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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The walls of Vaughan's apartment are covered with close-ups of whose body?
(a) Dr. Helen Remington's.
(b) Marilyn Monroe's.
(c) Elizabeth Taylor's.
(d) James Ballard's.

2. Who did the man killed in the car crash with Ballard work for?
(a) A German weapons producer.
(b) A British travel agency.
(c) An Italian car manufacturer.
(d) An American food company.

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

4. Where does the fatal car crash that nearly misses Elizabeth Taylor occur?
(a) At an airport.
(b) Next to a school.
(c) By a park.
(d) Near a film studio.

5. 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) Coiling dead bodies on the ground.
(c) Spraying the spectators to punish them.
(d) Enacting a grotesque simulation of violence.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Ballard, "For Vaughan, the car-crash and his own ______ had made their final marriage."

2. What is the name of Ballard's wife?

3. According to Ballard, why does the young wife who is removed from her car after the crash resemble a "mentally defective girl" he once saw perform in a play?

4. According to Ballard, all who knew Vaughan accepted what about a car-crash?

5. Who dies as the novel opens?

(see the answer key)

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