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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Polo see rising vertically in Armilla?
(a) Columns that hold nothing up.
(b) Pipes where the houses should be.
(c) Tall, slender windmills.
(d) Stacks of seashells.

2. Once Polo is able to speak a language that Khan understands, he can:
(a) Be arrogant and disagreeable.
(b) Demand greater pay.
(c) Be very precise in his descriptions.
(d) Request to go on more voyages.

3. In Hypatia, when Polo wants to see the sultan at the palace, who is he allowed to question instead?
(a) The second in command.
(b) The sultan's shoemaker.
(c) Philosophers.
(d) Servants.

4. Why does Khan listen to Polo's stories so intently?
(a) He will never have the chance to travel to all of these places.
(b) It stirs his imagination and gives him incentive to continue ruling.
(c) He's looking for clues to help him better rule his empire.
(d) He is starved for entertainment.

5. When Khan asks if he will finally be able to fully possess his empire after learning the meaning of all of Polo's symbols, the traveler replies that Khan:
(a) Will then be an emblem among the emblems.
(b) Will be able to teach the symbols to his many children.
(c) Will be esteemed by every man, woman, and child in the empire.
(d) Will reach a state of great enlightenment.

6. When Polo speaks of a city, he speaks:
(a) With a stutter.
(b) With an air of great authority.
(c) Of his own perceptions of the city.
(d) Only what he thinks the emperor wants to hear.

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) It looks like a piece of heaven.
(d) They feel a deep longing in their hearts.

8. Which city do visitors consider to be a trap?
(a) Armilla.
(b) Zenobia.
(c) Zobeide.
(d) Valdrada.

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

10. Which is the city of perceptions and symbols, where items are valuable because of what they represent, not what they really are?
(a) Isaura.
(b) Tamara.
(c) Zora.
(d) Zirma.

11. Polo wants to inform the emperor how much darkness is out there by focusing on:
(a) Small glimmers of light.
(b) Traitors and those who speak poison.
(c) The debauchery of each region.
(d) Remnants of past glory.

12. In Armilla, what is one likely to catch a glimpse of?
(a) Young women bathing in the many tubs and showers.
(b) Children flying colorful, dragon-shaped kites in the distance.
(c) Prayer flags fluttering from rooftops.
(d) Young boys fishing with their bare hands in the river.

13. Which is the city of a thousand wells, sitting above an underground lake?
(a) Laura.
(b) Tamara.
(c) Zirma.
(d) Isaura.

14. When Khan accuses Polo of lying about the state of his empire, what does Polo say?
(a) He agrees the empire is sick and explains that is why he travels to the distant places.
(b) If the emperor does not want to hear the truth, then Polo's travels and tales will end.
(c) He insists that he has never, and never will, lie to the emperor.
(d) He has embellished every story in order to make it more appealing for the emperor.

15. Khan's messengers advise him on the price of:
(a) New battle ships.
(b) Materials found in his land holdings.
(c) Purple cloth for his royal garments.
(d) Medicines imported from nearby regions.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Polo initially rely on symbols to represent people and places?

2. What does Polo's recollection of the city of Zirma include?

3. In chapter 3, when the traveler and the emperor discuss a city Khan has imagined, what does Polo say about it?

4. What city is found 80 miles northwest of Zenobia?

5. When the emperor tells Polo that he's dreamed up a city and describes it, what does Polo reply?

(see the answer keys)

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