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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. What is Ballard afraid the real reason for the police signaling Vaughan outside Ballard's studio is?
(a) To question Ballard about a missing studio car.
(b) To question Ballard about his erotic involvement with Vaughan.
(c) To question Ballard about a pedestrian he ran over.
(d) To question Ballard about a drunk driving arrest.

2. After leaving the hospital, what does Vaughan show Ballard at Seagrave's house?
(a) A laboratory of blood samples.
(b) A museum of car parts.
(c) A film of car crashes.
(d) An album of accident photos.

3. What is the effect on Ballard of Vaughan following him in his car?
(a) Ballard thinks he will have a nervous breakdown.
(b) Ballard thinks he will turn Vaughan in.
(c) Ballard thinks he will kill Vaughan.
(d) Ballard thinks he will be involved in a second accident.

4. 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) Become a researcher.
(b) Film a famous crash.
(c) Learn to fly.
(d) Drive a crashed car.

5. What is the name of the avenue that Ballard and Vaughan drive along with the two airport prostitutes?
(a) Eastern Avenue.
(b) Southhern Avenue.
(c) Western Avenue.
(d) Northern Avenue.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Ballard, aside from Vaughan's death, what is the crash that he most fears that becomes a reality on the Harlington clearway?

2. What lay in the dashboard locker below the instrument panel of the Citroen Pallas saloon car?

3. How does Seagrave preempt the "real death" that Vaughan reserved for himself?

4. What do the junior pathologist, trainee radiologist, and service manager of a garage all have in common?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Who are the spectators at the accident site involving the taxi and limo and what role does the scene have in the larger story?

5. Why is Ballard attracted to Gabrielle?

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

7. What does Ballard fantasize about as he has sex with Gabrielle and what does it mean?

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

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

10. When Ballard and Vaughan arrive at the accident site involving a minor accident, what do they discover?

(see the answer keys)

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