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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What were people using the train tracks for in Vijayayawada in Chapter 12?
(a) As a bathroom.
(b) As a gathering place for selling food.
(c) As a gathering place for feasts.
(d) As a place for meeting people.

2. How high did the railway climb through the pass?
(a) 3,200 feet.
(b) 3,600 feet.
(c) 4,000 feet.
(d) 3,000 feet.

3. What did the English missionary in Madras claim other missionaries were doing?
(a) Paying people to get confirmed.
(b) Paying people to get baptized.
(c) Paying people to convert their relatives.
(d) Paying people to build churches.

4. Why did the professor say Indians claimed knowledge they did not actually have?
(a) They did not want to seem ignorant in front of Westerners.
(b) They were ashamed of Indian and Hindu history.
(c) They wanted to make Indian history sound more fascinating.
(d) They were taught wrong things in school.

5. How long had the English engineer been staying in rural Iran when Theroux met him on the train in Chapter 5?
(a) Two months.
(b) Four months.
(c) One year.
(d) Six months.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what French station did the train join the Orient Express?

2. What game did Theroux want to play at the Pakistani club in Chapter 7?

3. What Mark Twain book did Theroux quote at the end of Chapter 10?

4. What was the tall, four-foot wide box found in the individual compartment in Chapter 9?

5. Why was Theroux disappointed when the train arrived at Lake Van in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why was Theroux fascinated by the taxi driver's offer of a prostitute in the Bay of Bengal?

2. Why did Theroux think the Orient Express was used as the setting for many stories of criminal intrigues?

3. Why had Sadik still not taken a pilgrimage to Mecca when he met Theroux in Chapter 4?

4. What is ironic about the treatment of the young Indian man fleeing London's racism in Chapter 7?

5. How did Theroux describe the Australians he encountered on the trains?

6. Why did Theroux have an early childhood fascination with train travel?

7. Describe the American hippies encountered by Theroux on the Turkish railway.

8. Why were the Ceylonese showing so much devotion to St. Jude?

9. Describe Mr. Gopal, the embassy liaison man showing the tourist sites to Theroux in Chapter 11.

10. Describe the special requirements and characteristics of the Sikh religion outlined by Theroux in Chapter 8.

(see the answer keys)

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