View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What happened to the French-built Trans-Vietnam Railway six years after it was completed in the 1930s?

3. What sites did the tourism director, Mr. Ngoc, try to advertise to draw visitors?

4. Where had the young man traveling to Bangkok sought romantic advice?

5. How many hotels did Mandalay have?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Theroux's visit to the tourism office in Vietnam.

2. How did the family planning experts react to Theroux's questioning about the sizes of their own families?

3. Why did Theroux describe the Burmese government as a Buddhist bureaucracy?

4. Describe the Kali religious festival from Chapter 16.

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

6. Why were there no skiers on the mountain in Japan, despite the large amount of perfect snow?

7. What did Theroux find disturbing about Osaka?

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

9. Why did Mr. Lau dislike Kuala Lumpur?

10. What were Theroux's main impressions of Singapore?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe how Theroux felt when arriving home after four months of travel. What did he mean by "being flayed" by the lengthy trip? Do you think it is possible to become sick and tired of an activity you usually treasure? Do you think someone can regain that love by avoiding the activity for awhile or are some desires simply ingrained in people (and will Theroux be struck by wanderlust yet again)?

Essay Topic 2

In Japan, Theroux found the Japanese had some robotic qualities (automatically waiting in lines everywhere, doing group calisthenics at the office, etc.). Did that seem like a fair portrayal? What do you think caused the Japanese to behave in this manner? Do you think they had always been like that or had their history played a role in shaping their modern-day attitudes?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,089 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample