Unit 2

You will hear a research student called Ava O’Neill talking about visiting Cuzco in Peru. For questions 1-
8, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase. You now have 45 seconds to look at Part Two.
The Peruvian city of Cuzco is a total…………………….. (1) , from its location 11,000 feet up in the Andes
mountains, its history as the ancient capital of the Inca Empire and its unique culture, to (1) the blend
of Inca and Spanish …………………….. (2) from different centuries that has led to researchers referring to
it as an open-air museum.

Its origins actually ……………………….. (3) over a thousand years, but it was in the 13 th century that the
invading Incas reached Cuzco. They planned and built the city so that it resembled a mountain lion,
and districts and individual streets still bear the names of body parts such as the head and back, while
the tail was formed by …………………………… (4) the point where two rivers joined.

Although night-time ……………………… (5) in Cuzco can be quite mild, that is certainly not the case all year
around. On account of that, many of the original Inca homes there lacked windows and had just a single
door, which would have been covered by a thick mat during the chillier months. There would also have
been a straw roof that had to be replaced every few years.

My ……………………… (6) and I were there in late June, and I noticed on the first afternoon that a number
of the others were looking distinctly ……………………….. (7) as the fierce sun began to beat down, but as
an Australian I’m accustomed to that. The height above sea level was another matter, leaving all of us
short of breath at times, especially when ………………… (8) the steep hills around the city.

Having arrived a couple of days ahead of the Festival of the Sun, we were able to watch some of the
……………………….. (9) practicing for the big day. What really stood out for me was the folk dancing,
though some of the concerts and parades were well worth………………….. (10), too.

On the 24th, the day of the Festival itself, the city centre was packed as the ………………………. (11) set off.
The multi-coloured costumes were fabulous, even more varied than I’d imagined, as the participants
moved slowly up the hill to the ancient site called Saksaywaman where the main ceremony would take
place.
That is where the magnificient walls are located. Standing nearly six metres tall and measuring up to
400 metres in length, they were built of huge stones that fitted together perfectly. Given that some of
them weighed 200 tons each, the only way the Incas could have achieved that, my research indicates,
is by sculpting models in lighter ………………… (12) to the exact size and shape required, and then
reproducing them in stone.

I stood there marvelling at the sight of the walls, and at the colourful scene as the ceremony began.
Looking at the vast crouds of spectators, I recalled a paper written by a local historian which made the
point that in Inca times there weren’t any. In one way or another, all the thousands of people at the
Festival in those days were ……………………. (13)