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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. At the beginning of Chapter 2, what do Khan's messengers warn of?

2. Polo tells Khan that he feels this way about the things he saw in Hypatia:

3. Polo offers two vantage points of Zemrude; one includes:

4. When strangers arrive to Zobeide, what impression do they have of the city?

5. What is Eutropia composed of?

Short Essay Questions

1. What special ability does the mirror image of Valdrada possess?

2. Khan and Polo each envision model cities. From these models, what are the two men able to deduce?

3. How does Khan react to Polo's stories when he's feeling euphoric about his empire?

4. What is the significance of the large metal building located at the center of Fedora?

5. Describe how the means of communication between Khan and Polo evolves.

6. Why does Polo say its pointless to try to describe the city of Zaira?

7. In Chapter 4, why does Polo dissect every city he describes to Khan?

8. Describe life in Eutropia, which is made up of many individual cities of equal size.

9. Why does Polo say that it is best to visit Diomira on a September evening?

10. Why does Kublai Khan listen to Marco Polo's fantastic stories about cities he's visited?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is it ever possible to tell whether Polo's stories have any truth to them or are completely made up? Why or why not? What examples or book passages support your conclusion?

Essay Topic 2

After hearing Polo tell so many varied, interesting stories reflecting the state of Khan's empire, what conclusion does the emperor reach? What has he been trying to learn all along from Polo's stories? Does he get the information he seeks? What does Khan decide or realize about his empire by the end of the book?

Essay Topic 3

Towards the end of the book, Khan's confusion regarding the state of his cities grows.

Part 1) How does Polo use chess and strategy in an attempt to help Khan understand how cities rise and fall?

Part 2) How is Khan's confusion reflected in the confusion represented by the cities described in Polo's stories?

Part 3) Do the two main characters ever find their way out of the maze of confusion? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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