Experience Communication, 2e (Child)
Chapter 2 Communicating Verbally
1) Using language to convey meaning is known as verbal communication.
2) A coffee advertisement claims that “Good coffee is like friendship; rich and warm and strong.”
The advertisers are using a simile.
3) The social function of verbal communication is the use of language to engage in critical thinking
to evaluate and critique issues or ideas.
4) The two processes for interpreting messages are denotation meaning and connotation meaning.
5) The agreed-upon meaning of a word, the one generally found in the dictionary, is known as the
denotative meaning.
6) Verbal communication includes a number of rules including rules of place.
7) Language that denigrates people on the basis of their gender is known as racist language.
8) When a relative is lunching with you and says, “I have to go to the little girl’s room,” she is using
jargon.
9) If you want to improve your verbal communication, you should avoid asking the other person,
“What did you mean?”
10) Building your vocabulary can improve your verbal communication.
11) Verbal communication is
A) the use of bodily movement as messages.
B) the conversion of thought into words.
C) the use of facial expression to convey meaning.
D) the use of language to convey meaning.
12) Language is
A) the only way we can communicate with each other.
B) the code we use to communicate with each other.
C) the expression of thought through gesture.
D) the dictionary meaning of words.
13) Meaning is
A) whatever message someone is trying to convey.
B) how a message is interpreted by another.
C) the conveyed message and its interpretation by another.
D) the verbal content of a message.
14) The four functions of language include all of the following EXCEPT the
A) instrumental.
B) analytical.
C) creative.
D) structural.
15) When your teacher tells you that your term paper is due in three weeks, your teacher is using
which function of language in communication?
A) structural
B) analytical
C) creative
D) instrumental
16) When you use acronyms and abbreviations in tweeting and texting, you are using an ancient
rhetorical canon or principle called
A) inventio.
B) elocutio.
C) dispositio.
D) pathos.
17) What kind of figurative language was the teacher using when she said, “The universe is a large
pizza in which just one of the pepperonis is our galaxy surrounded by many others”?
A) simile
B) alliteration
C) reductionism
D) metaphor
18) Which of the following is the best example of alliteration?
A) Alice’s aunt ate apples and acorns around August.
B) After the blow, his head swelled like a basketball.
C) Far from true, his statement was a blatant falsehood.
D) So tiny was he that his shoes could fit a child.
19) Which of the following is the best example of a simile?
A) The sunset was disturbed by the contrail of a passing jet.
B) Her face brightened like a beacon when he complimented her.
C) The corners of her mouth curved upward in happiness.
D) His strength was not in athletics but in math and science.
20) Because listeners daydream, speakers need to say a message in more than one way by using all
of the following strategies EXCEPT
A) repetition.
B) review.
C) preview.
D) implementation.
21) Examples of the analytical function of language include all of the following EXCEPT
A) researching an issue for understanding.
B) evaluating an issue for weakness and strengths.
C) recommending solutions to problems.
D) restating the issue in figurative language.
22) Saying “hi” to an acquaintance on the sidewalk and expecting only a “hi” in return is a form of
communication called
A) phatic communication.
B) interpersonal communication.
C) intrapersonal communication.
D) social communication.
23) “Trouble talk” is a social function of communication characterized by
A) figuring out a solution to an immediate problem.
B) complaining about problems without really expecting any solution.
C) brainstorming solutions to a problem without choosing one.
D) talking about and solving a problem.
24) Conflict management is
A) using language to resolve issues between individuals and groups.
B) serving as a referee between individuals in a dispute.
C) winning an argument by being a competent communicator.
D) using words to express one’s view in a conflict.
25) Instrumental language usually
A) lacks descriptiveness.
B) presents a point in an indirect manner.
C) functions as a tool to get something done.
D) is driven by creativity.
26) The analytical function of verbal ability is used to
A) evaluate ideas.
B) build relationships.
C) motivate others.
D) stir the imagination.
27) The use of an array of rhetorical devices is characteristic of the ________ function of verbal
communication.
A) instrumental
B) creative
C) analytical
D) social
28) A modern example of the language creativity function would be
A) job directives posted by supervisors on a company’s website.
B) acronyms and abbreviations used in texting.
C) software used to quickly scan archived documents.
D) people complaining in the comments section of an online publication.
29) An effective speaker should
A) have to say something just once.
B) have little need for visual aids.
C) focus on just one method to support an argument.
D) summarize the message before finishing.
30) The social function of language
A) provides instructions to others.
B) activates imagination to make stories exciting.
C) examines and critiques ideas.
D) creates and supports relationships.
31) When Blake was a young child, he and his grandfather were involved in a boating accident.
Blake’s negative reaction when he hears the word boat is an example of
A) connotative meaning.
B) denotative meaning.
C) neologism.
D) translation.
32) Which of the following statements about language is FALSE?
A) Language is an imperfect means of communication.
B) The thoughts that one person encodes never exactly match what the other decodes.
C) Language often requires interpretation or clarification.
D) Encoded messages are generally decoded accurately.
