Shadowing Practice: Cambridge Ielts 16 Reading test 1 Passage 2 - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Passage 2.
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The Step Pyramid of Joseph.
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A. The pyramids are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt and still hold enormous interest for people in the present day.
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These grand, impressive tributes to the memory of the Egyptian kings have become linked with the country and the other cultures,
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such as the Chinese and Mayans, also built pyramids.
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The evolution of the pyramid form has been written and argued about for centuries.
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However, there is no question there, as far as Egypt is concerned.
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It began with one monument to one king designed by one brilliant architect, the step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.
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Djoser was the first king of the third dynasty of Egypt and the first to build in stone.
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Prior to Djoser's reign, tombs were rectangular monuments made of dried clay brick, which covered underground passages where the deceased person was buried.
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For reasons which remain unclear, Joseph's main official, whose name was Imhotep, conceived of building a taller,
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more impressive tomb for his king by stacking stone slabs on top of one another, progressively making them smaller, to form the shape now known as the Steak Pyramid.
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Joseph is thought to have reigned for 19 years, but some historians and scholars attribute a much longer time for his rule owing to the number
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and size of the monuments he built.
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See, the step pyramid has been thoroughly examined and investigated over the last century, and it is now known that the building process went through many different stages.
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Historian Mark Van de Mirab comments on this, writing much experimentation was involved,
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which is especially clear in the construction of the pyramid in the center of the complex.
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It had several plans before it became the first step pyramid in history, piling six levels on top of one another.
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The weight of the enormous mass was a challenge for the builders, who placed the stones at an inward incline in order to prevent the monument breaking up.
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When finally completed, The step pyramid rose 62 meters high and was the tallest structure of its time.
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The complex in which it was built was the size of a city in ancient Egypt and included a temple, courtyards, shrines, and living quarters for the priests.
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It covered a region of 16 hectares and was surrounded by a wall 10.5 meters high.
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The wall had 13 false doors cut into it with only one true entrance cut into the southeast corner.
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The entire wall was then ringed by a trench 750 meters long
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and 40 meters wide the false doors in the trench were incorporated into the complex to discourage unwanted visitors
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if someone wished to enter he
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or she would have needed to know in advance how to find the location of the true opening in the wall
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Joseph was so proud of his accomplishment
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that he broke the tradition of having only his own name on the Mondini
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and had him Hotex name carved on it as well.
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E, the burial chamber of the tomb, where the king's body was laid to rest, was dug beneath the base of the pyramid,
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surrounded by a vast maze of long tunnels that had rooms off them to discourage robbers robbers.
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One of the most mysterious discoveries found inside the pyramid was a large number of stone vessels.
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Over 40,000 of these vessels, of various forms and shapes, were discovered in storerooms of the pyramid's underground passages.
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They are inscribed with the names of rulers from the First
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and Second Dynasties of Egypt and made from different kinds of stone.
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There is no agreement among scholars
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and archaeologists on why the vessels were placed in the the tomb of Jozo or what they were supposed to represent.
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The archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer, who excavated most of the pyramid and complex,
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believes they were originally stored and then given a proper burial by Joseph in his pyramid to honor his predecessors.
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There are other historians, however, who claim the vessels were dumped into the shafts as yet
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another attempt to prevent grave robbers from getting to the king's burial chamber.
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If, unfortunately, all of the precautions
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and intricate design of the underground network did not prevent ancient robbers from finding a way in.
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Joseph's grave boots, and even his body, were stolen at some point in the past,
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and all archaeologists' starved, were a small number of his valuables overlooked by the thieves.
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There was enough left throughout the pyramid and its conflicts, however, to astonish and amaze the archaeologists who excavated it.
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G. Egyptologist Miroslav Vena writes, few monuments hold a place in human history as significant as that of the Steak Pyramid in Saqqara,
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it can be said without exaggeration
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that this pyramid complex constitutes a milestone in the evolution of monumental stone architecture in Egypt
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and in the world as a whole.
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The Steak Pyramid was a revolutionary advance in architecture
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and became the archetype which all the other great pyramid builders of Egypt would follow.
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Passage
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Cambridge Ielts 16 Reading test 1 Passage 2”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: pyramid, Egypt, monument, stone, complex. This video has 54 sentences and 830 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:01. The speaker talks at a natural 165 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 74% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pyramid noun | /ˈpɪɹ.ə.mɪd/ | An ancient massive construction with a square or rectangular base and four triangular sides meeting in an apex, such as those built as tombs in Egypt or as… |
| monument noun | /ˈmɑnjʊmənt/ | A structure built for commemorative or symbolic reasons, or as a memorial; a commemoration. |
| archaeologist noun | /ˌɑɹ.kiˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒɪst/ | Someone who studies or practises archaeology. |
| robber noun | /ˈɹɑ.bɚ/ | A person who robs. |
| tomb noun | /tum/ | A small building, or a room within one, for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be… |
| meter noun | /ˈmitəɹ/ | A device that measures things. |
| historian noun | /hɪˈstɔɹi.ən/ | A writer of history. |
| burial noun | /ˈbɛɹi.əl/ | The act of burying; interment; placing remains into the earth. |
| excavate verb | /ˈɛk.skə.veɪt/ | To make a hole in (something); to hollow. |
| discourage verb | /dɪsˈkɝɪd͡ʒ/ | To extinguish the courage of; to dishearten; to depress the spirits of; to deprive of confidence; to deject. |
| trench noun | /ˈtɹɛnt͡ʃ/ | A long, narrow ditch or hole in the ground; either manmade, or formed naturally through erosion or tectonic plate movement. |
| surround verb | /səˈɹaʊnd/ | To encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions. |
| builder noun | /ˈbɪl.dəɹ/ | One who builds or constructs things. |
| scholar noun | /ˈskɑlɚ/ | A student; one who studies at school or college, typically having a scholarship. |
| reign noun | /ɹeɪ̯n/ | The exercise of sovereign power. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| break up verb | To break or separate into pieces. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | has been written · is concerned · was buried |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have become linked · has been written · has been |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: thief /ˈθiːf/, thoroughly /ˈθʌɹ.ə.li/, southeast /sawˈθɪjst/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: astonish /əˈstɑnɪʃ/, exaggeration /ɪɡˌzæd͡ʒəˈɹeɪʃən/, experimentation /ɪkˌspɛɹ.ə.mənˈteɪ.ʃən/, precaution /pɹiːˈkɔ.ʃən/, accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/
- Long words — get the stress right: archaeologist /ˌɑɹ.kiˈɑ.lə.d͡ʒɪst/, historian /hɪˈstɔɹi.ən/, exaggeration /ɪɡˌzæd͡ʒəˈɹeɪʃən/, experimentation /ɪkˌspɛɹ.ə.mənˈteɪ.ʃən/, monumental /ˌmɑnjəˈmɛntəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pyramid, monument, archaeologist.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.