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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Ballard skeptical about Helen working for the Road Research Laboratory?
(a) Because he thinks that she is not qualified to work there.
(b) Because he thinks the work at the laboratory is ineffective.
(c) Because he thinks she could get a better job as a doctor.
(d) Because he thinks its too close to the accident that killed her husband.

2. What kind of commercial did Ballard prepare that he hoped to use a well-known actress for?
(a) An airline commercial.
(b) A car commerical.
(c) A beer commercial.
(d) A cigarette commercial.

3. What is the name of Ballard's wife?
(a) Renata.
(b) Helen.
(c) Catherine.
(d) Vera.

4. What is Ballard's "ironic gesture" to provoke Catherine and Renate, who don't want him to drive?
(a) Stealing cars.
(b) Buying cars.
(c) Borrowing cars.
(d) Renting cars.

5. Why does Ballard recognize the man taking pictures of him as Vaughan?
(a) Because he is a government official.
(b) Because he is a TV star.
(c) Because he is a famous writer.
(d) Because he is a notorious criminal.

6. According to Ballard, his "_________obsessions soon made themselves evident to ______ _________."
(a) Messianic; Paul Waring.
(b) Tyrannical; Robert Vaughan.
(c) Tyrannical; Paul Waring.
(d) Messianic; Robert Vaughan.

7. What is the name of Catherine's secretary whom she asks Ballard to visualize her having intercourse with?
(a) Kathy.
(b) Katrina.
(c) Karen.
(d) Kelly.

8. Who is injured at the stock-car races at the stadium in Northolt and taken to the hospital?
(a) Helen.
(b) Seagrave.
(c) Ballard.
(d) Vaughan.

9. When Ballard first sees Helen at the hospital, what is the scarred man wearing under his lab coat?
(a) A silver tag.
(b) A copper emblem.
(c) A gold cross.
(d) A brass medallion.

10. What kind of business has Catherine started up with one of her boyfriends?
(a) A cycle-tourist charter firm.
(b) An air-tourist charter firm.
(c) A walking-tourist charter firm.
(d) A bus-tourist charter firm.

11. When Ballard goes to the garage, what does he see on a rear window sill that reminds him of his own personal possessions scattered on the floor of his car after the crash?
(a) A scarf.
(b) A necktie.
(c) A briefcase.
(d) A purse.

12. According to the narrator, with whom did Vaughan want to die in a collision?
(a) Dr. Helen Remington.
(b) James Ballard.
(c) Elizabeth Taylor.
(d) Catherine Ballard.

13. As Ballard is taken to the hospital after his crash, he recalls that "Vaughan collected the _____of ________nurses in his photographic albums."
(a) Smiles; casualty.
(b) Smiles; emergency.
(c) Grimaces; emergency.
(d) Grimaces; casualty.

14. 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.

15. According to Ballard, what do the scars above his patella replicate?
(a) The knobs for the radio and emergency brakes.
(b) The switches for the windshield wipers and parking lights.
(c) The handles for the air and rearview mirror.
(d) The keys for the ignition and the dashboard compartment.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ballard realize about his first meeting with Vaughan?

2. Who, according to Ballard, "read the answer to her unspoken questions in the scars on my legs and chest" in the hospital?

3. According to Ballard, what happens on the fourth day in the hospital "for no evident reason"?

4. In the hospital, what contained the "hundred histories of collision and bereavement" according to Ballard?

5. Where is the film studio Ballard works for located?

(see the answer keys)

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