閱讀難度：

After weeks of preparation, the people of Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany, opened a small Catholic church built entirely of snow and ice, ABC News reported.

The snow church is part of a long tradition in Mitterfirmiansreut dating back more than 100 years. The ritual harks back to when town authorities denied a formal request from residents to open their own traditional house of worship. So the petitioners decided instead to erect a church out of nothing but snow and ice.

The ice sculpture reportedly cost more than US$200,000 to create and was delayed for several weeks by warm weather. The structure -- nicknamed "God's Igloo" -- was made with 49,000 cubic feet of snow. It's roughly 65 feet in length, and even has a tower.

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德國開放冰雪教堂

       經過數周準備，一座完全由冰雪建造的小天主教堂終于在德國密特福綿絲路特鎮開放了。

       據美國廣播公司新聞網報道，建造冰雪教堂是該鎮的一大傳統，已經延續了100多年。當年，該鎮的統治者拒絕了人們開放傳統教堂的請求，請愿者就決定只用冰和雪來建教堂。

       據悉，眼下這座被稱為“上帝的雪屋”的冰雪教堂大概花費了20多萬美元，工期還因為暖和的天氣拖延了好幾周。它總共由 4.9萬立方英尺的雪建成，長約65英尺，上面還有個小塔。

(China.org.cn January 5, 2012)