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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. Who are the five film actresses Seagrave devised an "abattoir of sexual mutiliation" for Vaughan's questionnaire?
(a) Garbo, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Bardot, and Raquel Welch.
(b) Garbo, Jayne Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor, Bardot, and Raquel Welch.
(c) Bette Davis, Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Bardot, and Raquel Welch.
(d) Bette Davis, Jayne Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor, Bardot, and Raquel Welch.

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

3. How old are the "sharp-faced airport whores" Vaughan is arguing with when Ballard comes out of the bar?
(a) "Barely older than schoolchildren."
(b) "As old as Queen Mum."
(c) "Barely older than School marms."
(d) "As old as Queen and country."

4. According to Ballard, "Above all, the apartment was dominated by Vaughan's evident _____."
(a) Accolades.
(b) Regrets.
(c) Narcissism.
(d) Family.

5. At the studio, who does Ballard see dressed up to resemble a famous screen actress, wearing a fawn suede coat, brassiere, and makeup?
(a) Vaughan.
(b) Seagrave.
(c) An extra.
(d) A stranger.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the effect on Ballard of Vaughan following him in his car?

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

3. 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?

4. Who wears a back brace, steel clamps and has gas bacillus scars on her kneecaps?

5. What does Ballard notice about the crowd that gathered at the junction of the eastern descent ramp of the flyover?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is Ballard's response to Catherine sleeping with Vaughan?

3. What does Ballard think of when he introduces Catherine to Vaughan and why is it relevant?

4. 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?

5. Why is Ballard attracted to Gabrielle?

6. Where do Catherine and Vaughan have sex and why is it significant?

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

8. How does Vaughan pose the prostitutes for his photographs and why?

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

10. What do Ballard and Vaughan do after they pick up two prostitutes and why is it relevant to the larger story?

(see the answer keys)

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