英语听力—环球英语 490 The AK-47: Weapon of Death

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
On today’s Spotlight we will look at one of the most deadly weapons that ever existed: The AK-47. This gun is recognized around the world by the curved ammunition² clip, its thin size, and its sound. The AK-47 hangs on the shoulders of Russian soldiers, African rebels, Colombian drug dealers³, American criminals, and many others. It is simple, easy to use, and requires little care. But it has killed more people than the atom bomb. How did this simple gun become so popular and so deadly?
Voice 2
In 1941, Mikhail Kalashnikov lay in a Russian hospital bed. He thought about what had just happened.
Voice 1
He had been injured during a battle against the Germans. While travelling to the hospital, his transport had stopped at a city in ruins. Kalashnikov was strong enough to search for survivors⁴. He left the transport. But while he was gone, German soldiers attacked the transport. With their better weapons, the Germans killed everyone. When Kalashnikov returned from searching, he saw the dead soldiers from his transport. Their bodies were in pieces from the power of the German guns. He decided⁵ he would make sure that Russian soldiers had a better weapon.
Voice 2
Kalashnikov was not trained in building weapons. So he studied past gun designs. He took the best parts of many guns and combined them in his model. The gun went through many tests. Each time, Kalashnikov made improvements. He completed the weapon too late to be used in World War Two. But in 1947, the Automat-Kalashnikov became the official gun of the Russian military. The AK-47 had arrived.
Voice 1
The AK-47 is very powerful. It can shoot six hundred bullets each minute. But it is easy to use and care for. It uses a small bullet. This makes it easier to keep aimed at a target. It has few parts. These parts are strong and can survive a lot of misuse⁶. An AK-47 can be put under water, pulled through the dirt, buried in sand, or dropped on the ground and it will still fire. This made it perfect for use in battle conditions.
Voice 2
At this point, the former Soviet⁷ Union was the only country using the AK-47. But the Cold War was about to change that.
Voice 1
The Cold War was the indirect conflict between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Both countries wanted greater influence in the world. But, fear of nuclear weapons stopped them from direct conflict with one another. Instead, they supported wars in poor countries with money, ammunition, and guns.
Voice 2
The Vietnam War was from 1959 to 1975. The Soviet Union supported North Vietnam. And the United States supported South Vietnam. The Soviet Union gave many AK-47s to the North. This was an advantage because the conditions in Vietnam were wet, muddy, and hot. The AK-47 was ideal in these conditions.
Voice 1
In the jungles of Vietnam, battles were often decided by whomever could fire the most bullets. American weapons would often mis-fire. But the AK-47 worked perfectly⁸, even when dirty and wet.
Voice 2
American soldiers sometimes traded their weapons for captured AK-47s, even though it was not permitted. In the Vietnam War the AK-47 proved that it was a strong and dependable weapon.
Voice 1
Another battle front for the Cold War was Afghanistan. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. They believed this would give them greater influence in the Middle East. But they found the resistance fighters difficult to defeat.
Voice 2
Part of the reason for this was low cost AK-47s. The Soviet Union gave the AK-47 design to any country that would be their ally in the Cold War. This meant that AK-47 models were being made in Russia, Bulgaria, India, Poland, Hungary and China. The United States wanted to support the resistance fighters in Afghanistan, so they bought millions of AK-47s from China. Low cost, powerful guns began to pour into Afghanistan from around the world.
Voice 1
In 1989, the Soviets⁹ left Afghanistan. When they did, they left behind millions more AK-47s. This began the AK-47 culture. The guns were everywhere. People began to use them as money. Individuals and governments started selling weapons for food. The movement of the guns was hard to control. Many of these weapons were sold to rebel leaders in Africa.
Voice 2
Tribal¹⁰ conflicts in Africa have been happening for many years. But the AK-47 made these conflicts much more deadly. During the 1990s, Western nations were only watching the trade of bombs, missiles, planes and tanks. The simple AK-47 was dismissed as unimportant.
Voice 1
But the AK-47 was a way to make money when no other way was available. AK-47s appeared in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Congo, and South Africa.
Voice 2
Many rebel leaders would exchange an AK-47 for the promise of loyalty¹¹. Untrained groups of young men and boys joined rebel groups. And leaders encouraged them to destroy towns, steal, force women to have sex, and kill who they wished.
Voice 1
During this time, new players were influencing world politics. China began to sell weapons directly. Business men, weapons makers¹² and drug dealers from Europe gave African leaders weapons and money. In exchange they received resources such as wood, copper¹³, gold, and especially diamonds.
Voice 2
These people dealt with who ever gave them what they wanted. They dealt with rebel leaders and government officials. It soon became difficult to tell who really was in control of a country.
Voice 1
But the AK-47 was not limited to Africa. Supplied by drug money, AK-47s began to appear in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia. These guns made their way north into Mexico and the United States. Now, the reach of the AK-47 goes all the way around the world.
Voice 2
And what about Mikhail Kalashnikov? What has happened to the man who made the gun? He made no money from the AK-47. And while he defends his gun, he also regrets what it has become. He says,
Voice 3
“I am proud of my invention, but I am sad that it is used by terrorists. I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use. Something that would help farmers with their work - for example, a lawnmower.”
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

3 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

4 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

5 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。

6 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

10 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

11 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

12 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。