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Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
1. Ragged right margins (without alignment or justification) provide more white space and improve readability.
a. True
b. False
2. It is safer to proofread on your computer screen than to proofread from a printed copy because you will catch more
errors.
a. True
b. False
3. One way of controlling your enthusiasm in business writing is to avoid overusing intensifiers such as very, definitely,
and actually.
a. True
b. False
4. This is to inform you that is an effective way to begin a message because it speaks directly to the reader.
a. True
b. False
5. Underlining, bolding, or italicizing are effective ways to call attention to important points and terms.
a. True
b. False
6. Slang and buzzwords in business writing can make you sound unprofessional.
a. True
b. False
7. If you send tweets, you are a microblogger.
a. True
b. False
8. There are, there is, and it is are examples of unnecessary opening fillers.
a. True
b. False
9. Zombie nouns often end in –ion, -ment, and –ance and are useful tools for making messages clear and powerful.
a. True
b. False
10. Add end punctuation to a numbered or bulleted list only if the items in the list are complete sentences.
a. True
b. False
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11. In view of the fact that is considered a vague expression.
a. True
b. False
12. Routine documents and complex documents can be effectively proofread using the same method.
a. True
b. False
13. Common expressions known as clichés are effective in business writing because they are universally understood and
conversational.
a. True
b. False
14. Since e-mailing, tweeting, and other forms of digital messaging allow for speedier communication, editing short
workplace messages is unnecessary and even counterproductive.
a. True
b. False
15. If proofreading on a computer screen, it is best to focus on one line at a time by using the down arrow.
a. True
b. False
16. Congratulating yourself when you find an error in your writing before sending the message can help you proofread
more effectively.
a. True
b. False
17. It is best to proofread complex documents immediately after finishing them while the content is still fresh in your
mind.
a. True
b. False
18. Headings are appropriate only in messages that will be submitted as hard copies, such as reports or letters. They
should not be used in electronic messages.
a. True
b. False
19. Encouraging the receiver to respond to your message is an effective way to judge the success of your communication.
a. True
b. False
20. The following sentence is an example of effective business writing because the message requires formality: This e-
mail message is to inform you that we have received your employment application.
a. True
b. False
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21. Some experts recommend spending about half of the total writing time on the editing, proofreading, and evaluating
phase.
a. True
b. False
22. Serif typefaces are widely used for signs, headings, and material that does not require continuous reading.
a. True
b. False
23. The following sentence is an example of effective business writing: As per your request, further instructions will be
sent to you under separate cover.
a. True
b. False
24. Allan is writing instructions for filing an employee grievance. He should use a numbered list because the order of
steps in the process is important.
a. True
b. False
25. In business writing, you should focus on impressing rather than expressing.
a. True
b. False
26. The following sentence is effectively phrased to express the importance of the message: It is absolutely essential that
you turn your expense claim in by Friday.
a. True
b. False
27. The phrase create a reduction in costs contains an example of a buried verb.
a. True
b. False
28. One way to achieve clarity is to use passive-voice verbs in your messages.
a. True
b. False
29. Bulleted lists are most effective for items representing a sequence or chronology.
a. True
b. False
30. Editing and proofreading are interchangeable terms for correcting a message’s grammar, spelling, punctuation, format,
and mechanics.
a. True
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b. False
Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
31. Which of the following is a goal of business writing?
a. To impress your reader
b. To keep your writing short and simple
c. To use industry buzz words
d. To perfect a message in the first draft
32. What is the most accurate statement about slang and buzzwords?
a. If you want to sound professional, avoid using slangy expressions and buzzwords in your writing.
b. Buzzwords are informal words with arbitrary and extravagantly changed meanings that quickly go out of fashion.
c. Buzzwords are technical terms that are meant to express rather than impress.
d. Slang and buzzwords will help your writing sound hip and current.
33. Which of the following sentences best controls exuberance?
a. We totally understand that you really didn’t mean to actually seem arrogant during the interview.
b. Our customers are extremely pleased with our really excellent customer service.
c. We are happy to learn that your banquet room is available on December 15.
d. We definitely think that the company could actually reduce turnover by offering new benefits.
34. Which of the following sentences does not contain any buried verbs?
a. The health care industry is dependent on a highly trained staff.
b. The task force reached a conclusion that the company should go public.
c. In some parts of the world, business is not conducted over meals.
d. We have made plans to create a reduction in our operating expenses.
35. Some experts recommend devoting about ________ of the total writing time to the third phase of the writing process.
a. 10 percent
b. 30 percent
c. 50 percent
d. 75 percent
36. In making sure that subjects agree with their verbs in your message, you are checking for ________.
a. spelling
b. grammar
c. tone
d. format
37. Which of the following sentences avoids a cliché?
a. First and foremost, I would like to thank you for attending.
b. We need to think outside the box in creating new products.
c. His presentation was well received by the board of trustees.
d. Meeting that early deadline is easier said than done.
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38. Which of the following sentences avoids the use of trite business phrases?
a. The application will be sent under separate cover.
b. Enclosed please find a coupon to use during your next visit.
c. We have received your loan application.
d. Please do not hesitate to call me if you have questions.
