“Workman,” “chairman,” and “airhostess” are examples of sexist job titles.
Answer:
A visual allows important information to be emphasized only if the visual appears at the
beginning or at the end of a document.
Answer:
Situational interviews ask questions about the kinds of situations you have faced in the
past jobs.
Answer:
You should write the purpose statement only after researching the specific alternatives
the report will discuss.
Answer:
It is important to keep ballpark figures in mind when you look at numerical data,
because a significant number of spreadsheets contain errors.
Answer:
Tracy is writing a solicited application letter to a prospective employer. For the letter,
she ensures that she does enough research to learn about the organization.
Demonstrating her knowledge of the organization can show what distinguishes her from
other applicants who respond to the job advertisement.
Answer:
In a persuasive presentation, you should begin with your weakest point and end on a
strong note.
Answer:
Supporting data which is to be examined by specialists, such as accountants, lawyers,
and engineers, are generally put in the body of a report.
Answer:
Violating conventions is risky, because they may not be interpreted correctly.
Answer:
An advantage of calling an organization to find out the name and address of the
recipient of your application letter is that you can find out what courtesy title the
individual prefers and get current information.
Answer:
Brainstorming, clustering, and freewriting are techniques that help you get ideas before
you begin to write.
Answer:
Fixed fonts allow wide letters to occupy more space than narrow letters.
Answer:
Whenever you are communicating with customers about features that are not unique to
your organization, it is wise to present both the benefits of the features themselves and
the benefits of dealing with your company.
Answer:
One of the first steps in planning an oral presentation is to identify five main ideas that
you want your audience to take home.
Answer:
How detailed a message should be depends upon the kind of message, the purposes of
the message, the audiences for the message, and the corporate culture.
Answer:
In most business situations, you should talk about the audience’s feelings, because it
reduces the distance between the audience and the writer.
Answer:
Dejuan has to send a newsletter to all the employees. While addressing the employees
in the newsletter, he should treat them as people, not as numbers.
Answer:
When you produce a business document with photographs, the photographs as a whole
should show exactly 50 percent men and 50 percent women.
Answer:
Oral communication is always for internal audiences in an organization and written
communication is strictly created for external audiences.
Answer:
Hypothetical questions which ask people to imagine what they would do generally yield
more reliable answers than questions about critical incidents or key past events.
Answer:
“And,” “but,” and “because” are examples of prepositions.
Answer:
A common component of visuals and data displays is the data source, if you created the
visual from data someone else gathered and compiled.
Answer:
The words used to state a reason for a refusal are independent of context.
Answer:
While recruiting young employees, second-language proficiency and multicultural
awareness are unimportant qualities, because mid-level positions do not require inter
cultural interaction.
Answer:
Informal reports may be letters, memos, or computer printouts of numerical
information.
Answer:
A presentation designed to train a group of employees on how to use certain software is
an example of an informative presentation.
Answer:
An employee’s loyalty to colleagues, managers, or the company is a common reason
that prevents employees from reporting ethical misconduct in the company.
Answer:
In a negative message, you should ensure that good alternatives are mentioned in the
ending.
Answer:
With the advent of social media, television advertising is no longer a preferred channel
for many big businesses which need to reach a wide audience.
Answer:
A sentence reads: “Please be patient while we fix the technical difficulties in the
system.” This sentence demonstrates the use of double negatives.
Answer:
Religion affects business communication.
Answer:
Teresa, a project manager, sends an e-mail to her subordinate informing him that he is
going to be laid off. This is a recommended way to communicate serious negative
messages to team members.
Answer:
It is not necessary to include benefits in positive and informative messages when:
A. presenting policies.
B. presenting factual information only.
C. presenting benefits that may not be obvious.
D. stressing benefits that present the audience’s motives positively.
E. shaping your audience’s attitudes toward the information or toward your
organization.
Answer:
Which of the following is an appropriate way to write a good thank-you note?
A. Keep the note short and use abbreviations if it is being sent via e-mail.
B. Refer to specific things you saw during your visit.
C. Avoid using the jargon of the company.
D. Express minimum enthusiasm as the note is formal.
E. Never enclose receipts for any expenses incurred during a site visit interview.
Answer:
Sarah is the customer relationship manager at a designer clothing store. She is drafting a
letter to Loretta Franklin, a client, with whom she has established a good personal
relationship over the years. Sarah wants to inform Loretta that because of her excellent
credit relationship with their store, Loretta will receive a 25 percent discount on all of
her purchases going forward. Which of the following salutations should Sarah use to
address Loretta Franklin?
A. Dear Ma’am
B. Dear Mrs. Franklin
C. Dear Loretta
D. Dear Loretta Franklin
E. Dear Mrs. Loretta Franklin
Answer:
Which of the following statements is true of cross-cultural apologizing?
A. Western cultures assume that apologies are ways of expressing regret.
B. Group-oriented cultures assume that apologies are a way to take responsibility for
mistakes.
C. The reactions to apologies are deeply tied to culture.
D. Cultural differences in interpreting apologies are relevant in social situations only.
E. Cross-cultural apologizing is easy.
Answer:
Food Love, a chain of fast food restaurants, recently conducted a survey to understand
what motivated their employees at work. To their surprise, they noticed that over 85
percent of the employees were inspired to perform better by intrinsic factors as opposed
to extrinsic factors. Which of the following would best serve as an intrinsic motivator
for the employees of Food Love?
A. Earning a high sales commission
B. Being rewarded with a trip to the Bahamas
C. Being able to contribute to the company
D. Receiving good performance evaluations
E. Enjoying perks and added benefits
Answer:
Which of the following is true of online networks?
A. They are more cost-effective than traditional focus groups.
B. They tend to have less participation than traditional focus groups.
C. They don’t encourage deep probing.
D. They are very representative of current and future customers.
E. They tend to encourage innovation.
Answer:
Which of the following kinds of reports provides a reason for making a purchase,
investing, hiring, or changing a policy?
A. An interim report
B. An information report
C. A closure report
D. A justification report
E. A feasibility report
Answer:
Which of the following actions helps to make visuals more accurate?
A. Using truncate scales on graphs to highlight the information of interest to the reader
B. Using three-dimensional (3D) graphs to be able to include more data
C. Altering images so that they more closely relate to the message you wish to send
D. Differentiating between actual and estimated or projected values
E. Combining graphs with different scales
Answer:
When writing business documents, it is appropriate to use a long word instead of a short
word when the long word:
A. is less familiar than the short word.
B. has a very different connotation than the short word.
C. is more technical than the short word.
D. has several ambiguous denotations or meanings.
E. is the only word that expresses your meaning exactly.
Answer:
Which of the following is true of referral interviews?
A. They include asking a person for a job.
B. They are conducted by employers to find out what referrals applicants come with.
C. They are attended only by applicants who come with references.
D. They naturally lead to information interviews if they are successful.
E. They are scheduled to learn about current job opportunities in an applicant’s field of
interest.
Answer:
Which of the following should be undertaken if you are not following an RFP?
A. End the proposal with a statement of why you are doing the job.
B. End the proposal with the implications of a proposed action.
C. End the proposal by explaining why a certain action is important.
D. Begin the proposal with a statement of what you are proposing to do.
E. Begin the proposal with the major benefits of having you do the job.
Answer:
Which of the following should be undertaken while using a basic pattern of
organization in a message?
A. Understand the rationale or logic behind each of the patterns.
B. Remember that the pattern cannot be modified or changed when necessary.
C. Know that every message with the basic pattern will have all elements included.
D. Understand that you should always present several elements in one paragraph.
E. Remember that you should never have several paragraphs for just one element.
Answer:
Visual communications expert Charles Kostelnick’s _____ refers to design choices for
individual letters and words.
A. intra-level
B. extra-level
C. inter-level
D. outer-level
E. supra-level
Answer:
Which of the following is true of colors and their common connotations in western
culture?
A. The positive connotations of brown are strong, trustworthy, and authoritative.
B. The negative connotations of red are cold and sterile.
C. The positive connotations of yellow are warm, earthy, and mature.
D. The negative connotations of blue are danger and aggression.
E. The positive connotations of white are clean, innocent, and pure.
Answer:
_____ allows professionals to connect with colleagues and other industry members and
use the site to network and earn recommendations from past and current clients.
A. Facebook
B. LinkedIn
C. Blogs
D. Twitter
E. Orkut
Answer:
Which of the following examples uses double negatives?
A. Work doubly hard to reach your targets.
B. It is important to reach your sales targets.
C. Never fail to reach your sales targets.
D. Always ensure you reach your sales targets.
E. Make sure you work hard to reach your targets.
Answer:
Dong Ho works at Welborough Bank in California. He recently gave a presentation on
“Benefits of Investing in Unit-Link Plans” to the members of his team, the sales team,
and the marketing team. He also showed the presentation to his superiors before making
a few changes and presenting it to the customers. The external audience for Dong’s
presentation includes:
A. the sales team.
B. the marketing team.
C. his superiors.
D. the customers.
E. his subordinates.
Answer:
While revising a collaborative piece of writing, it is important to:
A. evaluate the content and discuss possible revisions as a team.
B. ensure that several good writers make changes for a consistent style of writing.
C. ensure that one team member evaluates the organization for possible revisions.
D. avoid running the document through a spell check because it is never reliable.
E. ensure that it aligns with your writing style irrespective of business writing
conventions.
Answer:
The problem/opportunity section of a proposal for a student report should address
which of the following questions?
A. Why does a certain issue need to be solved?
B. How do you know that an opportunity can be explored?
C. What watchdog audiences may read the report?
D. Can a solution be found in the available time?
E. Who will be affected by a recommendation?
Answer:
Which of the following do baby boomers value more than millennials?
A. Autonomy
B. Informality
C. Hierarchy
D. Faster feedback
E. Job flexibility
Answer:
How should emotional appeal be used in fund-raising messages?
A. Using a mild appeal to convince people and avoid offending them
B. Creating emotional appeal by a generic group instead of specifics
C. Using sensory details to help people connect to a cause
D. Using a long-winded style because it evokes interest in a reader
E. Using lots of words, which is crucial in making a document appealing
Answer:
Aliyah sent an e-mail to her manager requesting for a leave of two days in the following
week. If she does not get a reply immediately, she should:
A. send the same e-mail again after a few minutes.
B. ask the manager in person to reply to the e-mail.
C. wait for a day before e-mailing the manager again.
D. call her manager to know if the e-mail was received.
E. send another e-mail with the subject line “READ NOW.”
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of a non-sexist job title?
A. Poetess
B. Stewardess
C. Mailman
D. Flight attendant
E. Sculptress
Answer:
Which of the following guidelines should be followed to create the right tone in a
persuasive message?
A. Provide a reason for a request which makes the tone better.
B. Avoid using subjunctive verbs while writing to people senior in position.
C. Use passive verbs to create a friendly, informal tone.
D. Avoid being polite when writing to co-workers and external people.
E. Avoid using explicit disclaimers in order to show respect to superiors.
Answer:
Ambrosio, a marketing executive, distributes samples of a new detergent to prospective
buyers and requests them to voice their thoughts as they use the product. This is an
example of _____.
A. information surveys
B. focus groups
C. heuristic surveys
D. interruption interviews
E. think-aloud protocols
Answer:
Which of the following should be undertaken while devising an interview strategy?
A. Pick ten main points that represent your strengths for a job and elaborate on them.
B. Listen to each question, to see if you could make one of your key points as part of
your answer.
