The Lost City IELTS Practice test 12 with best explanation

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1. Bài đọc The Lost City IELTS 

1.1 The Lost City

An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous icon of the Inca civilisation

A. When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911, he was ready for what was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the exploration of the remote hinterland to the west of Cusco, the old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. His goal was to locate the remains of a city called Vitcos, the last capital of the Inca civilization. Cusco lies on a high plateau at an elevation of more than 3,000 metres, and Bingham’s plan was to descend from this plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes a circuitous route down to the Amazon and passes through an area of dramatic canyons and mountain ranges.

B. When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an advantage over travellers who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down the valley canyon to enable rubber to be brought up by mules from the jungle. Almost all previous travellers had left the river at Ollantaytambo and taken a high pass across the mountains to rejoin the river lower down, thereby cutting a substantial corner, but also therefore never passing through the area around Machu Picchu.

C. On 24 July they were a few days into their descent of the valley. The day began slowly, with Bingham trying to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the trek. His companions showed no interest in accompanying him up the nearby hill to see some ruins that a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, had told them about the night before. The morning was dull and damp, and Bingham also seems to have been less than keen on the prospect of climbing the hill. In his book Lost City of the Incas, he relates that he made the ascent without having the least expectation that he would find anything at the top.

D. Bingham writes about the approach in vivid style in his book. First, as he climbs up the hill, he describes the ever-present possibility of deadly snakes, ‘capable of making considerable springs when in pursuit of their prey’; not that he sees any. Then there’s a sense of mounting discovery as he comes across great sweeps of terraces, then a mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and, finally, the grand ceremonial buildings of Machu Picchu. ‘It seemed like an unbelievable dream the sight held me spellbound ’, he wrote.

E. We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not written until 1948, many years after his journey. His journal entries of the time reveal a much more gradual appreciation of his achievement. He spent the afternoon at the ruins noting down the dimensions of some of the buildings, then descended and rejoined his companions, to whom he seems to have said little about his discovery. At this stage, Bingham didn’t realise the extent or the importance of the site, nor did he realise what use he could make of the discovery.

F. However, soon after returning it occurred to him that he could make a name for himself from this discovery. When he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that broke the story to the world in April 1913, he knew he had to produce a big idea. He wondered whether it could have been the birthplace of the very first Inca, Manco the Great, and whether it could also have been what chroniclers described as ‘the last city of the Incas’. This term refers to Vilcabamba, the settlement where the Incas had fled from Spanish invaders in the 1530s. Bingham made desperate attempts to prove this belief for nearly 40 years. Sadly, his vision of the site as both the beginning and end of the Inca civilization, while a magnificent one, is inaccurate. We now know that Vilcabamba actually lies 65 kilometres away in the depths of the jungle.

G. One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever since Bingham, is why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest. There are no references to it by any of the Spanish chroniclers – and if they had known of its existence so close to Cusco they would certainly have come in search of gold. An idea which has gained wide acceptance over the past few years is that Machu Picchu was a moya, a country estate built by an Inca emperor to escape the cold winters of Cusco, where the elite could enjoy monumental architecture and spectacular views. Furthermore, the particular architecture of Machu Picchu suggests that it was constructed at the time of the greatest of all the Incas, the emperor Pachacuti (1438-71). By custom, Pachacuti’s descendants built other similar estates for their own use, and so Machu Picchu would have been abandoned after his death, some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest.

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1.2 Question 

Questions 1-7

Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

1. Paragraph A 2. Paragraph B 3. Paragraph C 4. Paragraph D 5. Paragraph E 6. Paragraph F 7. Paragraph G

List of Headings i. Different accounts of the same journey ii. Bingham gains support iii. A common belief iv. The aim of the trip v. A dramatic description vi. A new route vii. Bingham publishes his theory viii. Bingham’s lack of enthusiasm

Questions 8-11

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

• TRUE                     if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE                   if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN         if there is no information on this

8. Bingham went to South America in search of an Inca city.
9. Bingham chose a particular route down the Urubamba valley because it was the most common route used by travellers.
10. Bingham understood the significance of Machu Picchu as soon as he saw it.
11. Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in order to find evidence to support his theory.

