[ti:Russia Celebrates Rifle-Maker Kalashnikov With Statue] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Russia has unveiled a monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov, [00:04.88]creator of one of the most famous firearms in the world. [00:10.96]The 7.5-meter tall statue features Kalashnikov holding his famous rifle. [00:19.88]Mikhail Kalashnikov was born in a rural area of Russia in 1919. [00:28.28]As a boy, Mikhail was interested in making farm equipment. [00:33.60]He was born into a farming family, after all. [00:38.40]But, later he became a soldier and was injured in World War Two. [00:47.00]Kalashnikov and some other soldiers decided that the Russian army [00:52.35]needed better rifles than those used by the Germans. [00:58.00]So Kalashnikov started designing his own. [01:02.52]His first weapons were not very good. [01:06.48]But in 1947 he designed the weapon that came to be known as the AK-47. [01:16.28]It got its name because it was an automatic rifle designed in 1947. [01:23.96]An automatic rifle does not have to be loaded by hand after each shot. [01:31.08]The weapon gained popularity because it worked equally well [01:35.52]in hot, wet jungles and cold, dry mountains. [01:41.16]It was also easy to operate and take care of. [01:47.40]Some users can take an AK-47 apart in just 30 seconds. [01:55.72]Russia sent the guns to its allies and sold the design to other countries [02:01.64]so they could produce their own versions. [02:04.60]Some experts think 70 million Kalashnikov rifles have been made. [02:12.96]They say the AK-47 and its more modern versions [02:18.24]represent 20 percent of the world's firearms. [02:24.72]Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and his minister of culture [02:30.52]see the AK-47 as important to the identity of Russia. [02:38.24]Putin said: "The Kalashnikov rifle is a symbol of the creative genius of our people." [02:48.32]While Russian leaders celebrated Kalashnikov's memory with the statue, [02:54.40]some activists demonstrated at the event. [02:58.84]The protesters said a person who created an instrument of death [03:04.08]should not be considered a hero. [03:07.32]Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported one protester [03:12.00]calling the statue "loathsome" and "trash." [03:18.56]For many years, Kalashnikov stood up for his weapon as a way to defend Russia. [03:26.28]He blamed politicians for failing to find peaceful solutions to disputes. [03:34.08]"I sleep well," he once said. [03:37.19]But, a few months before his death in 2013, [03:43.08]Kalashnikov expressed second thoughts. [03:47.80]He wrote a letter to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. [03:52.68]In the letter, he asked whether, as the creator of a weapon, [03:57.48]he was responsible for the deaths that came from its use. [04:03.96]He called his worry "unbearable." [04:08.96]The church leader said the deaths were not Kalashnikov's fault, [04:14.20]but the fault of those who used the rifle with "evil intentions." [04:21.48]I'm Dan Friedell. [04:23.08]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM