A report focused on recommendations should
A) first establish or verify the need for action.
B) not include conclusions.
C) avoid mentioning any potential risks.
D) outline costs, but not in detail.
Answer:
When you’re writing a report, be sure to adapt to your audience by
A) being sensitive to their needs.
B) controlling your style and tone.
C) building strong relationships with them.
D) all of the above.
Answer:
If your audience will be skeptical of or resistant to your message
A) state your main idea and then present your evidence.
B) start with the evidence and build your case before presenting your main idea.
C) start by asking rhetorical questions to arouse the audience’s interest in your message.
D) open your message with a humorous anecdote to establish rapport with the audience.
Answer:
Which of the following is a sentence fragment?
A) The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
B) He put the package in the mail right away.
C) Come here.
D) Moxie, depending on his friends for support.
Answer:
Thanks to Facebook, you’ve recently connected with an old friend who lives in another
state. She emails you frequently at work, often sharing racially charged jokes that you
find offensive. Concerned about what would happen if your boss or coworkers saw her
emails, you should
A) loosen up, since no one at your company has the right to read your email.
B) ask her to stop sending the jokes, tell your boss about the problem, and explain how
you have addressed it.
C) simply delete her email messages from your computer so no one will ever know
about them.
D) do none of the above.
Answer:
When it comes to persuasive messages, the direct approach
A) is rarely used.
B) is often preferable with a receptive audience.
C) is used only by top management.
D) does not require inclusion of justifications or explanations.
Answer:
To help establish clear guidelines for ethical behavior, many companies provide
employees a written
A) ethics audit.
B) ethical dilemma.
C) ethical lapse.
D) code of ethics.
Answer:
When reviewing your document for content, you should be concerned with
A) grammar and usage.
B) punctuation and spelling.
C) the accuracy and relevance of the information.
D) style and tone.
Answer:
The ________ is useful when you need to use a number of criteria to evaluate one or
more possible solutions.
A) 2 + 2 = 4 approach
B) unilateral approach
C) yardstick approach
D) crowdsourcing approach
Answer:
As used in everyday language, ________ mean more than the sum of their literal parts,
so they cannot be taken literally.
A) noun clauses
B) prepositional phrases
C) idiomatic phrases
D) adverbial clauses
Answer:
A reliable employee you supervise has come to speak with you about a leave of absence
related to personal issues. To understand her feelings and needs, you should engage in
A) content listening.
B) empathic listening.
C) critical listening.
D) sustained listening.
Answer:
Specialty typefaces such as Bauhaus, Stencil, or Calligraphic are
A) the default typeface for routine business messages.
B) easy to read in long blocks of text.
C) rarely used in business communication.
D) preferred for highly formal business messages.
Answer:
In memos, a courtesy title
A) should always be used.
B) is never appropriate.
C) is required if you are discussing confidential matters.
D) should be used only if you would use one in a face-to-face encounter with the reader.
Answer:
A surface chart is
A) a type of three-dimensional pie chart.
B) a form of line chart in which all the lines add up to the top line.
C) a type of map showing various terrains.
D) used to show interrelationships within an organization.
Answer:
In a positive message, you should explain your point completely in the
A) introduction.
B) body.
C) close.
D) None all parts are usually the same length.
Answer:
When rejecting a job applicant, you can soften the blow by
A) expressing appreciation for his or her application.
B) mentioning the qualifications of the person who was hired.
C) praising competitive applicants.
D) apologizing for wasting the person’s time.
Answer:
Retweeting is the practice of forwarding messages from other Twitter users. It is the
microblogging equivalent of
A) broadcasting to a list of contacts via email.
B) sharing other content from bloggers via content curation.
C) carrying on a real-time conversation via instant messaging.
D) conducting a keyword search on a general-purpose search engine.
Answer:
In a ________, your goal may be nothing more than convincing your audience to
re-examine long-help opinions or admit the possibility of new ways of thinking.
A) persuasive retrenchment
B) persuasive presentation of ideas
C) persuasive request for action
D) persuasive claim or request for adjustment
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of an ethical lapse?
A) Putting unsigned suggestions in the company suggestion box
B) Sharing confidential information with a new employer about your previous
(competing) employer’s major clients
C) Telling your supervisor that another employee is stealing office supplies
D) Providing incorrect data in a report, even though you did not know it was incorrect
at the time
Answer:
In a presentation designed to reassure your audience after layoffs and bad news about
company profitability, the best color to use would be
A) blue.
B) brown.
C) red.
D) any of the above.
Answer:
Which one of the following statements is true?
A) Data traffic and voice traffic from mobile devices are returning to desktop platforms.
B) Voice traffic from mobile devices exceeds data traffic.
C) Voice traffic and data traffic from mobile devices are roughly equivalent.
D) Data traffic from mobile devices exceeds voice traffic.
Answer:
If you are asked back for a final job interview, you should expect the interviewer to
focus on
A) your previous job experience.
B) selling you on the advantages of joining the organization.
C) your educational background.
D) checking your references.
Answer:
Effective headlines for social media messages are
A) clever and witty.
B) pithy and enigmatic.
C) brainteasers with a twist of irony.
D) concise, specific, and informative.
Answer:
One drawback of using the yardstick approach to structure business reports is that
A) you must discuss all the alternatives, even if many of them turn out to be irrelevant
and/or unproductive.
B) this approach is generally considered old-fashioned.
C) it forces you to ignore the fact that the problem may have multiple causes.
D) it is impractical in most business settings.
Answer:
Groupthink refers to
A) the willingness of individual group members to withhold contrary or unpopular
opinions, even when those objections are legitimate, and to favor majority opinion.
B) the four-step decision-making process in groups.
C) software programs that help groups make decisions.
D) the basic rules that underlie a group’s behavior and guide the group to make its
decisions.
Answer:
In general, audiences are likely to
A) ignore poor organization if the message is important.
B) draw inaccurate conclusions from poorly organized messages.
C) fully understand most messages, even those that are poorly organized.
D) none of the above.
Answer:
________ involves the practice of accepting multiple cultures on their own terms.
A) Cultural uncertainty
B) Cultural flexibility
C) Cultural competency
D) Cultural pluralism
Answer:
When you’re speaking to an international audience, ________ will enhance the clarity
of your message.
A) keeping the message simple
B) supporting your message with slang and idioms
C) talking fast without pausing
D) avoiding the use of visual aids
Answer:
If you’re the designated leader of a meeting,
A) don’t interfere if the discussion departs from the goals of the meeting.
B) allow introverted participants to disengage from the meeting.
C) try to simply act as an observer, and let the meeting “run itself.”
D) do none of the above.
Answer:
Of the following media, which is the richest?
A) An electronic slide presentation that includes a prearranged series of images
B) A social media site that invites users’ opinions and feedback on relevant topics
C) An audio podcast posted on Moodle
D) A formal business letter that’s written on corporate letterhead
Answer:
Community service activities should be listed in the ________ section of your résumé.
A) miscellaneous
B) activities and achievements
C) educational background
D) work experience, skills, and accomplishments
Answer: