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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 British businessman and his wife.
(b) A French businessman and his wife.
(c) An American businessman and his wife.
(d) A Dutch businessman and his wife.

2. Out of three "airport whores" Ballard comes across at a traffic island, which one does he pick up?
(a) The youngest one.
(b) The prettiest one.
(c) The eldest one.
(d) The nicest one.

3. Who does Ballard take to the stock-car races in the stadium at Northolt?
(a) His wife.
(b) Renata.
(c) Helen.
(d) Vaughan.

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

5. Where does Ballard take one of the three prostitutes to?
(a) The top deck of a car park.
(b) The back lot of a film studio.
(c) The deserted garage of a church.
(d) The driveway of a colleague's.

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

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

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

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

10. 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 motives for following him have everything to do with revenge and blackmail.
(c) That his motive for following him has something to do with revenge, but not blackmail.
(d) That his motive for following him has something to do with blackmail, but not revenge.

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

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

13. What word does Ballard repeat several times in his description of the car crash at the beginning of the book?
(a) Stoic.
(b) Stylized.
(c) Static.
(d) Strange.

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

15. The firemen who cut Ballard's door from its hinges looked like what according to Ballard?
(a) Athletes in a football game.
(b) Accomplices in a jewelry heist.
(c) Assistants of a gored bullfighter.
(d) Actors in a one-act play.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Ballard skeptical about Helen working for the Road Research Laboratory?

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

3. According to Ballard, what would Ballard and Vaughan listen to on their way to accident sites?

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

5. What is the name of Catherine's secretary whom she asks Ballard to visualize her having intercourse with?

(see the answer keys)

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