39. Fully justified text (when lines of text align on both the left and right) ________.
a. requires margins of 1 to 1.5 inches
b. is preferred for business documents because it increases white space and readability
c. results in awkward and uneven spaces between words
d. is easier to skim
40. Which of the following statements about numbered and bulleted lists is most accurate?
a. Use a bulleted list when the sequence of items is important.
b. In a numbered or bulleted list, capitalize the first word only if the listed item is a complete sentence.
c. Make the items in a numbered or bulleted list parallel.
d. Add end punctuation to all items in a numbered or bulleted list.
41. When it arrived, I cashed your check immediately is an example of ________.
a. effective business writing
b. reader orientation
c. a long lead-in
d. saying the obvious
42. Which of the following statements is most accurate about Phase 3 of the writing process?
a. In this final phase, you should focus only on sentence-level editing.
b. To save time, you should not focus on revising short messages.
c. You should plan to spend about half of the total time on a message in the revision phase.
d. Effective writers aim for a perfect message on the first try.
43. Sans serif typefaces ________.
a. are often preferred by Web designers for simple, pure pages
b. have small features at the ends of strokes
c. suggest tradition, maturity, and formality
d. are frequently used for body text in business messages and longer documents
44. Effectively editing, proofreading, and evaluating your writing demands objectivity and a willingness to ________.
a. print every message
b. cut words and sentences
c. wait at least two days between drafting and sending a message
d. concentrate on ideas rather than words or individual sentences
45. The vague expression in view of the fact that could be replaced by which of the following words?
a. later
b. although
c. presently
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d. because
46. Which of the following about using Twitter for business writing is accurate?
a. Tweets should include long words to increase description and comprehension.
b. You should avoid personalizing tweets so that you can remain anonymous.
c. Conventional spelling, grammar, and punctuation are unimportant because tweets are usually informal.
d. Tweets should include only main ideas related to useful information.
47. Which of the following is the best example of business writing?
a. It would be advantageous for you to enlighten your employees regarding the company’s new social media policy.
b. Please tell your employees about the company’s new social media policy.
c. You are hereby advised to inform your employees about the new social media policy that has been adopted by the
company.
d. The individual referenced above must inform all subordinates in regard to the company’s new social media
policy.
48. Which of the following sentences avoids slang or buzzwords?
a. I can’t believe that I totally bombed my presentation.
b. We need to work hard to meet the deadline.
c. We hope to incentivize our employees to work hard to meet the project deadline.
d. I hope we don’t get burned, but we really need this paradigm shift.
49. One way to evaluate a message effectively is to think of your writing as taking the place of ________.
a. a telephone call
b. your resumé
c. a social media post
d. a personal appearance
50. Vanessa has written a marketing report for her boss. Before presenting it, she wants to make sure that the report does
not contain too many words like extremely, totally, and very. She wants to sound emphatic but businesslike. What is
Vanessa checking for?
a. Conciseness
b. Redundancy
c. Clichés
d. Intensifiers
51. Proofreading your own writing is especially difficult because you are likely to _______.
a. find your own content uninteresting
b. rely on readers to find errors for you
c. believe that correctness is unimportant
d. see what you thought you wrote
52. To vs. too and then vs. than are examples of ________.
a. formatting errors
b. easily confused words
c. typos
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d. clichés
53. Which of the following statements is most accurate about clichés and slang in business writing?
a. They can add clarity to your writing.
b. Using them frequently can help you keep your writing fresh and trendy.
c. Avoiding them can help you maintain professionalism.
d. They are universally understood.
54. Alexis must proofread a complex business document. She should _______.
a. proofread the document on her computer screen since the document will be submitted electronically
b. anticipate that she will find errors
c. read the document immediately after finishing the first draft
d. read quickly to focus on main ideas rather than individual words
55. In asking herself Does this message achieve my purpose?, Nicole is in the ________ stage of the writing process.
a. proofreading
b. composing
c. evaluating
d. submitting
56. Which of the following sentences best demonstrates clarity?
a. Every effort should be made to notify each and every employee without delay of next week’s gathering.
b. First and foremost, it is imperative that all employees be notified of next week’s assembly.
c. It is the duty of all supervisors to inform their subordinates of next week’s congregation.
d. Please let your employees know about next Friday’s meeting.
57. The best way to evaluate your finished written message is by ________.
a. determining the readability level
b. running it through a grammar/style checker program
c. receiving feedback
d. asking someone to proofread it for you
58. Study the following sentence: Social media have created an enormous paradigm shift in what types of stories are
considered “breaking news.” This sentence would be improved by eliminating a(n) ________.
a. buzzword
b. vague expression
c. redundancy
d. opening filler
59. Nouns ending in -tion, –ment, and -ance are sometimes called ________ nouns because they can suck the life out of
active verbs.
a. slang
b. zombie
c. dead
d. buried
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60. To make your business messages more readable, you can do which of the following?
a. Add footnotes.
b. Incorporate numbered and bulleted lists.
c. Include a bibliography at the end.
d. Eliminate white space.
