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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who witnessed Ballard inappropriately touch a flight attendant on an escalator and were on his flight to Orly?
(a) A French businessman and his wife.
(b) An American businessman and his wife.
(c) A Dutch businessman and his wife.
(d) A British businessman and his wife.

2. After the crash, Ballard states that an "uneasy _____ carried me towards the hospital."
(a) Calm.
(b) Euphoria.
(c) Fear.
(d) Sadness.

3. According to Ballard, as he recuperates in the hospital, what does he state as the "only real experience" he had been through in years?
(a) His fantasies.
(b) His guilt.
(c) His affair.
(d) His crash.

4. What did Vaughan steal from Ballard ten days before Vaughan's death?
(a) His job.
(b) His wife.
(c) His wallet.
(d) His car.

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

6. What did Vaughan rehearse for in the days before his death?
(a) His wedding.
(b) A one-man show.
(c) His own death.
(d) Ballard's murder.

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

8. How many cars did Ballard miss before hitting the one that kills a man?
(a) One.
(b) Three.
(c) Two.
(d) None.

9. 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 its too close to the accident that killed her husband.
(c) Because he thinks she could get a better job as a doctor.
(d) Because he thinks the work at the laboratory is ineffective.

10. Who tells Ballard that there is "a certain moral virtue in being materialistic"?
(a) Helen Remington.
(b) Catherine Ballard.
(c) Robert Vaughan.
(d) Vera Seagrave.

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

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

13. What kind of car does Catherine drive?
(a) A sports car.
(b) A truck.
(c) A minivan.
(d) A large sedan.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. According to Ballard, Vaughan's relations with women were all governed by what?

3. 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.

4. What does Helen do when Ballard first addresses her in the hospital?

5. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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