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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. Why is the gondola ride a letdown?
(a) The water smells funny.
(b) There is trash in the canal.
(c) The driver cannot sing.
(d) The boat has holes in it.

2. What does the ship offer for entertainment?
(a) All of the answers are correct.
(b) Shuffleboard.
(c) Dominoes.
(d) Cards.

3. Why can't the travelers enter the Moorish mosque?
(a) Only single Jewish people can enter.
(b) Only people from Tangier are permitted.
(c) Christians are forbidden to cross the threshold.
(d) It is closed.

4. When does the judge finally complain in Twain's story?
(a) When a dog bites his ankle.
(b) When a mule and a cow fall into his chimney.
(c) When his meal is too hot.
(d) When his carriage becomes stuck in the mud.

5. The excursionists are burned out on travel by the time they reach which Italian city?
(a) Florence.
(b) Rome.
(c) Milan.
(d) Venice.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why wouldn't Heloise marry Abelard?

2. How is the the American consul general of Tangier introduced?

3. What happens to most of the ship's passengers in Chapter 29?

4. What is considered the most sought-out city of the excursion?

5. For what does the advertisement in the beginning of the story encourage people to register?

Short Essay Questions

1. The romantic story of Heloise and Abelard is given a large section in Chapter 15. The entire chapter is nearly taken up by the story, despite the focus given to a cemetery. Why do you think Twain chose to include this story?

2. Describe Twain's Parisian quest and its result.

3. Twain is a bit contradictory in his opinions of the French. Outline Twain's opinions and theorize why he might feel that way.

4. Twain has not been very complimentary to the cities/countries he has visited so far, and Italy is doomed to the same fate so far in Chapter 20. He lumps Italy with the other disappointments he has experienced up until that time. What indication does Twain give that he is unhappy with Italy?

5. In Chapter 13, the group hires a tour guide to show them famous sites. Despite being tasked with this duty, the guide seems more interested in obtaining money by taking the tourists shopping and earning a commission. He even manages to keep them from making the Louvre before closing. What does this say about the tour guides in Paris, and how might this affect the group's hiring of other tour guides in the future?

6. What observation does Twain make that seems unlikely in the heavily Christian city of Rome?

7. Compare/contrast Versailles with Faubourg St. Antoine.

8. We are introduced to a character called the Oracle. How did he earn this moniker? How do Twain and his shipmates feel about this man?

9. Venice is a city of many stories and legends. Describe the legend of the patron saint of Venice, St. Mark.

10. Why does Twain use an advertisement, rather than his own words, to describe the grand excursion?

(see the answer keys)

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