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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. How many cars collide at the junction of the eastern descent ramp of the flyover?
(a) Three cars collide.
(b) Five cars collide.
(c) Nine cars collide.
(d) Seven cars collide.

2. According to Ballard, who "resembled rows of the dead looking down at us from the galleries of a columbarium"?
(a) The passengers in an airline coach.
(b) The crashed cars at the impound.
(c) The headstones at the funeral home.
(d) The prostitutes on the pedestrian bridge.

3. Since their visit to the Road Research Laboratory, Vaughan goes to the studios to see Seagrave, but Ballard thinks the real motive is what?
(a) To steal cars for his own reenactments.
(b) To watch the car crashes for the film.
(c) To force Ballard to leave Catherine for him.
(d) To force an introduction with Elizabeth Taylor.

4. How does Seagrave preempt the "real death" that Vaughan reserved for himself?
(a) By driving Elizabeth Taylor's limo in his own death.
(b) By wearing Vaughan's jacket and trousers in Elizabeth Taylor's death.
(c) By driving Vaughan's Lincoln in Elizabeth Taylor's death.
(d) By wearing Elizabeth Taylor's wig and costume in his own death.

5. Ballard notes that most of the celebrities listed for imaginary crashes in Vaughan's questionnaire are what?
(a) Men.
(b) Alive.
(c) Dead.
(d) Women.

Short Answer Questions

1. What other famous personalities does Vaughan NOT obsess over?

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

3. Ballard sees that next to the photos of various wounds from Vaughan's questionnaire, there are details of what?

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

5. Ballard and Vaughan listen to police and _______ broadcasts as they search for Seagrave, who has gone missing.

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What kinds of photos are in the album Vaughan shows Ballard at Seagrave's house and what does Ballard notice about them?

6. What is Elizabeth Taylor shooting at the studio where Ballard works and how is it significant?

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

8. Why is Ballard attracted to Gabrielle?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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