Which of the following do you need to avoid to be an efficient researcher?
A) evaluating your sources for credibility
B) using a library or bookseller to find relevant books
C) using only Google searches to find information
D) following leads in good sources
E) using an online database or index to find articles from print publications
Answer:
Sympathy messages ________.
A) must only be sent to people with whom you have a close relationship
B) should never be sent in printed cards
C) should not be sent until an appropriate amount of time has passed after you hear
about the situation
D) are more meaningful when handwritten
E) will not be appreciated by business acquaintances
Answer:
Which of the following workplace activities is most likely to be the one in which your
communication skills will be utilized?
A) calculating whether sales are up this quarter using the latest figures
B) formulating strategies to manage your new team
C) persuading your colleagues that your idea will likely lead to increased sales
D) analyzing the pattern of errors found in your new product
E) designing algorithms for the to-be-developed software
Answer:
If you send your résumé by email, ________.
A) including your cover letter in the body of the email message is considered more
formal than attaching it to the email
B) cover letters included in the body of an email can be problematic for recipients who
read their email on mobile devices
C) you should save your attachments in .rar format if a file type is not mentioned
specifically
D) you should not attach your résumé and cover letter as two separate files; instead,
combine them in one document
E) your cover letter may be inadvertently overlooked if you choose to include it in the
body of the email instead of as an attachment
Answer:
The first step in preparing a proposal is to ________.
A) identify the level of persuasion it will require
B) develop a clear idea of your purpose
C) determine the appropriate form of the proposal
D) establish audience benefits
E) counter potential objections
Answer:
Dionne is presenting a proposal to a new client, and she is unknown to her audience.
Which of the following would be a way for Dionne to establish credibility with her
audience?
A) being modest and not mentioning her education or expertise
B) maintaining a respectful distance from her audience before the presentation, so as
not to violate the professional relationship with attempts at building rapport
C) mentioning her professional relationship with a renowned expert in the field
D) avoiding the discussion of work done by other experts in the field
E) presenting a highly subjective idea that favors her own view point
Answer:
In your research you consult Thomson One Banker, IBIS World, and Yahoo Finance.
This means that you are using ________ to conduct your search.
A) an online bookstore
B) a library online catalog
C) a general search engine
D) an online publication index
E) online business research tools
Answer:
Your boss is in a hurry to leave and she quickly delegates an assignment to you. She
needs you to communicate some bad news to a number of people at different
geographic locations. Though she wants the message to spread instantaneously, she
wants to give the audience time to carefully consider a response. It’s also a priority for
her that the message doesn’t come across as impersonal or evasive. After she has left,
you realize that she didn’t specify which medium she wants you to use for the message.
Taking her considerations into account, you determine that a(n) ________ would be an
appropriate medium.
A) newsletter
B) email
C) letter
D) blog post
E) text message
Answer:
In a(n) ________ proposal situation, your audience will not be considering any offers
other than yours.
A) solicited
B) noncompetitive
C) unsolicited
D) competitive
E) external
Answer:
A coworker asks for your help on a project but you are busy with other responsibilities
and won’t be able to assist her. Which of the following is the most accurate statement
about this situation?
A) You should clearly and sensitively tell your coworker that you are unable to help.
B) Since she is a colleague and not your superior this is not an example of a bad-news
message.
C) It is an informal situation and does not require the news to be conveyed sensitively.
D) You should say nothing and hope that your coworker gets the message that you are
too busy to help her.
E) To let her down gently, you should tell your coworker that you’ll try to help her even
though you know your schedule won’t permit it.
Answer:
Good business communication skills ________.
A) can have a positive impact on your life outside of work
B) will help you advance in your career but will hinder your personal relationships
C) will improve personal relationships, although they offer no financial benefits in your
personal or professional life
D) are inapplicable to your personal life
E) are not worth the investment of time and energy necessary to acquire them
Answer:
Which of the following paraphrases for the emotional content?
A) Are you saying that we need to be more careful while creating the reports?
