Pulling Strings To Build Pyramids Reading Answers: IELTS Reading Practice Test

This passage investigates a theory proposed by Maureen Clemmons and Morteza Gharib about how ancient Egyptians may have used kite power and rope systems rather than ramp-based labour to lift and move the enormous stone blocks used in pyramid construction. The theory draws on wind physics, historical artwork, and scale experiments to challenge accepted assumptions in archaeology.

Cambridge source: Cambridge IELTS 9, Academic Test 4, Passage 1.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on the passage below.

The passage contains two question types:

True/False/Not Given (Questions 1–7) 

Summary Completion (Questions 8–13)

Paragraph A

One of the great architectural achievements of the ancient world was the building of the Egyptian pyramids. The Great Pyramid of Giza, built around 2560 BC, contains approximately 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing between 2.5 and 15 tonnes. Archaeologists have long debated how the ancient Egyptians managed to quarry, transport, and raise these massive stones using the technology available to them at the time. The most widely accepted theory has been that workers built enormous ramps out of earth and brick and then dragged the blocks up these ramps into position.

Paragraph B

In 1999, Maureen Clemmons, an American marketing executive, was struck by images in an ancient Egyptian scroll that appeared to show workers using kites to lift heavy objects. She approached Morteza Gharib, an aeronautics professor at the California Institute of Technology, with a radical proposal: that the ancient Egyptians could have used kites to help erect their massive stone monuments. Gharib was skeptical at first but agreed to run some experiments. He and his team rigged up a system of pulleys and attached a 4.5-meter sail to a 3.5-tonne stone obelisk by means of a taut rope. When the wind blew, the sail's lift was transmitted through the rope to the obelisk, which rose smoothly into an upright position in just 25 seconds.

Paragraph C

The key to the system was the use of a large kite rather than a simple sail. Kites generate considerably more lift per unit area than sails because they can be flown at a steeper angle to the wind. By using a series of kites working in unison, Gharib calculated that a team of workers, far smaller than the thousands of laborers traditionally assumed to have been needed, could have shifted the pyramid blocks. However, the kite theory is not without its critics. Some archaeologists argue that there is no physical evidence of kite-flying equipment at pyramid sites and that the wind conditions in ancient Egypt were insufficiently consistent to have made kites a reliable tool.

Paragraph D

Gharib's team also found a solution to the problem of the pyramid base. When a block is dragged along flat ground, the friction is enormous. Experiments showed that if fine sand was spread in front of the block, the friction was dramatically reduced, making it possible for a far smaller team of workers to shift the block across the ground. Ancient Egyptians were certainly aware of this technique: wall paintings from the period show workers pouring liquid in front of sledges to reduce friction as they hauled statues.

Paragraph E

In a further series of experiments, Gharib's team tested whether a four-sided kite could be used to raise a 4.5-tonne obelisk. They found that a kite with an area of about 40 square meters generated enough lift to raise the obelisk on its own. The results were fed into a computer simulation, which demonstrated that teams of men managing the ropes and kites could have organized the lifting operation with remarkable precision. The simulation also showed that the force needed to raise a stone block, even one weighing several tonnes, was well within human capacity when spread across a team.

Paragraph F

Despite the apparent success of these experiments, the kite theory remains controversial among mainstream archaeologists. Most scholars continue to believe that ramps were the primary method used to move the pyramid blocks. They point out that while kites might have been useful for raising obelisks, the pyramid-building process involved many thousands of individual stone blocks, each requiring precision placement. Coordinating kite teams for every one of those blocks, in a desert environment with variable winds, would have posed an enormous logistical challenge. The kite theory, they suggest, is an interesting engineering exercise but is not supported by enough direct historical evidence to overturn the ramp hypothesis.

True / False / Not Given (Questions 1–7)

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

In boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet, write 

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information. 

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information. 

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this. 

1. The blocks used to build the Great Pyramid of Giza were all the same weight.

2. Maureen Clemmons had a background in engineering before she proposed the kite theory.

3. Gharib conducted physical experiments to test the kite theory.

4. Kites generate less lift per unit area than sails.

5. Ancient Egyptian workers were paid for their labour on the pyramids.

6. A kite with a surface area of about 40 square metres was enough to raise a 4.5-tonne obelisk.

7. Most archaeologists now accept that kites were used in pyramid construction.

Summary Completion (Questions 8–13)

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 8–13 on your answer sheet.

 8. Gharib's team attached a large sail to a stone obelisk using a taut______. 

9. Wind caused the sail to lift, raising the obelisk upright in seconds. They then considered using a large ______ instead of a sail, as this generates more lift per unit area. 

10. To reduce friction when dragging blocks along the ground, the team spread ______ in front of the blocks. 

11. Experiments showed that a kite of about ______ square metres could raise a 4.5-tonne obelisk. 

12. The results were tested in a ______ simulation, which confirmed that teams of workers could manage the lifting with precision. 

13. Despite this, most archaeologists still believe ramps were the main method used to move the pyramid ______.