61. During Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process, Donalyn is analyzing her message to make sure it will achieve its
purpose. What is Donalyn doing?
a. Proofreading
b. Evaluating
c. Editing
d. Anticipating
62. Which of the following represents the best business writing?
a. This e-mail message is to inform you that the CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow.
b. The CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow.
c. You should be aware that the CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow.
d. The CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow for a period of three hours.
63. Khalida is sending an e-mail message to a client. Before sending it, she wants to make sure that she has made her
point in the fewest possible words. What is Khalida checking for?
a. Conciseness
b. Format
c. Clarity
d. Vigor
64. Serif typefaces ________.
a. include Arial and Calibri
b. are known as “cleaner” because they lack small features at the ends of strokes
c. are widely used for headings and signs
d. make writing seem more accessible because readers are familiar with them
65. What is the most accurate statement about proofreading and message errors?
a. Documents with errors do not affect your credibility or the success of your organization.
b. You should proofread your document continuously while writing it.
c. Checking format is not part of the proofreading stage.
d. It can be difficult to catch our own errors because most of us read what we thought we wrote.
66. Conduct a discussion of, give consideration to, and perform an analysis of are all examples of ________.
a. verbs that have been converted to nouns
b. long lead-ins
c. trite business phrases
d. redundancies
67. Blake has just written an e-mail message to his colleagues. Before sending it, he wants to make sure that it has high
skim value. In doing so, he is checking ________.
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a. conciseness
b. format
c. clarity
d. punctuation
68. A message has high skim value when it __________.
a. can be browsed quickly for main ideas
b. is one paragraph long
c. is submitted on paper rather than e-mail
d. has no grammatical or mechanical errors
69. Which of the following represents the best business writing?
a. We will perform an analysis of the data.
b. Enclosed are three samples of our fabric.
c. We totally agree that his proposal did not actually seem very feasible.
d. Once you sign the document, we’ll be good to go.
70. Bold, italics, and underlining are examples of ________.
a. typefaces
b. flags
c. fonts
d. headings
71. In the following example, Personalized Service is functioning as a(n) _______.
Personalized Service: We will drive you back home and pick you up when your car is ready.
a. appendix
b. category heading
c. greeting
d. placeholder
72. The sentence There are five new items that we will add to our menu next week could be made more concise by
eliminating a(n) ________.
a. redundancy
b. vague expression
c. opening filler
d. long lead-in
73. During Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process, Jamar is correcting his document’s grammar, spelling, punctuation,
format, and mechanics. What is Jamar doing?
a. Proofreading
b. Evaluating
c. Editing
d. Anticipating
74. Which of the following phrases is free of redundancies?
a. Essential items
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b. Big in size
c. Combined together
d. New beginning
75. Lawrence is evaluating a report that he will be submitting to his supervisor. Which of the following questions should
he ask himself at this stage?
a. Does the message need to be written?
b. Will the report lead to a promotion?
c. Are the spelling, grammar, and punctuation correct?
d. How can the report be improved?
76. Breaking up long paragraphs into shorter chunks is a way to increase ________.
a. alignment
b. word count
c. white space
d. correctness
77. You have created a bulleted list showing features that you are including on your company’s Facebook page. Which of
the following items is not parallel with the others?
a. Links to important pages on our company’s website
b. Photos showing customers using our products
c. We will hold a weekly prize giveaway
d. Information about upcoming events
78. Which of the following media involve microblogging?
a. E-mail
b. Instant messaging
c. Facebook
d. Text messaging
79. Posting a short message on social media reviewing a product you have purchased is an example of _______.
a. evaluating a message
b. microblogging
c. front loading
d. advertising
80. One important part of the revising process is to focus on ________ to make sure that your message will be
immediately understood by the reader.
a. clarity
b. conciseness
c. mechanics
d. punctuation
81. As per your request, enclosed please find, and thank you in advance are all examples of ________.
a. long lead-ins
b. redundancies
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c. trite business phrases
d. professional business phrases
82. Editing is the process of ________.
a. correcting the grammar, spelling, punctuation, format, and mechanics of your message
b. finding and correcting errors in documents seeking to persuade
c. improving the content and sentence structure of your message
d. improving text messages and tweets
83. Confirming your use of affect vs. effect when proofreading is an example of checking for ________.
a. spelling
b. grammar
c. tone
d. format
84. The sentence I am writing this e-mail message to let you know that we have received your application for the
receptionist position contains a ________.
a. redundancy
b. long lead-in
c. buried verb
d. spelling error
85. Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process begins with doing which of the following?
a. Evaluating your document to determine whether it achieves its purpose
b. Deciding how to organize the message
c. Composing the first draft
d. Editing the message to improve content and sentence structure
86. Concise writing significantly affects organizations because time equals ________.
a. business
b. money
c. success
d. customers
87. _______ expressions, such as despite the fact that, can often be shortened to one word.
a. Trite
b. Slang
c. Lead-in
d. Vague
88. “Light” proofreading of routine messages should include ________.
a. looking for typos and misspellings
b. focusing only on main ideas
c. waiting at least a day to proofread before sending
d. asking a coworker for feedback