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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. At the studio, who does Ballard see dressed up to resemble a famous screen actress, wearing a fawn suede coat, brassiere, and makeup?
(a) A stranger.
(b) Vaughan.
(c) Seagrave.
(d) An extra.

2. Who give Vaughan a set of passkeys so that he could take cars from the airport parking lots?
(a) Helen.
(b) Catherine.
(c) Vera.
(d) Renata.

3. Who does Ballard see on his balcony when he is caught in a traffic jam?
(a) Catherine.
(b) Vaughan.
(c) Seagrave.
(d) Renata.

4. What kind of dog did Ballard hit two years earlier when he notices the same deformation on Vaughan's car?
(a) An Italian Greyhound.
(b) A German Shepherd.
(c) An Irish Setter.
(d) An English Setter.

5. What lay in the dashboard locker below the instrument panel of the Citroen Pallas saloon car?
(a) A man's handkerchief.
(b) A packet of cigarettes.
(c) A flask of gin.
(d) A woman's suede glove.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Ballard feel "no trace of pity" for Gabrielle after they make love?

2. According to Vaughan, why is it important for him to have Elizabeth Taylor fill out his questionnaire?

3. What topic does Ballard realize he never discussed with Helen?

4. According to Ballard, each of Gabrielle's body was a "ripening anthology of ______possibilities."

5. When Catherine asks Ballard where his car is after the police leave the studio parking lot, what does he tell her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ballard fantasize about as he has sex with Gabrielle and what does it mean?

2. What is the purpose of Vaughan's questionnaire?

3. How does Vaughan begin to change as the novel progresses?

4. Who are the spectators at the accident site involving the taxi and limo and what role does the scene have in the larger story?

5. Why does J.G. Ballard portray Vaughan's self-stimulation in the vehicle where a dentist recently died?

6. Why does Ballard begin to drive through the city in search of Vaughan?

7. At Seagrave's, what does Ballard deduce about Vaughan's photographs of Elizabeth Taylor and provides insight into why Vaughan followed Ballard?

8. Why is Seagrave's disappearance important to the plot?

9. What kinds of pictures does Ballard find in the questionnaire and what do they signify?

10. What kinds of photos are in the album Vaughan shows Ballard at Seagrave's house and what does Ballard notice about them?

(see the answer keys)

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