Adult - Review - Machu Pichu

Match the words to their definitions

• a level area attached to a building

• terrace

• a watering system

• steep

• a large piece of property

• retreat

• a quiet, restful place

• irrigation

• rising or falling sharply, having a big

• estate

Match the following words to their definitions

• a piece of writing

• priest

• Where the ground slants up or downwards

• slope

• a church leader

• article

• to leave and not plan to return

• palace

• a large house of a noble person

• abandon

A ​ (a)   showed us around the museum.

The ​ (b)   delivered an interesting sermon in church this morning.

I have asked a ​ (c)   to carve a statue for my garden.

The theme park was ​ (d)   after the Chernobyl disaster.

• guide
• priest
• craftsman
• abandoned

An ​ (a)   in the paper reported on the iconic tree that was felled in the night.

This is the ​ (b)   where the king and queen live.

I'd like to speak to the ​ (c)   to give a confession.

I have booked a ​ (d)   to the countryside this weekend.

In summer, we have barbecues out on the ​ (e)   .

• article
• palace
• priest
• retreat
• terrace

The farmer installed an ​ (a)   system to water her crops.

When Mr Bennet dies, his ​ (b)   will be inherited by his nephew.

Be careful you don't fall down the ​ (c)   . It's very ​steep.

Could we have a ​ (d)   to show us around the temple?

Because of the war, many people had to ​ (e)   their homes.

• irrigation
• estate
• slope
• guide
• abandon

Machu Picchu is the ruins of a small city built in the 1400s by the Incas. It is found high in the Andes mountain range in central Peru, South America.

What kind of place was Machu Pichu?

• A palace

• A city

• A temple

• A hospital

1. Machu Picchu is 6,750 feet (two kilometers) above sea level, set in a tropical forest between two mountains. The Urubamba River can be seen 3,000 feet (914 meters) below.

True or false, a river flows above Machu Pichu.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

A river flows below Machu Pichu.

The city likely served as a country estate for Inca nobles and as a religious retreat. It covered about five square miles (approximately 13 square kilometers) and had 200 buildings. These included a palace, temples, storage buildings, and many smaller houses for servants. Fine craftsmen used local stone to build these structures, all of which were designed to fit into the landscape. Terraced gardens with irrigation channels were built on the city’s steep slopes to grow potatoes and corn for the community. Stone stairways connected the different levels.

True or false, the stone used to build Machu Pichu came from far away.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

They used local stone.

Only nobles and priests, and their servants, would have known about Machu Picchu. By 1527, half of the Inca population had died of smallpox. In the next few years, many more people were killed in civil wars between rival groups. When the Spanish conquered Peru in 1532, the city was probably already abandoned and forgotten.

Were people likely to have been living at Machu Pichu when the Spanish colonised Peru?

• Yes

• No

The Incas had no written language and the Spanish never discovered Machu Picchu, so the city remained forgotten until 1911. That year, an American historian and his local guides happened upon the ruined city. A few years later, an article appeared in the National Geographic Society’s magazine. Archeologists and tourists have been visiting it ever since.

Was the American historian looking for Machu Pichu when they found it?

• Yes

• No