「英語聽力文摘」埃及的社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)和支付方式

　　埃及這個(gè)古老的國(guó)度，在人們的眼中一直被賦予了神秘的色彩。你了解埃及嗎?下面，我們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.

　　埃及社會(huì)有一套嚴(yán)格組織起來的社會(huì)等級(jí)結(jié)構(gòu)。大部分人都是農(nóng)民和工匠，他們由擁有土地的官員和牧師所組成的精英階級(jí)所領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。

　　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.

　　每個(gè)人都隸屬于一個(gè)群體，在團(tuán)隊(duì)里面勞作，工作常常是在國(guó)王和神殿掌控下的大型的作坊里，或叫做“儲(chǔ)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.

　　整個(gè)社會(huì)的組織結(jié)構(gòu)是建立在主仆原則上的：正如國(guó)王是諸神的仆人同時(shí)又是他的臣民的主人，每個(gè)埃及人都同時(shí)是一個(gè)人的主人又是另一個(gè)人的仆人。在這個(gè)社會(huì)等級(jí)結(jié)構(gòu)頂端的是高級(jí)官員們、知識(shí)分子或者“抄書吏”，最底層的則是那些做著簡(jiǎn)單卻繁重的工作的人們，比如在廚房里干活的人們和農(nóng)場(chǎng)的勞工。最重的活兒是由戰(zhàn)俘和罪犯來做的。

　　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.

　　一個(gè)工作周持續(xù)9天，休息一天之后另一個(gè)工作周又開始了。一年中大部分的時(shí)間都不用工作，因?yàn)椴粫?huì)有人在敬神的節(jié)日里(在埃及有許多這樣的節(jié)日)或其他特殊場(chǎng)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，而不是使用流通的貨幣。一個(gè)籃子值這么多的谷子，一座石棺值那么多的母�；蛘邉e的貨物。賦稅是用產(chǎn)品和谷物繳的，但也可以用勞務(wù)來繳稅，比如強(qiáng)制為國(guó)王干活。通常因饑荒而引起的經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣會(huì)引發(fā)社會(huì)動(dòng)亂甚至罷工。

　　重點(diǎn)英語詞匯整理：

　　1. elite n.精英，精華

　　2. intellectual n. 憑理智做事者，知識(shí)分子 adj. 智力的，聰明的

　　3. criminal n. 罪犯 adj. 犯罪的，刑事的，違法的

　　4. festival adj.節(jié)日的，喜慶的 n. 節(jié)日，歡宴，慶祝及祭祀

　　5. circulated adj.流通的

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