「英語聽力文摘」埃及的社會結構和支付方式
埃及這個古老的國度，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.
埃及社會有一套嚴格組織起來的社會等級結構。大部分人都是農民和工匠，他們由擁有土地的官員和牧師所組成的精英階級所領導。
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.
每個人都隸屬于一個群體，在團隊里面勞作，工作常常是在國王和神殿掌控下的大型的作坊里，或叫做“儲藏所”。
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.
整個社會的組織結構是建立在主仆原則上的：正如國王是諸神的仆人同時又是他的臣民的主人，每個埃及人都同時是一個人的主人又是另一個人的仆人。在這個社會等級結構頂端的是高級官員們、知識分子或者“抄書吏”，最底層的則是那些做著簡單卻繁重的工作的人們，比如在廚房里干活的人們和農場的勞工。最重的活兒是由戰俘和罪犯來做的。
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.
一個工作周持續9天，休息一天之后另一個工作周又開始了。一年中大部分的時間都不用工作，因為不會有人在敬神的節日里(在埃及有許多這樣的節日)或其他特殊場合里工作。
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。一個籃子值這么多的谷子，一座石棺值那么多的母牛或者別的貨物。賦稅是用產品和谷物繳的，但也可以用勞務來繳稅，比如強制為國王干活。通常因饑荒而引起的經濟不景氣會引發社會動亂甚至罷工。
重點英語詞匯整理：
1. elite n.精英，精華
2. intellectual n. 憑理智做事者，知識分子 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.節日的，喜慶的 n. 節日，歡宴，慶祝及祭祀
5. circulated adj.流通的
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