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

2. According to Vaughan, who has never been in a major crash so "everything lies in the future for her?"
(a) Elizabeth Taylor.
(b) Catherine.
(c) Vera Seagrave
(d) Renata.

3. Who does Ballard describe as the "perfect forgery of an Ingres"?
(a) Vaughan.
(b) Seagrave.
(c) Catherine.
(d) Renata.

4. What do the subjects who completed Vaughan's questionnaire all have in common?
(a) They witnessed a car crash.
(b) They lost someone in a car crash.
(c) They have not been in car crash.
(d) They have been in a car crash.

5. Who does Vaughan want Ballard to introduce him to?
(a) Julie Andrews.
(b) Elizabeth Taylor.
(c) Sean Connery.
(d) Paul Newman.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Vaughan position himself and Catherine in the backseat while Ballard watches them have sex?

2. Who give Vaughan a set of passkeys so that he could take cars from the airport parking lots?

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

4. According to Ballard, who wears her hair in a "simulated Afro wig"?

5. What topic does Ballard realize he never discussed with Helen?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does J.G. Ballard portray Vaughan's self-stimulation in the vehicle where a dentist recently died?

2. Why is Ballard attracted to Gabrielle?

3. What kinds of pictures does Ballard find in the questionnaire and what do they signify?

4. What kinds of photos are in the album Vaughan shows Ballard at Seagrave's house and what does Ballard notice about them?

5. How do the prostitutes Vaughan picks up begin to change in appearance and why is it significant?

6. How does Ballard respond to Vaughan's request to give one of the questionnaires to Elizabeth Taylor and what does it show about his character?

7. How does Gabrielle respond to Ballard's staring at the scars on her legs and how does Ballard interpret her response?

8. What type of questions from Vaughan's questionnaire is Ballard specifically drawn to?

9. How does Vaughan begin to change as the novel progresses?

10. Why is Seagrave's disappearance important to the plot?

(see the answer keys)

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