Regarding grammar and spelling in written communication, today’s employers
generally
A) expect employees to follow accepted standards.
B) take a laid-back approach as long as employees can get their point across.
C) understand and accept that abbreviations (such as those used in text messaging) and
informal language are now the norm.
D) expect employees to use spell-check, but otherwise understand that mistakes are no
big deal.
E) want employees to speak and write informally, so everyone feels comfortable.
Answer:
When answering requests and a potential sale is involved, one important goal is to
A) leave your audience with a good impression of you and your firm.
B) provide negative information about any possible competitors.
C) use hard sell techniques to pressure the reader into making the purchase.
D) make negative comments about your competition.
E) none of the above.
Answer:
The proper sequence for the standard parts of a letter is
A) heading, date, inside address, salutation, body, complimentary close, signature
block.
B) date, heading, inside address, salutation, body, typewritten name, complimentary
close.
C) salutation, date, heading, inside address, body, complimentary close, signature block.
D) inside address, heading, date, salutation, body, complimentary close, typewritten
name.
E) heading, inside address, salutation, date, body, complimentary close, signature block.
Answer:
“Insurance premiums have increased, and cost-of-living raises have not kept up” is a
________ sentence.
A) simple
B) compound
C) complex
D) compound-complex
E) simple-compound
Answer:
A letter rejecting a job applicant should
A) avoid explaining why he or she was not selected.
B) point out the applicant’s shortcomings.
C) be as impersonal as a message on a bulletin board.
D) be as long and wordy as possible.
E) always include an apology.
Answer:
Planning is essential when writing business messages because it
A) helps you provide the right information to the right people in the right format.
B) makes the writing process faster and less stressful.
C) can save you from embarrassing blunders that could hurt your company or your
career.
D) helps you deliver concise, compelling information that your audience wants and
needs.
E) all of the above.
Answer:
Which of the following sentences is the most concisely worded?
A) The project manager is in charge of furnishing specifications until such time as the
project gets underway.
B) All specifications should be provided by the project manager prior to the start of a
project.
C) Project managers have the capability of exercising their option to implement
changes to the specifications before the official start date.
D) Give the engineers the project manager’s revised specifications before the project
starts.
E) When it comes to specifications, the project manager must certainly be the only one
to change them.
Answer:
Materials in an appendix are not incorporated into the text because
A) they are controversial.
B) they include bad news.
C) they are too long, or not relevant to everyone in the audience.
D) they are boring.
E) they are completely unrelated to the report.
Answer:
When they’re making decisions, North American executives
A) tend to focus on the results of the decisions they face.
B) prefer to make their deals slowly, after much discussion.
C) spend a lot of time on each little point to display their good faith.
D) arrive at decisions through consensus, after an elaborate and time-consuming
process.
E) will usually give in if it allows them to avoid offending the other party.
Answer:
The sentence, “Now that we’ve identified the problem, let’s take a look at some
solutions,” is an example of
A) a problem statement for a presentation.
B) a transition between major sections of a presentation.
C) a statement of intent for a presentation.
D) the main idea for a presentation.
E) a redundant phrase that should be eliminated.
Answer:
The ________ is the form a message takes and the ________ is the system used to
deliver the message.
A) channel, medium
B) medium, channel
C) method, schematic
D) tunnel, pipeline
E) format, route
Answer:
A new co-worker from Russia asks you about North American greeting customs. You
should explain that in most business contexts,
A) women are expected to shake hands differently than men.
B) it is not necessary to stand up before shaking hands if you are already seated.
C) shaking hands is now widely regarded as an outdated custom.
D) a firm handshake is expected when two people meet.
E) it is acceptable to shake hands using either the left or right hand.
Answer:
When it comes to core values,
A) all cultures are basically the same.
B) the U.S. has a lot in common with Japanese and Arab cultures.
C) cultures no longer have any.
D) every culture values individualism and old-fashioned hard work.
E) many cultures have very little (or nothing) in common with others.
Answer:
Creating a plain-text file of your résumé
A) is an outdated practice.
B) allows you to include your résumé in the body of an email message, instead of as an
attachment.
C) is helpful, but very difficult to do without expensive software.