Questions 12-13

Complete the sentences below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

12. The track that took Bingham down the Urubamba valley had been created for the transportation of ………..
13. Bingham found out about the ruins of Machu Picchu from a ……….. in the Urubamba valley.

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2. Đáp án và giải thích chi tiết the Lost City IELTS Reading

Questions	Answers
1	iv
2	vi
3	viii
4	v
5	i
6	vii
7	iii
8	TRUE
9	FALSE
10	FALSE
11	NOT GIVEN
12	rubber
13	farmer

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3. Giải thích đáp án the lost city IELTS Reading 

Question 1-7: 

Question 1:

Đáp án: iv

Từ khóa: “His goal was to locate … called Vitcos.”

Giải thích: Đoạn này nói về mục đích chuyến đi của Bingham, đó là tìm kiếm di tích Vitcos – kinh đô cuối cùng của nền văn minh Inca.

Question 2: 

Đáp án: vi

Từ khóa: “a track had recently … by mules from the jungle.”

Giải thích: Bingham và đồng đội đã sử dụng con đường mới được tạo ra để vận chuyển cao su bằng lừa từ rừng nhiệt đới.

Question 3: 

Đáp án: viii

Từ khóa: “he made the ascent … find anything at the top.”

Giải thích: Bingham leo lên ngọn đồi với thái độ không mấy hào hứng, thậm chí không kỳ vọng sẽ tìm thấy gì ở đỉnh.

Question 4: 

Đáp án: v

Từ khóa: “It seemed like an unbelievable dream.”

Giải thích: Đoạn này miêu tả hành trình khám phá Machu Picchu một cách chi tiết, tạo ấn tượng mạnh mẽ.

Question 5: 

Đáp án: i

Từ khóa: “His journal entries of … his achievement.”

Giải thích: Đoạn này so sánh các ghi chép trong nhật ký của Bingham với cuốn sách Lost City of the Incas.

Question 6: 

Đáp án: vii

Từ khóa: “he knew … a big idea.”

Giải thích: Bingham đề xuất giả thuyết rằng Machu Picchu có thể là thành phố cuối cùng của nền văn minh Inca.

Question 7: 

Đáp án: iii

Từ khóa: “An idea which has gained wide acceptance.”

Giải thích: Đoạn này nhắc đến giả thuyết cho rằng Machu Picchu là một “moya” – khu vườn nghỉ dưỡng.

Question 8-11:

Question 8: 

Đáp án: TRUE

Từ khóa: “His goal was … a city called Vitcos.”

Giải thích: Đoạn A đề cập rõ ràng rằng mục tiêu của Bingham là tìm kiếm di tích Vitcos, kinh đô cuối cùng của nền văn minh Inca.

Question 9: 

Đáp án: FALSE

Từ khóa: “Almost all previous travellers had left the river.”

Giải thích: Đoạn B nói rằng Bingham đã sử dụng con đường mới, trong khi hầu hết những khách du hành trước đó đều rời khỏi con sông để đi đường cao.

Question 10: 

Đáp án: FALSE

Từ khóa: “At this stage, …the importance of the site.”

Giải thích: Đoạn E cho thấy tại thời điểm đó, Bingham chưa nhận ra được tầm quan trọng của Machu Picchu.

Question 11:

Đáp án: NOT GIVEN

Giải thích: Không có thông tin nào trong bài được đề cập để xác định đúng hay sai cho câu hỏi này.

Question 12-13:

Question 12: 

Đáp án: rubber

Từ khóa: “to enable rubber to be brought up mules from the jungle.”

Giải thích: Đoạn B cho biết con đường mới được sử dụng để vận chuyển cao su bằng lừa từ rừng nhiệt đới.

Question 13: 

Đáp án: farmer

Từ khóa: “a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, told them about the night before.”

Giải thích: Đoạn C đề cập rằng một nông dân địa phương, Melchor Arteaga, đã kể với họ về địa điểm này vào đêm hôm trước.

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