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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of films did Ballard and Catherine see at the small art-cinema near their home?
(a) German sex instruction and American blockbusters.
(b) French avant-garde and American blockbusters.
(c) Amercian avant-garde and American blockbusters.
(d) American avant-garde and German sex instruction.

2. When the young wife of the man killed in the crash with Ballard exits her car, what does she do?
(a) Urinates.
(b) Vomits.
(c) Screams.
(d) Laughs.

3. What does Helen do when Ballard first addresses her in the hospital?
(a) She laughs at him.
(b) She hits him.
(c) She screams at him.
(d) She ignores him.

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

5. What does Ballard realize about his first meeting with Vaughan?
(a) That his motives for following him have nothing to do with revenge or blackmail.
(b) That his motive for following him has something to do with revenge, but not blackmail.
(c) That his motive for following him has something to do with blackmail, but not revenge.
(d) That his motives for following him have everything to do with revenge and blackmail.

6. What happens to Ballard three days after his surgery in the hospital?
(a) He has a spiritual conversion.
(b) He gets a minor infection.
(c) He meets his wife's lover.
(d) He has an allergic reaction.

7. How many weeks does Ballard stay in the hospital after the crash in Chapter 2?
(a) Six.
(b) Three.
(c) Four.
(d) One.

8. 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) Enacting a grotesque simulation of violence.
(d) Coiling dead bodies on the ground.

9. Who, according to Ballard, "read the answer to her unspoken questions in the scars on my legs and chest" in the hospital?
(a) His mistress.
(b) His nurse.
(c) His doctor.
(d) His wife.

10. As Ballard drives home with Catherine after being released from the hospital, how does the image of a car change for him after his accident?
(a) It contained multiple identities.
(b) It became an object of fear.
(c) Its purpose remained elusive.
(d) Its true nature had been exposed.

11. Who does Ballard call the "nightmare angel of expressways"?
(a) Vaughan.
(b) Elizabeth Taylor.
(c) Helen Remington.
(d) Ballard.

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

13. Where do Helen and Ballard's trysts take place?
(a) At a hotel.
(b) In Helen's apartment.
(c) In Ballard's car.
(d) Near the airport.

14. Who is Francis Waring, according to Ballard?
(a) A minor film actress.
(b) His partner's bored wife.
(c) A doctor at the hospital.
(d) Catherine's lover's wife.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who dies as the novel opens?

2. According to Ballard, why did Vaughan's former career come to an abrupt end?

3. What does Helen tell Ballard about why she's at Northolt?

4. Who is injured at the stock-car races at the stadium in Northolt and taken to the hospital?

5. What do all the cars Ballard drives remind him of?

(see the answer keys)

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