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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 the translation of the Turkish dish imam bayildi?

2. Why was Theroux unable to get food at Meshed in Chapter 5?

3. What does the frieze in the Peshawar Museum depict?

4. What African language did Theroux hear on the train as it traveled through England?

5. What new food had the Ceylonese begun planting because of their starvation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the primary lesson about India's future that Theroux took from his nighttime wanderings around Bombay?

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

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

4. What was the Indian professor's view of Mr. Gopal's ignorance?

5. Describe the Tamils as encountered by Theroux in Chapter 12.

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

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

8. What were Theroux's impressions of the alleged tombs of Cain and Abel?

9. Describe the Afghan prison conditions mentioned by Mr. Haq in Chapter 6.

10. Describe the city of Teheran as encountered by Theroux in Chapter 4.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout many of the countries Theroux visited for the book, there were many brothels and prostitutes available. Was this a unique phenomenon of Asian societies or was the prostitution simply more out in the open than in Western societies? Did prostitution seem more acceptable in the countries visited by Theroux? Did the greater availability to brothels suggest different cultural attitudes toward the world's oldest profession?

Essay Topic 2

Theroux described a sense of violence and tribal lawlessness in Afghanistan in the 1970s. In what way did the tribal differences inhibit the development of a peaceful society? Referring to the time Theroux visited Afghanistan, did it appear that outsiders (e.g., the Soviets and the Pakistanis) were manipulating the tribal differences to sow discord? Why was the nation facing a possible war with Pakistan? Was Theroux risking too much by traveling through the country?

Essay Topic 3

In Vietnam, Theroux wrote that his impression of American involvement had been doomed because we had no intention of staying. Therefore, we never developed a vision of what kind of nation we would leave behind, and the Vietnamese emerged damaged and abandoned. Do you believe the U.S. could have achieved its objectives had we remained in the country for a longer period of time? What responsibility did Theroux suggest a nation had to stay and rebuild another nation after involving itself in a military mission?

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