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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 does Vaughan tell Ballard that Seagrave may follow after disappearing in a wig and leopard-skin coat?
(a) Helen.
(b) Catherine.
(c) Vaughan.
(d) Ballard.

2. On the Harlington clearway, besides the customized fiberglass sports car, and a chauffeur-driven government saloon, what other car is involved a crash?
(a) A Mercedes.
(b) A Toyota.
(c) A BMW.
(d) A Volkswagon.

3. At the Road Research Laboratory, who does Helen stare at "almost as if they were patients whom she hoped to treat"?
(a) The stunt drivers.
(b) The researchers.
(c) The mannequins.
(d) The visitors.

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

5. What kind of dog did Ballard hit two years earlier when he notices the same deformation on Vaughan's car?
(a) A German Shepherd.
(b) An Irish Setter.
(c) An English Setter.
(d) An Italian Greyhound.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Besides reefer stubs, what else is in the overloaded ashtray in Vaughan's car?

3. Who does Vaughan want Ballard to introduce him to?

4. What is the name the researchers at the Road Research Laboratory give the mannequin on the motorcycle?

5. What does Vaughan do as he drives past the crash at the junction of the eastern descent ramp of the flyover?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why doesn't Ballard intervene on Elizabeth Taylor's behalf when he knew what Vaughan was capable of attempting to hurt her?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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