The Shri Ram School, Moulsari

Subject: First Language English

Class: IG X Section:
Preboard Examination
Insert

Read Text A, and then answer Questions 1(a)–(e) on the question paper.

Text A: Machu Picchu: the Inca Trail on horseback

In this passage the writer describes the experience of visiting the ruins of Machu Picchu, in
Peru.

When I first visited the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, in the 1970s, travellers took the train and
walked up the hill to the ruins. As a backpacking student, I slept alone and without charge in an
open-sided hut with a thatched roof. It was not waterproof, as I realised when the storm hit at
3 a.m., but witnessing the Inca emperor’s great summer retreat blasted by thunder and forked
lightning more than compensated for a soaked sleeping bag. 5

If you believe travel experts, Machu Picchu reached its peak of popularity 40 years ago. The
21st-century adventure vibe, however, has created rewarding approaches that compensate for
the rampant commercialism of the site. The most popular is the Classic Inca Trail, a five-day
hike during which you spend the nights under canvas. Up to 500 people start daily on an
undulating route with three dramatic passes and the prospect of sleeping out in temperatures 10
below freezing. The trail I took, known as Salkantay, is more attractive for the lack of crowds, the
astounding scenery and the luxurious lodges along the route. Plus you can do it on horseback.
No contest, really.

At first sight, Cesar, my horse, looked woefully unenthusiastic, but the horse would do the job,
my guide Pedro assured me, and he was right. All the horses had comfortable touring saddles 15
with high pommels properly secured with breast-plates. That was reassuring when it became
clear that Pedro, relentlessly enthusiastic, had a passion for galloping on rocky dirt roads, often
downhill. After a picnic lunch, we set off towards the first mountain lodge, built to last from stone,
timber and mud at 3800 metres, overlooking the Soraypampa grasslands and the Humantay
Glacier. 20

My first impression of the lodge was of eerie grandeur: such a tantalising, no-expense-spared
structure in such a bleak spot could only be an illusion. But it wasn’t. Large doors opened and
we entered, gratefully embracing hot flannels and steaming mugs of tea as we removed our
boots. With 12 double rooms, it is twice the size of the other three mountain lodges on the
Salkantay trail. Guests, whether on foot or horseback, can stay for two nights to acclimatise 25
before the climb.

During our stopover there, we rode up a steep z-bend trail to a glacial lake, glittering turquoise
under sun-filtered clouds. Twenty condors, wings spread to their full three metres, circled
speculatively, then spiralled around us menacingly. Back at the ranch, we felt we’d earned a
large and exotic meal of local delicacies followed by an early night and uninterrupted sleep. 30
In Peru the band of smaller trees between the bare fields and the giant trees of the Amazon is
known as ceja de selva, the eyebrow of the jungle. On a route that included exciting white-water
river crossings and rickety bridges, farmers greeted us cheerfully. Initially, the simple stone
villages were built among maize and vegetable plots, replaced at lower altitudes by orchids,
passion fruit and bananas, often with hummingbirds and flocks of parrots in raucous attendance. 35

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 In the evenings, we enjoyed the familiar Peruvian hospitality, first at Wayna, its hot tub built

in the central courtyard for protection against a fiercely windswept location, then at Colpa, on
an expansive plateau overlooking a meeting place for three rivers. After a final day and night
in the fourth mountain lodge among avocado groves and coffee plantations, we took the train
to Aguas Calientes and rejoined the real world. No one should miss out on Machu Picchu and 40
travelling on horseback in the mist at such altitudes is something I’ll never forget.

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 Read Text B, and then answer Question 1(f) on the question paper.

Text B: Holidays that don’t cost the Earth

In this section from its website homepage, a company selling activities to people wanting to be
eco-tourists is introducing potential customers to the range they have to offer.

We understand that travelling ‘green’ can be tricky and, ironically, also requires a lot of energy
to organise. At BackPack we not only recognise, but celebrate the importance of travelling in a
way that causes minimal disruption to the environment you are visiting. We invite you to discover
trips that will bring you closer to your planet. Eco-tourism is going places, and we think you should
too. 5

• Peru, Bolivia and Chile

Take a voyage of discovery across the alluring Andes. Explore the ancient wonders of Machu
Picchu. Every time you travel, we donate money to a selection of charities both at home and
abroad. Join our ‘Pack for a Purpose’ campaign where you bring supplies that local communities
you visit on the way have specified they particularly need. Do something good with your 10
luggage allowance.

