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About the The Lost City Reading Passage
This passage tells the story of Hiram Bingham III, an American academic and explorer who led the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition to locate Vilcabamba — the last refuge of the Inca Empire. His journey led him to Machu Picchu, a remarkable stone city high in the Andes. The passage covers his preparations, the role of local guides, the physical features of the site, and the ongoing scholarly debate about whether Machu Picchu was in fact the city he was searching for.
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.
This passage contains two question types: True/False/Not Given (Q1–7) and Sentence Completion (Q8–13).
The Lost City — Full Reading Passage
Paragraph A
When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911, he was searching for the lost city of Vilcabamba. This was the last stronghold of the Inca, the empire that had dominated the Andes region of South America for centuries before being defeated by Spanish forces in the 16th century. Bingham was not the first person to search for Vilcabamba. Many others had previously come to Peru looking for the legendary city, but none had succeeded. Bingham, however, had considerable determination and financial backing from Yale University.
Paragraph B
Bingham began his expedition in Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire. He had studied the accounts of earlier explorers and scholars and had formed the opinion that Vilcabamba lay somewhere in the Urubamba Valley. From Cusco, he and his team set off on foot and by mule. The terrain was difficult, and the forest dense. Occasionally, Bingham came across ruins, crumbling walls, and broken stonework that hinted at an ancient civilization buried under centuries of vegetation.
Paragraph C
On 24 July 1911, Bingham's party was camped beside the Urubamba River when a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, offered to show the explorer some ruins on a nearby mountain. Bingham agreed and, the following morning, accompanied only by Arteaga and a military escort, he climbed through dense vegetation to a mountain ridge. What he found there astonished him. Spread across the ridge was a substantial complex of stone buildings, plazas, temples, and residential quarters, all remarkably well preserved.
Paragraph D
Bingham immediately believed he had found Vilcabamba. However, the site he had discovered was not Vilcabamba but Machu Picchu, a different, and arguably more spectacular, Inca settlement. The distinction matters because Bingham's conclusion shaped how the site was presented to the world. Local farmers already knew about Machu Picchu; it had never been truly "lost" to them. Bingham, however, was the first outsider to document and publicize the site extensively, which is why he is often credited with its discovery.
Paragraph E
After the initial discovery, Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 and again in 1915 to carry out excavations. The work was painstaking. Hundreds of tonnes of vegetation had to be cleared before the structures could be properly recorded. Bingham's team photographed, measured, and mapped the entire complex. Their records formed the basis for all subsequent research into Machu Picchu.
Paragraph F
Archaeologists who studied the site later were struck by the quality of the construction. The buildings at Machu Picchu were made from granite, a very hard stone that is extremely difficult to shape. Yet the Inca stonemasons had cut the blocks with such precision that the joints between them were almost invisible. There were also extensive terraces cut into the hillside, which would have provided agricultural land for the community living there.
Paragraph G
The purpose of Machu Picchu has long been debated. Some researchers believe it was a royal estate, built for the Inca emperor Pachacuti. Others suggest it was a religious centre, pointing to the presence of temples aligned to face the sun at significant times of the year. The most widely accepted view today is that the site served multiple functions: as a royal retreat, a religious site, and an administrative centre for the surrounding region.
The Lost City Reading Questions and Answers
True/False/Not Given — Questions 1–7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
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. Hiram Bingham came to South America in search of a city that had been captured by Spanish forces.
2. Bingham was the first explorer to look for Vilcabamba.
3. Bingham found it easy to get financial support for his expedition.
4. On 24 July 1911, a local farmer led Bingham to the site.
5. Machu Picchu and Vilcabamba are the same place.
6. Bingham carried out further work at Machu Picchu after his first visit.
7. The Inca transported the granite used at Machu Picchu from a distant location.
Sentence Completion — Questions 8–13
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
8. During his initial journey through the Urubamba Valley, Bingham came across __________ that suggested the presence of an ancient civilisation.
9. A man named Melchor Arteaga, one of the __________, told Bingham about ruins on a nearby mountain.
10. Bingham climbed to a ridge at the top of a __________ and discovered a complex of stone buildings.
11. The buildings at Machu Picchu were constructed using __________, a stone that is very hard to cut.
12. The Inca cut __________ into the hillside to create land for farming.
13. Some researchers argue that the temples at Machu Picchu were aligned to face the __________ at important times of year.
