VOA英语2010年-World's Tallest Jesus Statue Exposes Poland'

The world's tallest Jesus statue now reigns¹ over a field in western Poland, on the outskirts² of a small town with big hopes for tourism. But the statue reveals a lot about Polish Catholicism and the divisions within it.

The  tallest Jesus statue  in the world was completed last month, rising from a cabbage field. Measuring a towering 51 meters, it is a nearly 14 meters taller than the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro, and even beats the previous record-holder in Bolivia.

The setting may lack some of the grandeur³ of Rio's mountaintop - this Jesus stands across from the local Tesco supermarket. But residents in the town of Swiebodzin are no less proud of their statue. Dubbed⁴ "Christ the King", it was the dream of a local priest and was financed entirely⁵ through private local donations. But some people in Poland see the statue as being too ostentatious, or not representing the true spirit of Christianity.

During the statue's inauguration⁷ ceremony in late November, hundreds of pilgrims and curious onlookers⁸ descended⁹ on the town as a singing procession made its way down the street.

"It's beautiful, just beautiful," said one local man as he gazed at the statue, which stands on a small mound¹⁰ of earth and is topped with a golden crown.

Strong links

The link between the Catholic church and patriotism¹² is strong in Poland, partly due to the Church's role in opposing communism. The country still has one of the highest church-going populations in Europe. In Swiebodzin, some people in the procession were carrying banners that read, "Jesus is the only king of Poland." One group was wearing red capes¹⁴ emblazoned with both a picture of Jesus and the Polish white eagle.

Another man wearing a cape¹³ says that he came because he is both a patriot¹¹ and a believer, and he believes in what the church is doing for Poland.

Tourism boost

But other local residents see the giant statue as an opportunity to attract tourists to their town, which does not normally get many visitors.

A man who traveled from Germany just to see the statue, says he is not religious himself, but that he came out of curiosity and thinks there are others who will do the same.

Although Poland is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, Poles have been divided lately over the overt¹⁵ presence of religion in the public sphere. This debate came to a head last summer with a stand-off over a wooden cross outside the presidential palace in Warsaw.

Criticism

Swiebodzin's statue, which took five years to build, is not without its detractors. Some Poles see the whole project as ridiculous, while others simply think that such monuments do not represent the spirit of Christianity.

Tomasz Krolak, vice¹⁶ president of Poland's Catholic Information Agency, is one of them. He says that while he respects Swiebodzin's decision to build it, he doesn't think the statue has much to do with true Catholicism.

"I have a problem with this statue in Swiebodzin. I would like to point out that this idea - the monument in Swiebodzin - is not any central idea of the Catholic church in Poland,"" Krolak said. "The best way for the Christian⁶ community is to build monuments of Christ inside us, in our hearts, in our minds."

Main attraction

But for one young man from Swiebodzin, the issue is not so simple.

He says he is sure the money could have been better spent. "With that kind of money we could really have helped people," he says. He does think, though, that lots of people will come to see the statue, and it will be good for the local economy. "Plus," he says, "we will be famous."

Whether tourists will really flock to this small Polish town remains¹⁷ to be seen. But in the meantime, the locals are convinced that their giant Jesus in the cabbage field will finally put them on the map.

1 reigns   

n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期

参考例句：

• In these valleys night reigns. 夜色笼罩着那些山谷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Queen of Britain reigns, but she does not rule or govern. 英国女王是国家元首，但不治国事。 来自辞典例句

2 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

3 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

8 onlookers   

n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash. 在撞车地点聚集了一大群围观者。
• The onlookers stood at a respectful distance. 旁观者站在一定的距离之外，以示尊敬。

9 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

10 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

11 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

12 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

13 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

14 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

15 overt   

adj.公开的，明显的，公然的

参考例句：

• His opponent's intention is quite overt.他的对手的意图很明显。
• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。

16 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。