Short sentences carry more emphasis than long, involved ones.
The overuse of short sentences results in a choppy, elementary-sounding effect.
In a bad-news message, a preliminaryexplanation is not required because it cannot
cushion the shock of bad news.
When conducting a meeting, a leader should let few people dominate the discussion.
Continually checking for shared meaning can hamper the accuracy of the
communication process.
The first two pages of a long, formal report contain identification information.
“The project uses state of the art technologies.” This sentence uses a clich©.
Writing effectively requires managing the emphasis in your sentences in such a way
that your key points stand out.
The first step in planning an oral report is to determining one’s objective and the
purpose of the report.
According to Geert Hofstede, culture is the collective programming of the mind which
distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.
Even though the basic objective of granting an adjustment is good news, some negative
thoughts may remain.
Statements urging the readers to take actionare best avoided in sales messagesas they
tend to be harsh and serve no purpose.
The you-viewpoint can be used to pursue unethical goals.
Which of the following is true of short reports?
A. The mechanics of constructing the short report are much different than the
mechanics of constructing the more formal, longer types.
B. The short report uses different forms of title page and page layout than the more
formal, longer ones.
C. Unlike longer reports, shorter reportsdo not use headings.
D. Unlike any other report, the short report avoids graphics, an appendix, and a
bibliography even when these are needed.
E. Because of the short report’s brevity, the headings rarely go beyond the two-division
level.
Which of the following improves the chances of a scannable resume to be retrieved or
reviewed?
A. The use of underlining for emphasis
B. The use of shading for important details
C. The use of large fonts (greater than 20)
D. The use of keywords
E. The use of graphics
Which of the following is true of taking minutes at a meeting?
A. All minutes are highly formal, with headings and complete sentences.
B. All minutes should note excused or unexcused absences.
C. Minutes are taken to have an objective account of the topics covered at the meeting.
D. Recorded minutes are always voted on by group members before they areaccepted.
E. All meeting minutes should be informal.
Which of the following is true about standards for punctuation in business writing?
A. Question marks and exclamation points should be placed outside quotation marks if
they apply to the quoted passage.
B. The titles of parts of publications should not be enclosed in quotation marks.
C. Question marks and exclamation points should be placed outside quotation marks if
they apply to the whole sentence.
D. Periods and commas should always be placed outside quotation marks.
E. Semicolons and colons should be placed inside quotation marks.
Which of the following statements is true about theformal writing style?
A. It maintains a smaller distance between writers and readers than an informal style.
B. It makes extensive use of personal references.
C. Its sentences are well structured and highly organized.
D. It makes extensive use of contractions.
E. It maintains a smaller distance between writers and readers than a casual style.
Choose the sentence that follows the standards for punctuation in business writing.
A. Before, the annual board meeting we met to discuss the agenda.
B. If you want a voice in the government, vote.
C. Only one person, the supervisor in charge has authority to approve a policy
exception.
D. The test proved that the new process is simple, effective, accurate-and more
expensive.
_____ involves job-seekers directly approaching potential employers by either personal
visit, mail, or email.
A. Headhunting
B. Job counseling
C. Webpage profiling
D. Classified advertising
E. Prospecting
The selection of visuals in a particular document should:
A. be based on the communication purpose.
B. be independent of the content in the main document.
C. be independent of the size of the document.
D. be based on the prerogative of the presenter.
E. be independent of the context of the document.
Which of the following is true about clich©s?
A. Business clich©s once established do not run the risk of becoming unpopular.
B. The heavy use of clich©s in formal cross-cultural communication helps in breaking
cultural barriers.
C. Business clich©s can sometimes increase your credibility with other businesspeople.
D. Clich©s do not run the risk of sounding dated.
E. Clich©s catch on because they represent unpopular concepts.
Which of the following sentences uses an idiom inappropriately?
A. I can recite the poem from heart.
B. It’s hard to believe that we lost our jobs.
C. She built this company from scratch.
D. The salesperson sweetened the deal by offering a huge discount.
E. When I bought my car, the dealer threw in free tires.
Discussion boards are useful when:
A. groups have a difficult time meeting due to distance and time.
B. confidentiality is a key concern.
C. a single person handles a writing project.
D. it is required to list posts chronologically.
E. all information needs to be password-protected.
Which of the following is true about concrete words?
A. Concrete words are not easy to understand.
B. Concrete words are typically not informative.
C. Concrete wording should be avoided as it is not interesting.
D. Concrete words stand for things the reader can see, feel, taste, smell, or count.
E. Concrete words tend to be vague.
The Boolean operator AND is used to:
A. eliminate citations.
B. add variations to a search.
C. expand a search.
D. segregate synonymous citations.
E. narrow a search.
Which of the following describes the appropriate use of presentation software?
A. Putting a lot of informationon a slide
B. Making the font on a slide small
C. Using an bright color combination
D. Using a lot ofanimation
E. Integrating what is on the slide into one’s talk
Which of the following is one of the ways that the writing in short reports differs from
the writing in long reports?
A. Short reports include the prefatory parts that are appropriate for the report’s length,
formality, and reader.
B. Short reports generally need an elaborate coherence plan.
C. Readers of short reports will need many reminders of what they just read or previews
of what they are about to read.
D. Short reportshave less need for introductory material.
E. Most short-report situations are likely to justify impersonal writing because of their
relatively routine nature.
Which of the following sentences uses the incorrect tense?
A. I have been waiting for you since morning.
B. He has been working in this office for ten years now.
C. I wrote a letter to the council yesterday.
D. He returns from London last week.
E. I went to China recently.
An effective direct response:
A. de-emphasizes negative answers.
B. avoids wasting time in goodwill talk.
C. emphasizes the we-viewpoint.
D. puts negative news at the beginning of the message.
Which of the following is common to proposals and all other types of messages?
A. The structure and form of the message
B. The requirement to adapt the content accordingto the reader of the message
C. The use of persuasive language
D. The use of initialisms, abbreviations, and contractions
E. The use of formal language
Which of the following is true regarding the construction of visuals in a document?
A. The size of a visual should be arbitrary and be based on convenience.
B. The type used in visuals throughout a report should generally vary in terms of style
and font.
C. When a document contains visuals from many categories, they should be grouped
into maps and figures.
D. Borders help distinguish one section or visual from another, while rules help separate
visuals from the text.
E. Every visual should have a title or caption that adequately describes its contents.