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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. What was on the marble slabs at the Galta temple entrance?

2. To which country was Sadiq going to bring Turkish workers?

3. What animals did Theroux encounter near the Galta gorge temple?

4. Where did the Parsis place their dead?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How had Afghanistan changed since the military coup of 1973?

2. Why did Duffill appear to be so mysterious to Theroux?

3. What was Theroux's reaction to the German drug addict he met in India in Chapter 8?

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

5. Why did Paramahansa Yogananda, the guru followed by Mr. Gupta in Chapter 9, go to America?

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

7. What were Theroux's impressions of the Pakistani city of Peshawar?

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

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

10. Why was Mr. Radia, with whom Theroux spoke in Chapter 10, so cynical about the English?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Theroux encountered phenomenal levels of censorship in Singapore. How did the strong central government control of people's lives affect their personalities? Do you think the control caused the Singaporeans to be rude and aggressive, as Theroux found them to be? Or did their traditional behavior simply make it easier for the government to control them? Theroux wrote that freedom would be threatened by the Singaporean focus on connecting everyone electronically. How do you think Theroux would view the Internet? Has his concern about reduced freedoms come true or have people been able to avoid government control despite the impact of computers?

Essay Topic 2

The hippies seen on the trains throughout Turkey kept to themselves for the most part, not interacting with the Turkish people on board. Did Theroux think they were not experiencing authentic culture? How were Theroux's experiences in Turkey richer than those of the hippies? Do you think Theroux would have met the people he met in Turkey if he had stayed in cars with mostly Americans? Do you think the hippies were having a rich experience in Asia? How do you think Theroux felt about their apparent attitude toward the locals?

Essay Topic 3

Theroux opened the book with a description of his childhood love of trains. What was it about trains, as opposed to other forms of transportation, that fascinated him so much? Why did he choose to travel by train through Asia? Would he have had the same rich experiences he had by train if he had instead flown from city to city in Asia? Would he have met the same people and had the same fascinating conversations?

(see the answer keys)

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