【美联英语】双语阅读：发现：埃及金字塔并非奴隶所建

两分钟做个小测试，看看你的英语水平/test/kuaisu.aspx?tid=16-73675-0美联英语提供：发现：埃及金字塔并非奴隶所建Newtombs found in Giza support the view that theGreat Pyramids were built by free workers and not slaves, as widely believed, Egypts chiefarchaeologistsaid on Sunday.埃及首席考古学家于上周日称，日前在吉萨发现的新墓群表明，大金字塔的建造者是自由工人，而非人们普遍认为的奴隶。Films and media have long depicted slavestoiling away in the desert to build themammothpyramids only to meet a miserable death at the end of their efforts.长期以来，影视作品和媒体报道所描绘的都是奴隶们为了建造宏伟的金字塔在沙漠中长期劳役，最终精力耗尽而惨死。These tombs were built beside the kings pyramid, which indicates that these people were not by any means slaves, Zahi Hawass, the chief archaeologist heading the Egyptianexcavationteam, said in a statement.埃及发掘队的首席考古学家扎希哈瓦斯说：“这些墓穴修建在埋葬国王的金字塔旁，这意味着这些人绝不是奴隶。”If they were slaves, they would not have been able to build their tombs beside their kings.“如果他们是奴隶，他们是不能把自己的坟墓建在国王的坟墓旁的。”He said the collection of workers tombs, some of which were found in the 1990s, were among the most significant finds in the 20th and 21st centuries. They belonged to workers who built the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre.他说，这些劳工的坟墓是20世纪和21世纪最重要的发现之一，其中一部分坟墓发现于上世纪90年代。这些坟墓埋葬的是那些建造胡夫和哈夫拉金字塔的劳工。Hawass had earlier foundgraffition the walls from workers calling themselves friends of Khufu - another sign that they were not slaves.之前哈瓦斯还在墙上发现了劳工们的涂鸦，他们自称为“胡夫的朋友”，再次证明这些人不是奴隶。The tombs, on the Giza plateau on the western edge of Cairo, are 4,510 years old and lie at the entrance of a one-km (half mile)-longnecropolis.这些墓位于开罗西侧吉萨高原上长达一公里（半英里）的坟场的入口处，迄今已有4510年的历史。Hawwass said evidence had been found showing that farmers in the Delta and Upper Egypt had sent 21 buffalo and 23 sheep to the plateau every day to feed the builders, believed to number around 10,000 - or about a tenth ofGreek historian Herodotuss estimate of 100,000.哈瓦斯说，已发现的相关证据表明，当时（尼罗河）三角洲和埃及南部地区的农民每天都往建筑工地送21头水牛和23只羊，以解决工人们的吃饭问题，当时共有约1万名工人参与金字塔建造，仅为希腊历史学家希罗多德所估计的10万人的十分之一。These farmers wereexempted from paying taxes to the government of ancient Egypt - evidence that he saidunderscoredthe fact they were participating in a national project.这些农民无需向古埃及政府缴纳赋税，哈瓦斯说这进一步证实了他们参与的是一个国家工程。The first discovery of workers tombs in 1990 came aboutaccidentallywhen a horsestumbled on a brick structure 10 meters (yards) away from the burial area.此类墓群于1990年首次发现，当时一匹马在距离坟地10米（码）远的一处土砖墙处跌倒，由此带来了这一偶然的发现。Vocabulary:mammoth: extremely large 极其巨大的；庞大的excavation: the activity of digging in the ground to look for old buildings or objects that have been buried for a long time （对古物的）发掘，挖掘Khufu: Egyptian Pharaoh of the 27th century BC who commissioned the Great Pyramid at Giza 胡夫，埃及第四王朝第二位法老，在位期间建造了大金字塔Khafre: king of Egypt (c. 2550 bc) of the 4th dynasty. He built the second pyramid and is thought to have built the Sphinx at Giza 哈夫拉，埃及第四王朝的第三位法老，他继承了胡夫的王位，在吉萨建立了世界上第二大金字塔-哈夫拉金字塔和狮身人面像graffiti: drawings or writing on a wall, etc. in a public place. They are usually rude, humorous or political. （公共墙壁等上通常含有粗俗、幽默或政治内容的）涂画，涂鸦necropolis: a place where dead people are buried, especially a large ancient one 坟场；（尤指）古代大墓地buffalo: a large cow with horns that curve upwards 水牛Herodotus: 希罗多德，古罗马时代历史学家，被誉为“历史之父”，著有历史一书exempt sb. from sth.: to release someone from