C. Avoid making key points about your strengths for a job at the end of an interview.
D. Let strengths stand by themselves rather than trying to justify them with
accomplishments.
E. Try your best to avoid questions about your weaknesses and failures.
Answer:
Which of the following is a primary purpose of an informative message?
A. To build a good image of the sender’s organization
B. To de-emphasize any negative information
C. To eliminate future messages on the same subject
D. To build a good image of the sender
E. To have the receiver view the information positively
Answer:
In which of the following situations is a sales pattern most likely to be used?
A. When the audience will find a task easy to perform
B. When the audience may resist doing as you ask
C. When logic is more important than emotion in the decision
D. When the audience may not read all of the message
E. When an audience is easily convinced about a message
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT a neutral job title?
A. Nurse
B. Pilot
C. Inspector
D. Secretary
E. Waitress
Answer:
Which of the following examples illustrates the lowest level of politeness in a
message?
A. Please submit your campaign report by Friday.
B. Submit your campaign report latest by Friday.
C. Your campaign reports should be submitted by Friday.
D. Would you be able to submit your campaign report by Friday?
E. I request you to submit your campaign report by Friday.
Answer:
Which of the following might be an interpretation of the color yellow in a visual in
Western culture?
A. Warm, earthy, and mature
B. Strong, brave, and passionate
C. Happy, friendly, and optimistic
D. Clean, innocent, and pure
E. Jealous, inexperienced, and greedy
Answer:
Blue Hills, an organization that works to protect forests and wildlife in Indonesia,
conducts a research on protected forest cover and encroached forest land. This research
does not result in any further action or recommendation. In its report, the organization
documents the research conducted by summarizing research findings. This is an
example of a(n) _____.
A. recommendation report
B. justification report
C. annual report
D. after action report
E. informative and closure report
Answer:
Chang is the new manager of Good Eats Inc. He is required to send an e-mail to Alex
Wales whom he has never met. He is not sure whether Alex is male or female. Which of
the following is the most non-sexist way to address Alex in the e-mail?
A. Dear Mr. Alex
B. Mr. Alex
C. Dear Mr./Mrs. Wales
D. Dear Ms. Alex
E. Dear Alex Wales
Answer:
Which of the following is a characteristic of good writing?
A. It keeps requests ambiguous which helps avoid arguments.
B. It uses legalistic language to impress the readers.
C. It analyzes the larger context in which words may appear.
D. It presents the main point in the middle of a long paragraph.
E. It requires a reader to gather additional information.
Answer:
Tone of voice, gestures, proximity to others, and facial expressions are examples of
_____.
A. linguistics
B. social signals
C. active listening
D. intercultural context
E. verbal communication
Answer:
Describe and explain three guidelines that help you organize report data in a way that is
most useful to readers.
Answer:
List the steps for organizing a message conveying bad news to superiors?
Answer:
What kind of information should not be included on a résumé?
Answer:
How do values, beliefs, and practices affect our response to people and situations?
Answer:
Explain what maps are used for and what you should keep in mind when presenting
data in the form of a map.
Answer:
Discuss, with the help of an example, why calculating figures conservatively is
recommended in preparing budgets for a proposal.
Answer:
List the criteria for a good report problem.
Answer:
Discuss the main costs of communication.
Answer:
What are the four common modes for openers in oral presentations?
Answer:
What are the three criteria for determining which things you should emphasize on your
résumé?
Answer:
What are the key points to keep in mind while choosing a level of formality for a
business document?
Answer:
Differentiate between infographics and dynamic displays and explain the uses for both.
Answer:
What should you do to reduce listening errors caused by misinterpretation?
Answer:
List the guidelines which should be followed while designing documents.
Answer:
What are the characteristics of corporate culture?
Answer:
Explain why threats do not work.
Answer:
“Never have a sentence with more than 20 words, or a paragraph with more than 8
lines.” Explain why this statement is considered a half-truth in business writing.
Answer: