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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 1-2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As Ballard waits for someone to reassure him after the crash, what does he imagine firemen doing with carbon dioxide sprays?
(a) Tracing obscene or humorous slogans.
(b) Spraying the spectators to punish them.
(c) Coiling dead bodies on the ground.
(d) Enacting a grotesque simulation of violence.

2. According to Ballard at the end of Chapter 2, the radiator grills of their cars resembled what?
(a) A "positive force."
(b) A "protective grimace."
(c) A "perverse union."
(d) A "peaceful sleep."

3. Who dies as the novel opens?
(a) Dr. Helen Remington.
(b) James Ballard.
(c) Catherine Ballard.
(d) Dr. Robert Vaughan.

4. Where is the film studio Ballard works for located?
(a) Shepperton.
(b) Swindon.
(c) Somerset.
(d) Salisbury.

5. According to Ballard, "For Vaughan, the car-crash and his own ______ had made their final marriage."
(a) Faith.
(b) Sexuality.
(c) Health.
(d) Depression.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Vaughan rehearse for in the days before his death?

2. What did Vaughan steal from Ballard ten days before Vaughan's death?

3. Why would Vaughan arrange women in stylized positions in cars?

4. How many cars did Ballard miss before hitting the one that kills a man?

5. According to Ballard, the young wife of the man killed in the car crash stared at him with a look that resembled a ________in an Early Renaissance icon.

(see the answer key)

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