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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay 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 is injured at the stock-car races at the stadium in Northolt and taken to the hospital?
(a) Seagrave.
(b) Ballard.
(c) Vaughan.
(d) Helen.

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

4. According to Ballard, what happens on the fourth day in the hospital "for no evident reason"?
(a) The nurses harrass him.
(b) The doctors don't come.
(c) The IV fluids are taken.
(d) The anesthetics are withdrawn.

5. Who did the man killed in the car crash with Ballard work for?
(a) A British travel agency.
(b) An American food company.
(c) An Italian car manufacturer.
(d) A German weapons producer.

Short Answer Questions

1. What pictures is Ballard's passenger looking at when they arrive at the scene of his accident that killed Helen's husband?

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

3. The firemen who cut Ballard's door from its hinges looked like what according to Ballard?

4. According to Ballard, as he recuperates in the hospital, what does he state as the "only real experience" he had been through in years?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Ballard recognize Dr. Robert Vaughan when he sees him with the camera in the parking garage and why is it significant?

2. Why does Ballard wear a seat belt when he crashes his car and how is it significant?

3. Who is with Dr. Helen Remington in the hospital and why is it significant?

4. What is Helen Remington doing at the impound yard when Ballard returns to survey the damage to his car and what does it show about her character?

5. What kind of pleasure did Vaughan derive from car crashes and how is it significant?

6. Who is Elizabeth Taylor and what role does she play in the novel?

7. How is the man killed in the crash with Ballard symbolic?

8. What kind of car does Ballard buy after his accident and what does it signify?

9. In the hospital, what does Ballard begin to do once he's mobile and how is it significant?

10. What dominates Ballard's thoughts as he recovers in the hospital and why is it significant?

(see the answer keys)

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