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Excellence in Business Communication, 12e (Thill/Bovee)
Chapter 5 Writing Business Messages
1) Which of the following statements that would appear in a business message best reflects the
“you” attitude?
A) You failed to enclose a check for $25.
B) We need a check from you for $25 so that we can send the merchandise by May 15.
C) We will send you the merchandise as soon as we receive your check for $25.
D) You will have your merchandise by July 15 if you send us your check for $25 today.
E) Your merchandise will be held until you send us a check for $25.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
2) The best way to convey the “you” attitude is to express your message in terms of
A) the needs and interests of your organization.
B) your own personal needs and interests.
C) a universal set of needs and interests.
D) the needs and interests of your audience.
E) the most direct method possible.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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3) Use ________ to avoid categorizing or stigmatizing people based on their gender, race,
ethnicity, age, level of ability, or other personal characteristics.
A) abstract language
B) descriptive language
C) bias-free language
D) denotative language
E) positive language
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
4) Select the sentence with the best “you” attitude.
A) Because your report was poorly written, we cannot accept it.
B) Your report failed to meet company requirements.
C) When we receive a report that is professional, we can act on your recommendations.
D) Once your application is complete, you should receive a response within two weeks.
E) You need to resubmit your report based on your lack of data.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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5) It is best to limit your use of the word “you” in business messages if
A) you know your audience well.
B) your organization prefers an informal, personal style.
C) you are filling your audience’s informational needs.
D) it will make your message sound overly authoritative or accusing.
E) it is being relayed digitally.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
6) Written and most forms of digital communication require ________ than oral communication.
A) less care
B) fewer nouns
C) more tact
D) more informality
E) a stronger tone
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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7) Select the sentence with the most positive emphasis.
A) We failed to complete the process audit on time.
B) We hope to complete the process audit by Friday.
C) We haven’t completed the process audit.
D) Because of Joan’s inaccurate figures on the project, we are not finished with the process audit.
E) We wish we could finish this interminable audit.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
8) When you are criticizing or correcting, it is best to
A) focus on what the audience members can do to improve.
B) emphasize the audience’s mistakes so that they will not make the same ones again.
C) be honest and call attention to the audience’s failures or shortcomings.
D) single out the guilty audience members as an example for everyone else to learn from.
E) enlist a partner to echo and affirm your negative comments.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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9) A euphemism is a word or phrase that is
A) possibly offensive.
B) general or abstract in meaning.
C) highly technical.
D) a milder term for one with negative connotations.
E) often difficult to understand.
messages.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
10) To improve your audience sensitivity,
A) limit the use of the “you” attitude.
B) use language that is biased towards the audience.
C) tell the audience what type of response you need from them.
D) liberally use terms such as I, me, mine, we, us and ours.
E) maintain good standards of etiquette.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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11) Bob N. Zing, the Director of Human Resources at CAP Co, Inc., has to write an internal
message to announce impending layoffs across the company. Rather than addressing the layoffs
directly, Bob decides to refer to them as restructuring operations and eliminating redundancies.
In this case, these euphemisms
A) reflect the standards of ethical information.
B) convey the “you attitude” for delivering bad news.
C) help employees understand the gravity of the situation.
D) fail to meet the “you” attitude test and ethical information standards.
E) place an emotional burden on the reader.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Critical Thinking
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
12) Replacing harsh, unpleasant terms with ________ can help you state your message without
using words that may hurt or offend your audience.
A) abstractions
B) euphemisms
C) redundancies
D) idiomatic expressions
E) nouns
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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13) Whether consciously or not, most readers in the workplace greet incoming messages by
A) anticipating the new knowledge they will gain.
B) setting aside enough time to read every one of them.
C) tossing them all into the trash without opening them.
D) asking the question, “What’s in this for me?”
E) looking for bias from the writer
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
14) Using good standards of etiquette, emphasizing the positive, and using bias-free language are
examples of incorporating ________ into a message.
A) audience awareness
B) the “you” attitude
C) connotative language
D) an indirect
E) euphemisms
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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15) To help foster a more successful environment for communication, use ________ to
incorporate high standards of etiquette.
A) biased words
B) the word “you” liberally
C) careful planning when writing for a mobile device
D) redundancies
E) words that trigger negative emotional reactions
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
16) Regarding the use of the “you” attitude in business communication,
A) cultural differences are not a concern, since it is universally acceptable.
B) it is important to recognize and accommodate cultural differences.
C) you should assume that members of high-context cultures would find it offensive.
D) you should avoid it completely in intercultural communication.
E) its no more complicated than using the word “you” as much as possible.
messages.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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17) Adopting a “you” attitude in business writing is simply a matter of using the pronoun “you”
as much as possible.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
18) Using the word “young” to describe an employee can have negative implications.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
19) List three strategies to become more sensitive to your audience’s needs.
messages.
AACSB: Written and oral communication
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
20) Define bias-free language.
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Moderate
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
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21) What is the difference between delivering negative news and being negative?
messages.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Difficult
Classification: Synthesis
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages
22) To establish credibility with your audience, you should
A) impress them with a long list of your accomplishments.
B) be modest and deferential.
C) show that you are confident and that you believe in yourself and in your message.
D) use hedging words (“maybe,” “perhaps”) to demonstrate you’re willing to tell your audience
what they want to hear.
E) directly state that you know more about your topic than they do.
vital aspects of building strong relationships with your audience.
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Difficulty: Easy
Classification: Conceptual
Learning Outcome: Compose and shape business messages