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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 Vaughan ask Ballard to do when they got to Earls Court?
(a) To take pictures of Gabrielle.
(b) To walk with Gabrielle.
(c) To wait for Gabrielle.
(d) To undress Gabrielle.

2. When Catherine asks Ballard where his car is after the police leave the studio parking lot, what does he tell her?
(a) That it is at the garage because he crashed it.
(b) That Vaughan stole it.
(c) That it is at home because he didn't want to face the traffic.
(d) That Seagrave stole it.

3. How does Vaughan position himself and Catherine in the backseat while Ballard watches them have sex?
(a) In the same posture as Ballard and Helen.
(b) In the same posture as Elizabeth Taylor and her husband.
(c) In the same posture as Vaughan and the prostitute.
(d) In the same posture as the diplomat and young woman.

4. 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.

5. What topic does Ballard realize he never discussed with Helen?
(a) The accident.
(b) His work.
(c) Her dead husband.
(d) His wife.

Short Answer Questions

1. Ballard notes that most of the celebrities listed for imaginary crashes in Vaughan's questionnaire are what?

2. In Ballard's last days with Vaughan, they no longer drive the motorway searching for accidents, but do what instead?

3. What do the subjects who completed Vaughan's questionnaire all have in common?

4. Why do the police signal to Vaughan when Ballard and Vaughan leave Ballard's studio?

5. Why does Ballard feel "no trace of pity" for Gabrielle after they make love?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Why is Ballard attracted to Gabrielle?

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

6. What is the purpose of Vaughan's questionnaire?

7. Why does Ballard begin to drive through the city in search of Vaughan?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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