The City of Machu Picchu, the Cradle of the Inca Empire

D GOAL 4 TALK ABOUT A DISCOVERY FROM THE PAST
Reading
A. Look at the photo of Hiram Bingham. Is he
on vacation? What is he doing?
The City of Machu
Picchu, the Cradle
of the Inca Empire
tropical
forest
fortress
ladders
gorge
Hiram Bingham
Word Focus
man came and introduced himself as Arteaga and I asked him
about ruins. He told us of some ruins called Machu Picchu,
2,000 or more feet above the valley floor. I offered to pay him
50 cents per day to take us to the ruins and he agreed.
The next day, we crossed the river on a bridge made
from four tree trunks and began an exhausting climb. At
noon we arrived at a little grass hut. The occupants were
very friendly and gave us some boiled potatoes and a gourd
of cool water. The view was magnificent, the water was
delicious, and the shade of the hut was agreeable, but there
were no ruins. However, we continued upwards, sometimes
climbing ladders, until at last we arrived in a tropical forest
on top of the mountain.
Immediately we found some ancient Inca walls made
of white stone. I knew at once that this was a truly amazing
discovery.
I returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 and we began to
clear the forest. The ruins started to appear and they were
outstanding. The walls are made from enormous stones and
they fit together perfectly. As we continued to clear the forest,
we discovered more and more ruins, until at last the lost city of
Machu Picchu stood
before us.
tree trunks
B. Reread the article. Underline the emphatic
adjectives.
C. Answer the questions.
1.Did Hiram Bingham discover Inca ruins in
Ollantaytambo? __________________
________________________________
2.How much did he pay Arteaga? ______
________________________________
3.Was the climb to Machu Picchu easy?
________________________________
4.Where did they eat? _ ______________
________________________________
5.How did the Incas cut the stones?
________________________________
70 Destinations
Writing
Read the postcard. Write a similar postcard
about your last vacation or one of the vacations
on page 67.
Hi everyone,
Greetings from Phuket. We’re
having a great time here. We
arrived in Bangkok last Saturday
and we went to The Golden Temple
It was fascinating. There was an
enormous statue of the Buddha.
The hotel was spotless and the
food was excellent, but the traffic
was terrible. It is much more
relaxing here on the beach in
Phuket.
Love
G&D
Most people travel for vacations, but some people travel to explore
and discover new places. In 1911, Hiram Bingham, an American
archaeologist, traveled to Peru where he discovered Machu Picchu,
the lost city of the Incas. Read his report of the discovery.
In 1911, I went to Cuzco in Peru looking for ancient Inca ruins. We
left Cuzco and traveled to the modern city of Urubamba and then
continued down the Urubamba River until we came to the beautiful
little town of Ollantaytambo with its amazing Inca fortress. At this
point we entered the Urubamba gorge and the journey became
more difficult. However, we continued down the river and six days
after we left Cuzco, we arrived at a place called Mandorpampa. A
occupants = The occupants of a house are
the people that live there.
fit = If something fits, it is the right shape
and size.
Goal 4 Talk about a
The walls of the main temple are made from enormous stones. The
Incas had no metal tools, and no one knows how they cut the stones.
We started to dig up the floor of the temple but we didn’t find anything
of interest.
discovery from
the past
Talk to a partner about another
discovery from the past that you
have read or heard about.
Lesson D 71