「英语听力文摘」埃及的社会结构和支付方式

　　埃及这个古老的国度，在人们的眼中一直被赋予了神秘的色彩。你了解埃及吗?下面，我们一起去了解一下埃及吧。

　　Egyptian society had a strictly organized class structure. The majority of people consisted of farmers and craftsmen who were led by the land-owning elite of officials and priests.

　　埃及社会有一套严格组织起来的社会等级结构。大部分人都是农民和工匠，他们由拥有土地的官员和牧师所组成的精英阶级所领导。

　　Everyone belonged to a group and worked in a team, usually in huge workshops, or "Storehouses", which were controlled by the king and the temples.

　　每个人都隶属于一个群体，在团队里面劳作，工作常常是在国王和神殿掌控下的大型的作坊里，或叫做“储藏所”。

　　The organization of society was based on the master-servant principle: just as the king was the servant of the gods and was himself the master of his people, so was every Egyptian the master of one and the servant of another. At the top of this social ladder were the high officials, the intellectuals or "Scribes", and on the lowest rungs were those who did the simple but heavy work, such as kitchen staff and farm laborers. The heaviest work was done by prisoners-of-war and criminals.

　　整个社会的组织结构是建立在主仆原则上的：正如国王是诸神的仆人同时又是他的臣民的主人，每个埃及人都同时是一个人的主人又是另一个人的仆人。在这个社会等级结构顶端的是高级官员们、知识分子或者“抄书吏”，最底层的则是那些做着简单却繁重的工作的人们，比如在厨房里干活的人们和农场的劳工。最重的活儿是由战俘和罪犯来做的。

　　A working week lasted nine days and was followed by one day of rest. There was no work for almost half of the year, since nobody worked on festival days to honor the gods (and there were a lot of those in Egypt), or other special occasions.

　　一个工作周持续9天，休息一天之后另一个工作周又开始了。一年中大部分的时间都不用工作，因为不会有人在敬神的节日里(在埃及有许多这样的节日)或其他特殊场合里工作。

　　Barter, rather than circulated money, was the means of payment. A basket cost so much grain, a stone coffin so many cows or other goods. Taxes were paid in products and grain, but also in work, such as compulsory work for the king. Economic depressions, often caused by famine, could result in social unrest and even strikes.

　　在埃及，支付方式是以物易物，而不是使用流通的货币。一个篮子值这么多的谷子，一座石棺值那么多的母牛或者别的货物。赋税是用产品和谷物缴的，但也可以用劳务来缴税，比如强制为国王干活。通常因饥荒而引起的经济不景气会引发社会动乱甚至罢工。

　　重点英语词汇整理：

　　1. elite n.精英，精华

　　2. intellectual n. 凭理智做事者，知识分子 adj. 智力的，聪明的

　　3. criminal n. 罪犯 adj. 犯罪的，刑事的，违法的

　　4. festival adj.节日的，喜庆的 n. 节日，欢宴，庆祝及祭祀

　　5. circulated adj.流通的

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