B) You sound frustrated about people waiting until the last minute to submit their status
reports.
C) You are saying that you’d like us to have our status reports in a couple of days before
the date of the monthly meeting.
D) So you don’t want us to hand in our reports earlier than that?
E) Are you concerned that there won’t be time for the supervisor to review the reports
before the meeting?
Answer:
Your company plans to increase the monthly fees it charges to its clients, starting in
September. You are drafting a letter to mail to your clients, to inform them of this
increase and hopefully persuade them to keep their businesses with you.
In analyzing your audience you determine that ________.
A) the clients need to be made aware of the fees they currently pay
B) the clients need to know how your company will use the revenue from the fee
increase
C) the clients don’t need this information until September since that is when the
increase will go into effect
D) the clients need to be told what the new fee structure is
E) the clients cannot be expected to understand your message
Answer:
Your supervisor recently expressed disappointment that no one in your department was
participating in the company’s new volunteer initiative, which encourages employees to
“adopt” causes they care about and donate time and resources to help them. You decide
to research some options including a mentoring program at a local high school and a
recreational center at a nearby senior citizens’ facility so that you can discuss them with
your team and hopefully convince them to join the program with you.
In this case your primary audience ________.
A) is your supervisor
B) is the top management of your company
C) are your team members
D) are the high school students
E) are the senior citizens
Answer:
Veronica is happy that she made it to the second round of interviews, but is anxious
about its format. She has never done a telephone interview and is nervous about how it
will go.
When it is time to end the call ________.
A) Veronica should try to hang up first
B) Veronica should thank the interviewers for their time
C) Veronica should thank her interviewer but avoid using his or her name to show
respect
D) Veronica should not inquire about when the hiring decision will be made
E) Veronica should hang up without saying thanks.
Answer:
Which of the following statements about professionalism is true?
A) Professionalism refers to the qualities that make you adaptable in the workplace.
B) Professionalism is limited to projecting a professional image.
C) Professionalism involves living up to the standards of your profession.
D) Professionalism cannot be expressed by your actions and attire.
E) Professionalism does not involve proofreading your messages.
Answer:
Why should you create a second plain text version of your résumé?
A) so that you have a back-up in case the formatted copy is lost
B) so employers can fairly compare candidates’ qualifications without being biased by
the résumés’ design features
C) so that companies can put them into databases that allow for easy search and sorting
D) so that your résumé will stand out among all the professionally designed résumés
E) so that you can insert more information in a comparatively smaller space
Answer:
“Smart businesses like Apex Inc. and Marvel Technologies invest their dollars wisely in
the high quality products and services we offer at R&S Technology.”
Which of the following persuasive techniques for appealing to emotion is illustrated in
the statement mentioned above?
A) consistency
B) scarcity
C) reciprocity
D) social proof
E) authority
Answer:
The best way to address feasibility is to ________.
A) present realistic implementation plans
B) highlight your qualifications
C) demonstrate your expertise
D) provide a customer testimonial
E) describe similar projects which you have completed in the past
Answer:
Miles is writing an email to his project team which is working on a big presentation.
Knowing that some of his audience are not native English speakers, which of the
following is the best way for him to complete the statement below?
So let’s do our best to ________ for the presentation.
A) have all our ducks in a row
B) dot our i’s and cross our t’s
C) be well-organized and prepared
D) make sure we’re on the same page
E) be on the ball
Answer:
When a proposal is unsolicited ________.
A) the audience will explicitly state their requirements
B) the audience will hint at their requirements
C) you will not be able to address audience requirements
D) you will need to brainstorm the audience’s requirements
E) the audience benefits are not expected to be addressed
Answer:
People who collaborate ________.
A) need to recognize that they may be motivated by different goals
B) cannot function unless they have different goals
C) rarely have conflicts arise due to working with different goals in mind
D) need to find solutions that address only one goal
E) are always motivated by the same goals
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT a routine message?