D) requires that you center all headings instead of left-justifying them.
E) is necessary only if you are not able to use word processing software.
Answer:
The scope of a business message pertains to
A) a specific statement about the overall subject of the message.
B) the range of information you present to support your main idea.
C) thematic elements and metaphors in business messages.
D) the efforts you expend when you proofread the message.
E) the act of conveying the message through more than one informational cue.
Answer:
To gain credibility with your audience in business reports, do all of the following
except
A) research all sides of your topic.
B) make the report longer than it really needs to be.
C) avoid setting unrealistic expectations.
D) document your findings with credible sources.
E) All of the above will increase your credibility.
Answer:
The ________ is not included in the prefatory parts of a formal report.
A) introduction
B) letter of authorization
C) letter or memo of transmittal
D) table of contents
E) synopsis or executive summary
Answer:
In persuasive messages, suggesting that the action you want readers to take is easy
A) makes them suspect that you are hiding something.
B) encourages them to do what you have asked.
C) is insulting, since everyone will know it is not.
D) leads them to question the significance of your argument.
E) works only when you use a tone that is obviously sarcastic.
Answer:
The interactions and processes that take place among the members of a team are known
as
A) group norms.
B) groupthink.
C) group dynamics.
D) groupware.
E) group functionality.
Answer:
To reduce the formality of an oral presentation,
A) use a conversational tone during the presentation.
B) deliver your presentation in an auditorium.
C) seat the audience in preconfigured rows.
D) deliver your remarks in the passive voice.
E) do all of the above.
Answer:
Contacting people in a job candidate’s online network for background information
A) is illegal unless the candidate has listed them as references.
B) occurs very rarely, since most employers don’t have time to check online networks.
C) is impossible if the candidate does not provide contact information.
D) violates Facebook and LinkedIn user agreements.
E) is becoming more common among employers.
Answer:
If you’re sending extremely large files, you should
A) use overnight delivery to send a hard copy rather than sending them electronically.
B) consider using recordable media such as DVDs or a file-hosting site.
C) always send them as MS Word attachments.
D) send them through the mail to avoid excessive costs.
E) send duplicate copies as email attachments to ensure that they reach your audience.
Answer:
As a contemporary approach to business communication, the ________ is interactive,
conversational, and usually open to all who wish to participate.
A) reflexive communication model
B) computer-assisted communication model
C) give and take communication model
D) social communication model
E) corporate communication model
Answer:
If a message that you’ve drafted happens to score well on a readability index, you
should
A) send it immediately because revision won’t improve it.
B) rewrite the message to increase its complexity and professionalism.
C) revise it anyway, since you may need to address other factors.
D) note the readability score at the beginning of your text.
E) ignore any other suggestions that you may receive for improving the draft.
Answer:
Using the AIDA approach with online social media
A) is no different than using the AIDA plan in traditional media.
B) relies on a “We talk, you listen” model.
C) requires a conversational, interactive way of operating.
D) allows for carefully controlled conversations and interactions.
E) depends on an all-or-nothing, hard-sell approach.
Answer:
The Chicago humanities documentation style requires you to use
A) the author-date system.
B) the author-page number system.
C) footnotes or endnotes.
D) full citations within the text itself.
E) none of the above.
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of an effective subject line for an email
requesting information about the August inventory for bananas?
A) Information needed
B) Banana inventories
C) Banana information needed
D) Please send August banana inventory
E) August inventory
Answer:
One of the headings in your report is, “Unexpected Price Increases.” In the table of
contents, the heading should
A) be worded exactly the same way.
B) not be included.
C) be paraphrased.
D) be in boldface type.
E) be in all caps.
Answer:
Ethnocentrism can be overcome in part by
A) avoiding assumptions.
B) judging other groups according to your own standards.
C) ignoring the distinctions among cultures.
D) remembering that people from other cultures communicate in ways that are inferior
to your own.
E) asserting the superiority of your own culture.
Answer:
A good way to test the thoroughness of your business message is to check it for
A) a main idea.
B) a purpose.
C) the who, what, when, where, why, and how.
D) accuracy.
E) opinions that contradict one another.
Answer: