Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Chapter 6: Listening
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. The most likely objective of critical listening is ______.
a. enjoyment or appreciation
b. comprehension of information
c. deciding whether or not a message is valuable and useful
d. enabling someone to talk about a problem or concern
2. The most likely objective of therapeutic listening is ______.
a. enjoyment or appreciation
b. comprehension of information
c. deciding whether or not a message is valuable and useful
d. enabling someone to talk about a problem or concern
3. Interpreting, the third step in the listening process, consists of ______.
a. receiving sensory stimuli
b. perceiving and focusing on sensory stimuli
c. assigning meaning to sensory stimuli
d. reacting or responding to a message
4. Relational listening is best characterized as the ability to ______.
a. accurately paraphrase a message
b. understand how communication affects the relationship and vice versa
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
c. receive sensory stimuli
d. perceive and focus on sensory stimuli
5. In relational listening, a key question the listener might ask himself or herself would
be which of these?
a. Does this message correspond with my understanding of this relationship?
b. Am I able to accurately paraphrase this message?
c. Am I able to receive sensory stimuli?
d. Am I able to attend to and process sensory stimuli?
6. Physical location and room temperature are typical of ______.
a. environmental listening distractions
b. medium distractions
c. source distractions
d. semantic diversion
7. Noise in a cell phone connection, problems with audio in a teleconference, or Internet
difficulties with an online videoconference are typical of ______.
a. environmental distractions
b. medium distractions
c. source distractions
d. semantic diversion
8. Flashy jewelry, an accent you are not familiar with, or frequent verbal nonfluencies
such as “um” and “you know” are typical of ______.
a. environmental distractions
b. medium distractions
c. source distractions
d. semantic diversion
9. Listening to and trying to get down every single point and fact a speaker shares while
missing the main point of the message is typical of ______.
a. environmental distractions
b. medium distractions
c. factual diversion
d. semantic diversion
10. Being distracted by unfamiliar or offensive words in a speaker’s message is typical
of ______.
a. environmental distractions
b. medium distractions
c. factual diversion
d. semantic diversion
11. If a partner is asked how he or she is doing and gives the response “Fine” but is
teary-eyed, you need to probe for the deeper levels of meaning to avoid this listening
problem.
a. Content or representational listening
b. Selective listening
c. Egocentric listening
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
d. Experiential superiority
12. Taking notes and being attentive to a lecture only when your instructor says, “This
will be on the next quiz,” is typical of ______.
a. content or representational listening
b. selective listening
c. egocentric listening
d. experiential superiority
13. Listening to a conversation only to find opportunities to talk about yourself and your
own experiences is typical of ______.
a. content or representational listening
b. selective listening
c. egocentric listening
d. experiential superiority
14. Failing to listen attentively to a speaker because you believe you know more than
the speaker does is typical of ______.
a. content or representational listening
b. selective listening
c. egocentric listening
d. experiential superiority
15. When you hear an ad promising a “lifetime warranty” on a product and doubt
whether or not the offer is “for real,” you are using critical listening to evaluate the
message’s ______.
a. plausibility
b. source
c. argument
d. evidence
16. When you critically examine the verifiability, quantity, and quality of the support for a
speaker’s argument, you are evaluating which of the following?
a. Plausibility
b. Source
c. Evidence
d. Context
17. ______ becomes an obstacle to listening when you find a message so complex or
confusing that you stop listening.
a. Message complexity
b. Selective listening
c. Egocentric listening
d. Experiential superiority
18. Evaluations of ______ include determining such issues as a lack of bias, sufficient
expertise, and recency.
a. context
b. quantity
c. assumption
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
d. quality
19. A message being free of internal contradiction and in harmony with information
known to be true is an example of ______.
a. consistency
b. verifiability
c. context
d. accountability
20. The process of analyzing and evaluating the accuracy, legitimacy, and value of
messages is known as ______ listening.