33) Which item below is a denotative meaning of a word?
A) A mouse is a tiny creature that scares people because of its unexpected movement.
B) A mouse is a four-legged mammal classified as a rodent.
C) A mouse can produce a litter of young about every 19 days.
D) A mouse is a furry little animal much beloved as a stuffed toy.
34) New concepts require new words, referred to as
A) conceptualizations.
B) neologisms.
C) semantics.
D) metaconcepts.
35) The connotative meaning of a word could include all of the following EXCEPT
A) the feelings it evokes.
B) its dictionary definition.
C) experiences associated with it.
D) figures of speech that help describe it.
36) Effective communicators follow
A) the same communication rules regardless of where they are.
B) the same communication rules regardless of who is present.
C) communication rules that vary with place and who is there.
D) their own communication rules that challenge the norm.
37) In which situation below should you be most careful about your language choices?
A) a beer party before a game with friends
B) an interview for an important job
C) a study session with a group of other students
D) an informal gathering during the lunch hour at work
38) In which situation below can you be most casual about your language?
A) asking directions from a well-dressed stranger at the airport
B) telling your own young children how to use the computer
C) at the dinner table with relatives during a religious holiday
D) with your best friends on a vacation
39) Rules of engagement refer to rules about all of the following EXCEPT
A) initiating communication.
B) terminating communication.
C) conducting communication.
D) interfering with communication.
40) Turn taking is most commonly exhibited in which communication situation?
A) a vigorous argument
B) a conversation
C) a classroom lecture
D) a public speech
41) Which item below best illustrates the concept of code switching?
A) a navy vet who talks one way with his shipmates but quite another way when interviewing for a
civilian job
B) a child who speaks one way at age three but quite another way at the age of five
C) a Jamaican who speaks patois at home and at work
D) a woman who speaks the same way to her kids as to her husband
42) In order to avoid offending people, journalists are expected to
A) mention age, race, or ethnicity only if it is important to the story.
B) specify a person’s race and sexual orientation unless told otherwise.
C) omit any references to race or ethnicity from their stories.
D) mention race, age, and gender if it supports their employer’s political agenda.
43) Which of the following observations is NOT credible?
A) Older people in the United States may be less tolerant of profanity than are younger people.
B) In general, men use profanity more than women do, especially in public.
C) Profanity is so common currently that once-forbidden words have practically lost their impact.
D) The Internet is the one place where profanity can be used openly with no prohibitions.
44) Which statement below is an example of sexism in language?
A) It’s okay to use man-linked words like freshman; everyone knows what you mean.
B) We can no longer use language that assumes all members of a category like lawyers,
physicians, professors, and soldiers are male.
C) The Women’s Policy Institute champions the interests of women throughout the country.
D) Women continue to get paid less than men working in the same fields and on similar tasks.
45) Which of the following is NOT a suggested approach to the use of racist language in
communication?
A) People in a particular racial group should get to decide what people outside that group call
them.
B) One possible way to reduce racial jokes is to quit laughing at them.
C) An aggressive stance for reducing racial jokes is to ask the person to quit using them.
D) Even if it means losing your job, you should tell your boss to quit telling racist jokes.
46) Politicians who answer questions without giving any specific details are using
A) jargon.
B) euphemisms.
C) overused expressions.
D) ambiguous words.
47) The definition “informal, casual language used among equals” refers to
A) clichés.
B) hyperbole.
C) slang.
D) profanity.
48) An author finds this note from the textbook editor: “AU: OK to KT list at EOC?” The editor is
using
A) jargon.
B) slang.
C) similes.
D) code switching.
49) Using the term “friendly fire” to refer to an American soldier killed by another American
soldier is to use
A) slang.
B) a euphemism.
C) profanity.
D) an ambiguity.
50) To use words that are open to multiple interpretations is to use
A) ambiguous language.
B) euphemistic language.
C) simplistic language.
D) colorful language.
51) Observations are
A) words and statements that are specific rather than abstract or vague.
B) descriptions of what you directly saw, touched, tasted, smelled, or heard.
C) conclusions based on some evidence.
D) relationships that help listeners remember.
52) Strategies for improving verbal communication include all of the following EXCEPT
A) building your vocabulary.
B) describing without judgment.
C) defining your terms.
D) correcting others.
53) An excellent strategy to increase accurate communication is to state in your own words what
you think the other person meant, a strategy called
A) repetition.
B) paraphrasing.
C) explaining.
D) arguing.
54) When the physician tells the patient that she has a tumor the size of a grape, the physician is
using what language strategy for clarification?
A) professional jargon
B) a figure of speech
C) slang
D) an unlikely comparison
55) Which item below best illustrates the use of concrete language?
A) He had black hair, brown eyes, bronze complexion, and a pleasant smile.
B) She was a real beauty.
C) He was a handsome dude with an attractive personality.
D) She was ugly as a mud fence.
56) Some people refer to their noon meal as dinner and their evening meal as supper; others have
dinner at night. These are examples of what language characteristic?
A) connotations
B) denotations
C) jargon
D) regionalisms