Part 1. Vocabulary
spur /spər/
v.
- to incite to
action or accelerated growth or development: STIMULATE
FDA
approval spur those who are eligible but unvaccinated to go get it.
heightened /ˈhītnd/
adj.
-
more intense than normal:
"…the heightened color
of her face".
govern /ˈɡəvərn/ v.
- to rule over something with
authority.
In a democracy, people elect
those who will govern them.
on the spot / än
- thē - spät / idiom
-
to do it immediately. At once in one's exact location; right then and
there.
My boss grilled me about the
mix-up in the report, making me explain on the
spot.
sacred /ˈsākrəd/ adj.
-
considered to be holy and deserving respect
Machu Picchu was a sacred place for the Incas and for the Peruvians.
Part 2. Comprehension Questions
What has become of the 15th-century archeological
site?
What is the new rule for visiting Machu Picchu?
What changed in buying tickets for the Machu Picchu tour?
What do site authorities of Machu Picchu plan for its future?
How should visitors conduct themselves when visiting a sacred place like Machu Picchu?
Part 3. Article Reading
The 15th-century Incan archeological site has become an
example for over-tourism for years, but the pandemic spur changes, to
the way that visitors can visit the famous Machu Picchu, which could last long
after the global outbreak ends.
In March 2020, Machu Picchu
was closed to visitors but was reopened in November with heightened safety
protocols.
New rules now govern how many people are allowed in
and what they can do once inside, said Jose Miguel Bastante, director of Peru’s
National Archaeological Park of Machu Picchu, in an interview with CNBC.
In the past five years, Machu Picchu received an average of
up to 4,800 visitors a day.
Before the site reopened, it changed how it issues tickets.
Formerly, it issued tickets for half-day blocks — either morning or
afternoon. Now, visitors buy tickets for specific hours.
“If you have a ticket for 10 a.m., you have to enter between
10 and 11 a.m.,” said Bastante, who added that if travelers show up outside of
their timeframe, they “cannot enter.”
The new rules have led to emotional reactions from tourists,
some of whom may have crossed continents to see Peru’s most famous tourist
site.
“We had people outside the site complaining and crying,”
Bastante said in an interview with The Getty Conservation Institute published
this spring. “But we cannot go against our established capacity.”
Planning a trip to Machu Picchu has changed too. Visitors
can no longer expect to buy tickets on the spot, or even a few days
prior, because of how quickly they sell out.
Despite the new rules limiting the number of tourists, the site
authorities are planning to increase capacity to Machu Picchu in the future.
A new visitor center, which is scheduled to begin
construction this year might allow some 6,000 daily visitors to tour Machu
Picchu said Bastante.
The visitor center will be the starting point for new routes,
and it will house a new museum and botanical gardens, all of which will let the
site more than double its current capacity, according to Bastante.
The center will have information on how visitors are
“supposed to behave in a sacred space,” he said.
“Tourists … don’t internalize that this was a sacred
place for the Incas and for the Peruvians,” he said. “They should behave the
same way they behave in a sacred place of any other religion in the world.” [Shubhangi Goel]
Full article
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/06/what-to-know-about-planning-a-trip-to-machu-picchu-after-the-pandemic.html