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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.
(a) Madonna.
(b) Devil.
(c) Child.
(d) Angel.

2. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. What is Helen wearing when Ballard sees her in the yard at Northolt station?
(a) A black suit.
(b) A red dress.
(c) A white raincoat.
(d) A green jacket.

10. According to Ballard, why did Vaughan's former career come to an abrupt end?
(a) Because his wife died in a terrible car crash.
(b) Because he was institutionalized for his unconventional views.
(c) Because he was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash.
(d) Because he was arrested and convicted of killing his lover.

11. What is Vaughan's scientific subject?
(a) Chemistry specialist in dark matter.
(b) Biology specialist in human reproduction.
(c) Physics specialist in atom collision.
(d) Computer specialist in traffic systems.

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

13. What does Ballard note about the Lincoln Continental Vaughan drives?
(a) It is the same make as Catherine's car.
(b) It is the same make of the one in which President Kennedy died.
(c) It is the same make as the one Elizabeth Taylor drives.
(d) It is the same make as Ballard's car.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What word does Ballard repeat several times in his description of the car crash at the beginning of the book?

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

3. What kind of business has Catherine started up with one of her boyfriends?

4. What kind of films did Ballard and Catherine see at the small art-cinema near their home?

5. What is the person parked behind Ballard at the scene of the accident that killed Helen's husband doing?

(see the answer keys)

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