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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Polo describes a city with two forms of religion. In one, the gods live in a subterranean lake. In the other, the gods live where?
(a) The top of the volcanic mountain.
(b) Clouds that bring rain.
(c) The blades of windmills.
(d) Statues and monuments.

2. After Khan sends Polo on many missions, Polo learns:
(a) How to sail virtually any type of ship.
(b) The cooking techniques of the Mongols.
(c) The language of the Tartars.
(d) To become an expert negotiator.

3. Which of these is not a city described by Polo in Chapter 2?
(a) Kublai.
(b) Maurilia.
(c) Euphemia.
(d) Zenobia.

4. After the people of Chloe lock eyes with each other for a moment, what do they do?
(a) Bow repeatedly.
(b) Move away without stopping.
(c) Invite each other for a visit.
(d) Approach to shake hands.

5. Why does Polo initially rely on symbols to represent people and places?
(a) He's too shy to speak directly to the emperor.
(b) He wants to make it more challenging for Khan.
(c) He cannot speak Khan's language.
(d) He's eccentric and mischievous.

6. In chapter 3, when the traveler and the emperor discuss a city Khan has imagined, what does Polo say about it?
(a) It is nameless and has no location, existing only as a dream does.
(b) Polo urges Khan to begin building it in the spring.
(c) He explains to the emperor that this would be a very impractical city.
(d) It will one day serve as the capital of the empire.

7. When strangers arrive to Zobeide, what impression do they have of the city?
(a) They do not understand what drew people here.
(b) They've seen this place before in their dreams.
(c) They feel a deep longing in their hearts.
(d) It looks like a piece of heaven.

8. When the people of Chloe pass each other in the street, what do they do?
(a) Picture each other wearing different clothes.
(b) Stop to exchange warm greetings.
(c) Bow deeply to each other.
(d) Imagine entire lives for each other.

9. Who tells Polo in Hypatia that, "signs form a language, but not the one you know."
(a) The sultan's eldest son.
(b) The sultan.
(c) One of the servants.
(d) One of the philosphers.

10. When the emperor and the traveler grow quiet in order to reflect on what was just said, the emperor sometimes:
(a) Clears his throat loudly.
(b) Weeps quietly.
(c) Stares at Polo piercingly.
(d) Imagines Polo answering his questions.

11. When describing the cities of Eutropia, Polo explains that:
(a) Its inhabitants are unusually tall.
(b) Only one is inhabited at a time.
(c) Each one is ruled by a benevolent elder.
(d) All were once destroyed by a large earthquake.

12. Someone traveling to Maurilia will be invited to what?
(a) Enjoy the current city while hearing of its past.
(b) Dine with the city's group of elders.
(c) Offer a gift to the city's ruler.
(d) Stay and relax for three days.

13. At the conclusion of Chapter 1, Khan is completely satisfied with Polo's explanations but still remembers what?
(a) How ridiculous Polo looked when he used more gestures.
(b) To pretend to question Polo's accuracy.
(c) The symbols and emblems Polo once used.
(d) That Polo used to lie to him.

14. Where is the city of Valdrada built?
(a) In a fertile valley.
(b) On the top of a mesa.
(c) At the edge of a dense forest.
(d) On the shores of a lake.

15. Polo tells Khan that he feels this way about the things he saw in Hypatia:
(a) Cheated.
(b) Frightened.
(c) Uplifted.
(d) Entranced.

Short Answer Questions

1. As Kublai Khan listens to the reports of his envoys and tax collectors while walking through his garden, his messengers speak in languages that:

2. Which city do visitors consider to be a trap?

3. Which city has supposedly languished and deteriorated, forgotten by the earth?

4. What does Polo see rising vertically in Armilla?

5. When Polo tells his tales while enjoying the evening breeze as he sits on a doorstep, what does he explain to Khan?

(see the answer keys)

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