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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Whose body does Ballard visualize injured in a series of accidents at various stages of her life?
(a) His sister.
(b) His daughter.
(c) His wife.
(d) His mother.

2. Why does Ballard feel "no trace of pity" for Gabrielle after they make love?
(a) Because they disregarded her crippled body.
(b) Because Gabrielle was responsible for her crippled body.
(c) Because they celebrated her crippled body.
(d) Because Gabrielle hated her crippled body.

3. Where are Ballard, Catherine, and Vaughan when Catherine and Vaughan have sex in the backseat?
(a) A park.
(b) A studio.
(c) A carwash.
(d) An airport.

4. Since their visit to the Road Research Laboratory, Vaughan goes to the studios to see Seagrave, but Ballard thinks the real motive is what?
(a) To force Ballard to leave Catherine for him.
(b) To watch the car crashes for the film.
(c) To steal cars for his own reenactments.
(d) To force an introduction with Elizabeth Taylor.

5. How does Seagrave preempt the "real death" that Vaughan reserved for himself?
(a) By driving Elizabeth Taylor's limo in his own death.
(b) By driving Vaughan's Lincoln in Elizabeth Taylor's death.
(c) By wearing Vaughan's jacket and trousers in Elizabeth Taylor's death.
(d) By wearing Elizabeth Taylor's wig and costume in his own death.

6. According to Ballard, each of Gabrielle's body was a "ripening anthology of ______possibilities."
(a) Practical.
(b) Potent.
(c) Passive.
(d) Perverse.

7. Ballard states that in the last weeks with Vaughan, the women Vaughan brought to the car each night began to resemble who more closely?
(a) Gabrielle.
(b) Elizabeth Taylor.
(c) Raquel Welch.
(d) Vera.

8. According to Ballard, Helen was about to enter a period of what after her bereavement?
(a) Bliss.
(b) Promiscuity.
(c) Celibacy.
(d) Isolation.

9. Who give Vaughan a set of passkeys so that he could take cars from the airport parking lots?
(a) Helen.
(b) Renata.
(c) Catherine.
(d) Vera.

10. At the Road Research Laboratory, when does Ballard feel his sense of disembodiment and unreality increase?
(a) When Vaughan appears.
(b) When the film plays.
(c) When the cars crash.
(d) When the visitors arrive.

11. What do the junior pathologist, trainee radiologist, and service manager of a garage all have in common?
(a) They are Helen's lovers.
(b) They are Vaughan's lovers.
(c) They are Catherine's lovers.
(d) They are Ballard's lovers.

12. After the simulated crash with the family of four and the motorcycle at the Road Research Laboratory, what does Vaughan tell Ballard he's always wanted to do?
(a) Learn to fly.
(b) Drive a crashed car.
(c) Film a famous crash.
(d) Become a researcher.

13. When Ballard drives home with Catherine and Vaughan in the backseat, what does he notice for the first time since his release from the hospital?
(a) The streets are empty.
(b) The sun is shining.
(c) It started raining.
(d) There are no planes on the runway.

14. According to Vaughan, why is it important for him to have Elizabeth Taylor fill out his questionnaire?
(a) Because she is in all of the subjects fantasies.
(b) Because she has never been in a car crash.
(c) Because none of the subjects named her in their fantasies.
(d) Because she has been in a car crash.

15. What topic does Ballard realize he never discussed with Helen?
(a) Her dead husband.
(b) His wife.
(c) His work.
(d) The accident.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Ballard see on his balcony when he is caught in a traffic jam?

2. What happens to the young woman chauffeur of the government saloon on the Harlington clearway?

3. According to Ballard, what left an "archipelago of pockmarks" across Vaughan's neck?

4. When Renata meets Ballard in the parking lot of the studio, what does she ask him about the crushed Citroen Pallas saloon car?

5. When Catherine asks Ballard where his car is after the police leave the studio parking lot, what does he tell her?

(see the answer keys)

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