A) replying to a colleague that you have the data she requested
B) granting a customer an exchange of a product she ordered
C) confirming that your client meeting is scheduled for 3 PM next Tuesday
D) announcing that no holiday bonuses will be given out this year
E) giving a coworker instructions on how to perform a certain task
Answer:
Which of the following statements works best to soften the impact of the bad news?
A) Unfortunately, your warranty does not cover the kind of damages that you have
caused.
B) Because the damage was due to your negligence, the repair cost is your
responsibility.
C) These repairs cannot be performed free of charge.
D) Your warranty extends only to manufacturing defects, not accidental breakage.
E) We must reject your claim as the damage in this case was your fault.
Answer:
Which of the following is true about the indirect organizational plan?
A) It abruptly places the bad news in the beginning.
B) It is used when the message is relevant to health and safety.
C) It may confuse, upset, or anger your audience as it conveys the bad news too
abruptly.
D) It is used when the audiences are unlikely to be surprised by the news.
E) It is appropriate when the bad news is unexpected.
Answer:
Just as you’re about to shut down your computer for the day, you remember that you
need to send an update to your boss. You dash off a quick email and press send without
spell checking or proofing it. Doing so ________.
A) is fine since this is not a formal report
B) is the right approach, since email does not require proofreading
C) is a bad idea, since you need to proofread and use correct grammar in all of your
messages
D) is correct because an email needs to be as short as possible
E) is unethical and may get you fired
Answer:
“The proposed developer employed only certified programmers. Over the past five
years, they have redesigned more than 50 databases for local businesses. They will add
innovative new functionality to our system, while increasing the efficiency of our
current system’s capabilities.”
Which of the following options best improves the section of Dave’s text excerpted
above?
A) replacing “employed” in the first sentence with “used to employ”
B) replacing “employed” in the first sentence with “employs”
C) replacing “have redesigned” in the second sentence with “will redesign”
D) replacing “will add” in the third sentence with “can add”
E) replacing “will add” in the third sentence with “would add”
Answer:
When you download a file from the web, ________.
A) you should always keep its original filename
B) it is unethical to change its original filename
C) you should always change the file type indicated by its extension to “.txt” to save
storage space
D) rename it as something easily identifiable if its original filename is vague
E) it is impossible to change its original filename
Answer:
You want to ask your supervisor about working flexible hours. You think that her first
concern will be whether you will still be able to accomplish all your necessary tasks,
and you have found some research showing that flex-time employees are generally
more productive than standard schedule workers. You think an email would probably be
the best way to open the discussion, so that she can have time to go through the
information and consider your proposal. You are engaged in which step of the ACE
process?
A) adapting
B) analyzing
C) considering
D) composing
E) evaluating
Answer:
Argumentation is defined as ________.
A) strengthening a weak position by overstating your case, diverting attention from
problems, or even attacking an opponent
B) making your audience believe you have expertise and are trustworthy based on your
knowledge, character, reputation, and behavior
C) a person with a reputation for honesty losing credibility by making statements that
prove to be untrue or making promises that are not fulfilled
D) changing the mind of someone who is deeply interested in an issue, including people
committed to an opposing point of view
E) taking a position, supporting the position with reasons, and then documenting those
reasons with evidence
Answer:
Which of the following mediums is most appropriate if you want to encourage your
audience to collaborate, interact, and create content?
A) slides
B) podcasts
C) document cameras
D) video conference
E) flipcharts
Answer:
Which of the following ad campaigns would most likely appeal to an audience’s desire
for self-actualization?
A) “Just do it” (Nike)
B) “We try harder” (Avis Car Rental)
C) “You deserve a break today” (McDonald’s)
D) “Don’t leave home without it” (American Express)
E) “Got milk?” (California Milk Processor Board)
Answer:
Passive listening means ________.
A) focusing attentively on what a speaker says
B) hearing information without actively paying attention to ensure understanding
C) actively working to understand the information a speaker is providing
D) trying to interpret the information presented by a speaker
E) responding to a speaker to acknowledge understanding
Answer: