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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 area was Theroux told serves as an off-limits security area in Chapter 17?

2. What was the American woman shown at the tea house ceremony?

3. What food item was placed on the bar in front of Theroux on the train to Kyoto?

4. Where were Ghosh and Rahman from?

5. What did Theroux buy at the Naung-Peng station while waiting for the next train?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Theroux leave behind his passport and camera while trying to go to the Goktiek Viaduct?

2. What was Theroux's reaction to the sight of the Goktiek Viaduct?

3. What common prostitution story did Theroux hear numerous times during his travels and how did the story told in Laos differ?

4. What are the differences between Japanese and American consumers?

5. How did Colonel Tuan believe Vietnamese viewed Americans as the war wound down?

6. Why did Mr. Lau dislike Kuala Lumpur?

7. How did Mr. Bernard treat Theroux at his mansion in maymyo?

8. How did Theroux describe the clothes laundering he witnessed from the trains in Asia?

9. Why did Theroux refer to Laos as "America's expensive practical joke"?

10. How did Theroux feel about the fast trains between cities in Japan?

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

In the closing pages, Theroux reflected on how the book could have been different if he had written it as a novel instead of a travel piece. Did he focus too much on what his eyes saw or did he discuss what his imagination knew? Would the book have worked better as fiction? Would it have been necessary for Theroux to invent characters and situations in order to help the narrative flow? Did he make the right choice in writing a travelogue?

Essay Topic 3

In contrast to his discussions with the Bangladeshi family planning experts, Theroux discovered that in the Soviet Union, efforts were underway to increase the population due to a declining birth rate. Many European nations today are experiencing declining birth rates, while poorer countries in Asia and Africa are expanding rapidly. How do nations determine what is an appropriate or manageable population? Is it possible to control how individuals plan their families? Why do poor nations have such high birth rates while nations that can better afford to feed and house their populations have low birth rates? Which comes first--poverty or high birth rates?

(see the answer keys)

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