• Malawi

Enjoy an unforgettable travel experience. Select from our wide range of wildlife safaris and
trekking holidays, or choose to revel in the sandy delights of the almost untouched Likoma Island,
Lake Malawi, where you will stay in Kaya Lodge, a dwelling so romantic it defies reality. While 15
you’re there, explore the magnificent beaches and rocky coves and dive into one of the cleanest
and clearest freshwater sites in Africa.

• Galapagos Islands

Sail around the Pacific’s most thriving epicentre of wildlife in The Eco-Beagle, a boat named
after Charles Darwin’s own ship. We believe that low-impact tourism is crucial to a sustainable 20
planet – either staying in an eco-lodge or following an eco-tour to explore natural habitats. This
particular trip, with its strict adherence to the restrictions surrounding the conservation of the
Galapagos archipelago (and the number of times we’ve said ‘eco’) makes this trip as eco-friendly
as they come.

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 Read Text C, and then answer Questions 2(a)–(d) and Question 3 on the question paper.

Text C: Walking in the jungle

The narrator is one of a party going on an organised trip through the jungle in the company of their
guide, Maria.

The trail we’re taking is twisting, quiet and remote. We pass simple wood-plank homes
and racks of peas drying in the sun. On one curve, we slow down for a small
brown-and-black anteater which crosses before us, then stands on its hind legs, front
legs outstretched at its sides, to look back at us.

Then we get to the waterfall. 5

We hear the roar before we reach it, then are rewarded with a wide, bright blue-green
pool fed by a cascade. Towering above are mud and rock formations that look like
hidden elephants. ‘This is such an adventure!’ one of us says. We follow a trail heading
up through the jungle to the right, and look down on the pool.

‘It’s perfect, but how do we get into it?’ 10

‘You have to jump,’ our guide Maria says, holding out her arms in a circle the size of a
manhole cover. Then she laughs impishly at our surprised faces and agrees to an
alternative: climbing down the eight-metre steep bank of brittle shrubs and loose dirt.
Then we swim upstream, over fallen logs, to reach the pool below the crash of falls.
We are cradled in frothy, azure luxury – the best swimming hole I’ve ever been in. 15

A couple of hours later we are on a boat trip where we eat vegetable tacos as Maria
constantly spins round, showing us crocodiles on the banks. Howler monkeys groan
from treetops on either side of the river. We also pass a temple with dark tunnels where
fruit bats huddle and squeak above us, and eventually reach a wide shaded area where
30-metre-tall trees share space with temples well over a thousand years old. 20

Once off the boat, Maria, who learned to hunt by bow and arrow as a child in the 1970s,
leads us through the jungle, over root-laced trails – and occasionally off them. We pass
over a series of log bridges, and ford one river by foot. I quickly see how over-packed
I am. Some of our party are gamely walking barefoot with just one small bottle of water
each. My bag, meanwhile, is filled with four water bottles, some chocolate cookies, 25
hard-boiled eggs, some electrolyte powder, and a waterproof jacket I was never going
to need. Then, in the first 15 minutes, my strap breaks.

But it’s a fun walk. After two hours, at Maria’s brisk pace, we reach a camp at a shady
crest above a reed-filled lagoon just as dusk approaches. Crocodiles are out of sight
on the muddy beach below. Nearby is the start to a new home Maria is building with 30
materials she hauls in on foot.

Maria has built a fire and mentions that a TV crew came to shoot a ‘how to survive the
jungle’ show once, but a few of the participants quit after getting infected by some ivy.
‘But it’s easy to survive here,’ she insists. To demonstrate, she chops off an arm-size
branch of a native tree, letting us sip the sweet, running sap. She whittles the bark and 35
boils fragrant shavings of the branch, soon producing a bubbling gold broth. ‘Jungle
coffee,’ she says. I have two cups’ worth. It’s delicious.

The darkness is all-encompassing now. Above, stars flicker gently through the shadowy
outline of treetops. I wonder when we’ll be starting back, and what sort of lurking life
will come out at night, but Maria is distracted. She catches and hands over a sudden 40

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 visitor – a beetle with fluorescent yellow-green lights that glow from its eyes like a
penlight. Its head sharply clicks between three positions.
And then she starts leading us back in the dark.

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