers, biscuits and cakes," a spokesman Zheng Rongfeng is quoted as saying in local media.

　　“教堂为女性设置了100个特色场景，有枫叶、情人椅、小甜饼和蛋糕，”发言人郑荣峯告诉当地媒体。

　　"It will be tailored to women, especially female tourists visiting the area."

　　“这些全都是为女性量身打造的，尤其是来参观的女性游客。”

　　What women want (and actually think)

　　来看看女性们的真实看法

　　It has not been an unqualified success, at least on social media. One Taiwan netizen wrote, "Besides copying, what kind of standard does this church have?"

　　至少从社交媒体上的评论来看，它没有完全得到肯定。一位台湾网友写道：“除了模仿已有的设计，这座教堂还有什么可取之处吗？”

　　Women apparently don't all want glass slippers¹⁰. From another user: "Why don't people say that it's objectifying women this time…"

　　显然，并不是所有女性都想要水晶鞋。另一位网友就问道：“大家不觉得这种设计物化了女性吗……”

　　Comments streamed in from the Chinese mainland too: "What were the authorities thinking when they commission such a hideous-looking building in the area? " said one user on popular Chinese microblogging site Weibo.

　　评论中也不乏来自中国大陆的声音：“不知道当局是怎么想的，居然建了这么一座怪丑的建筑。”一位网友在新浪微博上说道。

　　Another user Jessie Chou said, perhaps with some disdain¹¹: "I wear flip¹² flops¹³ anyway".

　　还有一位名叫杰西·周的网友略带鄙夷地说：“反正我只穿人字拖。”

　　But some female users leapt to its defence: "If the shoe fits, why not wear it? I like it, it looks better than most modern churches anyway," said Lao Fu Qing.

　　但也有一些女网友支持该教堂的设计，其中一位名为“老福庆”的网友称：“如果鞋子合脚，为什么不穿呢？我就挺喜欢的，它看起来怎么样也比一些现代教堂要好。”

　　Another user from Shandong said: "Most girls love fairytales, it's great that officials want to focus on women for once."

　　另一位来自山东的网友说：“大部分女孩都喜欢童话故事。至少这一次官方考虑到了女性的需求，我觉得挺好的。”

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 tinted   

adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• a pair of glasses with tinted lenses 一副有色镜片眼镜
• a rose-tinted vision of the world 对世界的理想化看法

4 spotlights   

n.聚光灯（的光）( spotlight的名词复数 )；公众注意的中心v.聚光照明( spotlight的第三人称单数 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

• The room was lit by spotlights. 房间被聚光灯照亮。
• The dazzle of the spotlights made him ill at ease. 聚光灯的耀眼强光使他局促不安。 来自辞典例句

5 scenic   

adj.自然景色的，景色优美的

参考例句：

• The scenic beauty of the place entranced the visitors.这里的美丽风光把游客们迷住了。
• The scenic spot is on northwestern outskirts of Beijing.这个风景区位于北京的西北远郊。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

9 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

10 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

11 disdain   

n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑

参考例句：

• Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
• A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。

12 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

13 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网