The Lost City Reading Answers

The Lost City Reading Answers have been provided below. Check the table of answers to verify if you have got the correct answers.

If you want to get a grip on the other types of questions in the IELTS test, make sure to check out The Lost City Reading Answers article. You will be able to improve your performance as you practice more questions.

Get your skills tested before attempting the IELTS. Challenge yourself with The Lost City reading answers article. Use this passage to get an understanding about 3 question types asked in the IELTS. The IELTS reading section contains a total of 14 question types. 

Each IELTS reading question type will test a different skill level. The Lost City reading answers is a good article to learn the following question types. 

• IELTS reading Yes/No/Not Given 
• IELTS reading Matching Features
• IELTS reading Summary Completion

7 thoughts on “The Lost City”

Let us discuss a few points about The Lost City IELTS reading answers article. This will help you understand the passage much better.

• The Lost City IELTS reading answers with location contain the passage taken from the Cambridge 12 Test 6.
• This passage is about the book,The Lost City of the Incas by Hiram Bingham. 
• He describes an expedition that led to the discovery of the Incas and the Machu Picchu.
• The passage should be read quickly as it is a very lengthy passage.
• The article contains 15 questions from 3 different question types.
• Read the instructions given before the questions carefully before answering.
• Improve your vocabulary and reading skills with the help of this article.

Before attempting to write The Lost City IELTS Reading Answers, check the IELTS reading tips.

Find the practice test with The Lost City IELTS reading answers pdf, here.

IELTS reading passage -  The Lost City

Read the passage to solve The Lost City Reading Answers for the questions given after the passage. 

The Lost City

In 1911, when the American traveller and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America, he knew he was about to do the greatest achievement of his life: discovering a land far away from the west of Cusco. It was an old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. He aimed at finding the remains of a city called Vitcos, the last capital of the Inca civilization.

Cusco is located on a high plateau at an altitude of more than 3 thousand metres, and Bingham’s plan was to come down from this plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes a longer route down to the Amazon and passes through an area of canyons and mountain ranges.

In late July when Bingham and his team descended to the Urubamba, they had an advantage over the travellers who came after them. Recently a track had been made down the canyon to facilitate transportation of rubber by mules from the jungle. Almost all travellers who went earlier had left the river at Ollantaytambo and taken a longer way through the mountains to join the river at the bottom, thereby cutting an important corner, and never passing through the area around Machu Picchu.

On July 24th they were a few days down the valley. The day began slowly, with Bingham trying to arrange enough mules for the next part of the trek. His companions showed no interest in going with him up the nearby hill to see some remains that Melchor Arteaga, a local farmer, had told them about on the previous night. The morning was cloudy, and 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 climbed the hill without having the hope of finding anything at the top.

Bingham wrote about the mission clearly in his book. First, as he climbs up the hill, he narrates about the possibility of deadly snakes, ‘have the ability to spring when in pursuit of their prey’; not that he sees any. As he comes across great sweeps of terraces there’s a sense of mounting discovery. Then there is a mausoleum, monumental staircases and finally a grand ceremonial building of Machu Picchu. 'It seemed like an unbelievable dream. The sight held me fascinated’, he wrote.

The Lost City of the Incas is, however, a work of hindsight, not written until 1948, many years after his journey. His stories of the time reveal a much more gradual admiration of his achievement. Noting down the dimensions of some of the buildings, he spent the afternoon at the ruins, and then went down and rejoined his colleagues, to whom he said nothing about his discovery. At that time, he didn’t realise the extent or the importance of the site, nor did he realise what use he could make of the discovery. 

Soon after he returned, it occurred to him that he could be famous from this discovery. He knew he had to produce a big idea when he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that published the story to the world in April 1913,.

He wondered whether the very first Inca, Manco the Great, was born here, and whether it could also have been what chroniclers described as ‘the last city of the Incas’. This term refers to Vilcabamba, the community where the Incas had run away from Spanish invaders in the 1530s. Bingham made multiple attempts to prove this belief for nearly forty years. Sadly, he had inaccurate vision of the site as both the beginning and end of the Inca civilization. What we know is that Vilcabamba lies 65 km away in the jungle. 

One question that has confused all the visitors, historians and archaeologists alike, is why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest. It is not stated by any of the Spanish chroniclers. They would certainly have come in search of gold, if they had known of its existence so close to Cusco. 

The idea that it was 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 has gained wide acceptance over the past years. 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 some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest, and so Machu Picchu would have been deserted after his death. 

The Lost City IELTS reading questions

IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given Question 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
Write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1 Cusco is located at an altitude of more than 3000 metres

2 Bingham went for the expedition in June

3 The book ‘The Lost City of the Incas’ was published in 1948

4 10 people went for the expedition to find the lost city

5 Machu Picchu was constructed by emperor Pachacuti

Also Check: IELTS reading Yes/No/Not Given 

IELTS reading Matching Features Question 6-9

Look at the following Questions 1-4 and the list of the statements below. Match each statement with the correct one
Write the correct letter A-E on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

6 The year when Hiram Bingham arrived in South America

7 The year The Lost City of the Incas was published

8 The year National Geographic magazine published Hiram’s story 

9 The year when the Incas had run away from Spanish invaders

A 1948
B 1931
C 1911
D 1913
E 1530

Also Check: IELTS reading Matching Features 

IELTS Reading Summary Completion Question 10-14 

Complete the summary below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

American traveller and academic 10________ arrived in South America in 1911. In late July when Bingham and his team descended to the 11________. We went to Cusco, the old 12_____ of the Incas empire. He wrote the book The Lost City of the 13________ in 1948. His story came in the 14________ magazine in 1913.

Also Check: IELTS reading summary completion 

The Lost City IELTS reading answers with explanation

In this section you can find The Lost City IELTS reading answers with explanations. Check the right answers and rework on your mistakes if any. 

Answers for IELTS Reading Yes/No/Not Given Question

(Note: The text in italics is from the reading passage and shows the location from where the answer is taken or inferred. The text in the regular font explains the answer in detail.)

1 Yes

Explanation: Cusco is located on a high plateau at an altitude of more than 3 thousand metres

2 No 

Explanation: On July 24th they were a few days down the valley. 

3 Yes

Explanation: The Lost City of the Incas is, however, a work of hindsight, not written until 1948, many years after his journey.

4 Not Given

Explanation: The answer is not given in the passage

5 Yes

Explanation: 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). 

Answers for IELTS reading Matching Features Question

6 C 1911

Explanation: In 1911, when the American traveller and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America, he knew he was about to do the greatest achievement of his life.

7 A 1948

Explanation: The Lost City of the Incas is, however, a work of hindsight, not written until 1948, many years after his journey.

8 D 1913 

Explanation: He knew he had to produce a big idea when he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that published the story to the world in April 1913,.

9 E 1530 

Explanation: This term refers to Vilcabamba, the community where the Incas had run away from Spanish invaders in the 1530s. 

Answers for IELTS Reading Summary Completion Question

10 Hiram Bingham

Explanation: In 1911, when the American traveller and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America

11 Urubamba

Explanation: In late July when Bingham and his team descended to the Urubamba

12 capital

Explanation: It was an old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. 

13 Incas

Explanation: The Lost City of the Incas is, however, a work of hindsight, not written until 1948.

14 National Geographic

Explanation: He knew he had to produce a big idea when he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that published the story to the world in April 1913.

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Conclusion

We have created the article “The Lost City Reading Answers” to help IELTS aspirants to get practice with different question types. We hope these sample answers will help you to excel in the IELTS test with high scores.