题目解析：
【题目翻译】根据第2段，埃及何时从近东进口货物？
A：孟菲斯一度全面控制国内贸易
B：直到王朝早期，埃及才建立了国家主导的经济。
C：早在旧王朝时代
D：只有当地供应的那些货物完全用完
【判定题型】：题目问的是文章中的具体细节信息，故根据题目问法可以判断本题为事实信息题。
【关键词定位】根据题干中的关键词“import”和“Near East”,可以定位到第二段第3句“Moreover, commodities (such as wine, precious oils, and metals) imported from the Near East by the royal courts of predynastic Upper Egypt would have been channeled through the Memphis region on their way south.”
【逻辑分析】题目中问的是什么时候开始从近东进口货物，那么就只要找到定位句后再在题目的选项中选出与“埃及统一之间”相对应的时间段。
【选项分析】
A选项：在孟斐斯控制国内贸易的时候。根据“internal trade”定位到第2段最后一句“In short, therefore, the site of Memphis offered the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period an ideal location for controlling internal trade within their realm……”但这是一句总结句，与题目无关，故A排除。 B选项：直到新王朝早期埃及建立国有经济的时候。国有经济state directed economy一词只在第二段最后1句中提到，但与题目无关，故排除。
C选项：定位句中的“predynastic”正好对应选项中的“predynastic time”。此外，第二段第一句也给了提示，说孟斐斯地区也必然是交通运输和通讯的重要枢纽，即使是在埃及统一之前也是如此。这里的“埃及统一之前”指的就是predynastic time 前王朝时期。故C选项正确。
D选项：当本地的商品用完的时候。文中未提及，故排除。
The city of Memphis, located on the Nile near the modern city of Cairo, was founded around 3100 B.C. as the first capital of a recently united Egypt. The choice of Memphis by Egypt's first kings reflects the site's strategic importance. First, and most obvious, the apex of the Nile River delta was a politically opportune location for the state's administrative center, standing between the united lands of Upper and Lower Egypt and offering ready access to both parts of the country. The older predynastic (pre-3100 B.C.) centers of power, This and Hierakonpolis, were too remote from the vast expanse of the delta, which had been incorporated into the unified state. Only a city within easy reach of both the Nile valley to the south and the more spread out, difficult terrain to the north could provide the necessary political control that the rulers of early dynastic Egypt (roughly 3000-2600 B.C.) required.
The region of Memphis must have also served as an important node for transport and communications, even before the unification of Egypt. The region probably acted as a conduit for much, if not all, of the river-based trade between northern and southern Egypt. Moreover, commodities (such as wine, precious oils, and metals) imported from the Near East by the royal courts of predynastic Upper Egypt would have been channeled through the Memphis region on their way south. In short, therefore, the site of Memphis offered the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period an ideal location for controlling internal trade within their realm, an essential requirement for a state-directed economy that depended on the movement of goods.