a. empathic
b. active
c. passive
d. critical
21. ______ involves regarding the Other as a separate person of intrinsic worth and
value, a human being and not just a ‘human doing’.
a. Respect
b. Empathy
c. Genuineness
d. Unconditional Positive Regard
22. ______ is simply as ‘being oneself’ as openly and honestly as possible.
a. Respect
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
b. Empathy
c. Genuineness
d. Unconditional Positive Regard
23. ______ involves ‘getting in contact with another’s world’, understanding their
perspectives and feelings.
a. Respect
b. Empathy
c. Genuineness
d. Unconditional Positive Regard
24. ______ acknowledges the other person exactly they are, without any judgments or
evaluation, just acceptance of their ways of being in the world.
a. Respect
b. Empathy
c. Genuineness
d. Unconditional Positive Regard
25. ______ listening involves making a personal relational connection with the source of
a message that results from the source and the receiver actively working together to
create shared meaning and understanding.
a. Active
b. Passive
c. Critical
d. Engaged
26. Examples of ______ listening include standard attempts to be friendly and positive
in boilerplate responses to technical support questions and apologies from the
bank/airline/hotel after receiving a complaint.
a. active
b. passive
c. disengaged
d. engaged
27. The first step in the listening process is the act of ______ sensory stimuli as sound
waves that travel from the source of the sound to your eardrums.
a. attending to
b. receiving
c. interpreting
d. engaging
28. ______ stimuli occurs when you perceive and focus on stimuli. Despite constant
flooding with competing stimuli, you pick up only on some.
a. Attending to
b. Receiving
c. Interpreting
d. Engaging
29. The third step in the listening process, ______, is when you assign meaning to
sounds.
a. attending
b. receiving
c. interpreting
d. engaging
30. Examples of ______ listening include listening to a coworker complain about a
customer or client and listening to a neighbor talk about financial difficulties.
a. therapeutic
b. critical
c. passive
d. appreciative
31. On average, people dedicate nearly ______ hours daily to listening-related
activities.
a. 8
b. 10
c. 12
d. 14
32. People speak on average between ______ words per minute.
a. 25 to 50
b. 100 to 150
c. 250 to 300
d. 400 to 500
Multiple Response
1. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which of the following are involved in the three steps in
Instructor Resource
Duck, Communication in Everyday Life: The Basic Course Edition With Public
Speaking, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
the listening process?
a. Attending
b. Receiving
c. Engaging
d. Interpreting
2. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Engaged listening involves ______.
a. feeling concerned
b. caring
c. feeling excited
d. wanting to know more
3. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which is NOT considered an obstacle to listening well?
a. Message complexity
b. Consistency
c. Past experience with the source
d. Experiential superiority
4. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Effective listening skills are crucial to career success
and advancement because ______.
a. most success and achievement from a career standpoint can be connected to
effective listening
b. effective listening can be an asset in business meetings, strategy sessions, and
customer relations
c. listening is a vital ability in leadership activities
d. employers frequently rank listening as one of the most sought-after skills
5. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. As a critical listener, which criteria must you use to
evaluate the evidence of the material being provided?
a. Quality
b. Quantity
c. Assumption
d. Verifiability
6. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which are considered to be objectives of listening?
a. Past experience with the source
b. Relational development and enhancement
c. Enjoyment and appreciation
d. Gaining and comprehending information
7. SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Which are considered to be objectives of the relational
listening approach known as “person–centeredness”?
a. Respect
b. Empathy
c. Genuineness
d. Unconditional Positive Regard
True/False
1. People tend to be more critical of messages from individuals of equal status than of
those from higher-status individuals.
2. According to research, listening is the communication activity in which we engage
most frequently.
3. Listening is the most frequently taught communication skill at all educational levels.
4. Listening is the most frequently used communication skill in secondary and college
education.
5. Listening is used in all symbolic activities except spirituality.
6. Reflecting is also known as paraphrasing.
7. Feedback given in response to a message is exclusively verbal.