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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 does Ballard notice about the crowd that gathered at the junction of the eastern descent ramp of the flyover?
(a) There are all men.
(b) There are a lot of children.
(c) There are few women.
(d) There are some teenagers.

2. Besides reefer stubs, what else is in the overloaded ashtray in Vaughan's car?
(a) A condom.
(b) A tampon.
(c) A diaphragm.
(d) A cervical cap.

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

4. 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) Elizabeth Taylor.
(b) Gabrielle.
(c) Vera.
(d) Raquel Welch.

5. Why does Ballard adjust the rear view mirror as he drives with Vaughan and the two airport prostitutes?
(a) To watch the two girls have sex.
(b) To see if Seagrave is following them.
(c) To see if Catherine is following them.
(d) To watch Vaughan and the girl have sex.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Ballard, who "resembled rows of the dead looking down at us from the galleries of a columbarium"?

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

3. What does Vaughan pick up that has been left by the police at an accident sight?

4. According to Vaughan, why is it important for him to have Elizabeth Taylor fill out his questionnaire?

5. How many cars collide at the junction of the eastern descent ramp of the flyover?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Catherine's fantasies about Vaughan, how they pertain to Ballard, and their impact on her and Ballard's marriage.

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

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

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

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

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

7. At Seagrave's, what does Ballard deduce about Vaughan's photographs of Elizabeth Taylor and provides insight into why Vaughan followed Ballard?

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

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

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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