________ influences the purpose of communication, the best medium to use to
communicate the message, and how receivers interpret the message.
A) Collaboration
B) Context
C) Conciseness
D) Clarity
E) Channel
Answer:
To make it easy for the audience to follow the instructions, ________.
A) jump right into the directions at the start of your message
B) if the sequence or order of steps is important, use bullets instead of numbers
C) include only one action per step of instructions
D) if an instruction is conditional, identify the condition at the end of each step
E) if a step requires explanation, place the explanation before the action
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of a routine business request?
A) requesting your manager to grant you the leave which he had cancelled earlier
B) explaining a travel expense to the accounting department
C) persuading a client to postpone a project so that your company can take the job
D) requesting your team lead to extend the project deadline
E) persuading your team lead to let you work in a flexible schedule
Answer:
When selecting a medium for a message, email ________.
A) is not efficient for disseminating information to many people
B) ensures immediate feedback
C) may not be appropriate for sending sensitive content
D) cannot create a permanent record
E) does not allow for quick communication
Answer:
Which of the following tools will give you maximum access to the data and analyses
published by Standard & Poor’s and Hoover’s?
A) Lexis-Nexis Academic
B) AltaVista
C) The Wall Street Journal Index
D) Business Week Index
E) New York Times Index
Answer:
Which of the following would be the best statement to include in a cover letter to
address the fact that you lack the two years of full-time experience specified in the job
posting?
A) I know that I don’t have the two years of full-time work experience, but I hope that
you won’t hold that against me.
B) I may not have two years of full-time work experience, but is that really so
important?
C) While my full-time work experience is less than two years, my related internship and
part-time work have given me a great understanding of the industry.
D) I hope that you will not overlook all of the other applicable skills and abilities I will
bring to the team only because I lack two years of full-time experience.
E) Although I don’t have two years of full-time experience, I still think that I am a
strong candidate for the job.
Answer:
A(n) ________ allows readers to find the material that interests them. It should be a
complete and accurate listing of the headings covered in the proposal.
A) appendix
B) executive summary
C) glossary
D) table of contents
E) cover letter
Answer:
Sarah is engaged in the process of drafting her message. As she writes, she stops
frequently to evaluate what she has written before finishing her thoughts. She feels that
she should make each sentence thorough and accurate before she begins the next
sentence. Sarah is ________.
A) suffering from the perfectionist syndrome
B) suffering from writer’s block
C) correctly making sure that each sentence is perfect before she begins the next
D) accurately following the guidelines for effective drafting
E) switching between drafting and revising, a highly efficient way to compose a
message
Answer:
Boolean operators ________.
A) act as place holders for unknown words in a search phrase
B) must be spelled out using lowercase letters
C) are used to search for an exact match of a word or phrase
D) can help expand or reduce your search results
E) use symbols like “*,” “#,” and “&” along with key words
Answer:
A coworker needs help to effectively design his report deck. You should advise him to
________.
A) invest time in designing a master slide whose formats will be applied to all his slides
B) design the format and elements of each slide separately to uniquely represent its
particular content
C) use background graphics or dramatic shading effects
D) include a footer at the bottom of only the first slide
E) size the title box to accommodate only a single line heading with font size of 10
points
Answer:
If you phrase bad news ________, your audience is more likely to understand your
message.
A) by sugarcoating it
B) in clear terms
C) through implication
D) by subtle hints
E) in vague terms
Answer:
For an effective graph design, which of the following should be avoided when possible?
A) graph titles
B) axis titles
C) scales
D) legends
E) data markers
Answer:
Kyle is preparing a presentation about why the company should switch to a new
operating system. He organizes his content by listing the seven reasons for the switch,
in order of least importance to greatest importance. Kyle ________.
A) should have ordered the reasons from greatest importance to least importance
B) should have listed the reasons in a chronological order in which they occurred in the
company
C) is including more points within a category than is recommended for this
organizational pattern
D) is appropriately following the opportunity/action pattern
E) needs to add at least two more reasons to appropriately use the categorization pattern
Answer:
In the context of designing slides, for which of the following is a bullet point layout
inappropriate?
A) the four steps in a manufacturing process
B) several examples of how a problem is manifesting itself
C) a paragraph describing the functioning of a piece of equipment
D) a list of possible solutions to a problem
E) the top three reasons for implementing a new process
Answer:
Which of the following would most likely appeal to an audience’s sense of self-esteem?
A) an ad for a home security system, likening the service to having a bodyguard outside
your house
B) an ad for a virus protection software, citing a long list of corporate clients
C) an ad for frozen meals, claiming they taste homemade
D) an ad for a university, emphasizing the respect its graduates have in the business
world
E) an ad for a laundry detergent, suggesting it will make your clothes look brand new
Answer:
During a presentation, pausing intentionally ________.
A) indicates that something new is coming
B) should never be done because it hampers the flow of your presentation
C) prevents your audience from processing information
D) is discouraged, as it distracts the audience
E) increases the incidence of “ers” and “ums”
Answer:
A paired bar chart is also known as a ________.
A) line chart
B) 100% column chart
C) histogram
D) tornado chart
E) histograph
Answer:
You are working on your first research project at a new job and discuss your work with
a colleague who has been at the company for five years.
She tells you that one of your sources will not be highly regarded by the professional
audience to whom you will present, and advises you to omit it. Which of the following
sources is she most likely referring to?
A) The New York Times
B) The Wall Street Journal
C) U.S. Department of Labor data
D) Wikipedia
E) Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Answer:
Presenting others’ ideas as your own is known as ________.
A) summarizing
B) paraphrasing
C) plagiarism
D) quoting
E) citation
Answer:
Providing your application materials in person ________.
A) is a mandatory option for most advertised positions
B) requires that you consider the impression you will make on those you interact with
C) guarantees that someone at the company will discuss your application with you
D) requires you to collect a return receipt to prove that the company received your
material
E) prevents you from following up with the company if they do not respond to your
application
Answer:
Which of the following statements is true about a network?
A) Your network is the circle of people who profit from your career goals and
achievements.
B) Your network includes coworkers, faculty, staff, and business contacts not family
and friends.
C) The smaller your network, the more likely you are to hear about open positions.
D) Telling everyone in your network that you’re looking for a job will reduce your
chances of getting a job.
E) Attending job fairs and researching alumni databases are two ways to expand your
network.
Answer:
PowerPoint report decks ________.
A) are designed to be read as well as presented
B) are rarely sent as email attachments
C) cannot be printed out for participants at a meeting
D) require the presence of a presenter
E) contain slides that are less detailed than those in traditional presentations
Answer:
Emerson is preparing a memo report recommending that his company should contract
with a particular event planner for an upcoming corporate function. He includes all the
pertinent information regarding costs, services provided, and why this choice would
better serve the company’s needs.
Which of the following is most likely to be included by Emerson in his report?
A) bibliography
B) inside address
C) heading (To, From, Date, Subject)
D) lettered appendices
E) reference list
Answer:
If you are currently employed when interviewing and are asked why you are leaving
your current position, ________.
A) explain all the issues you have had with your previous employer
B) criticize your current job, but don’t speak negatively of your boss
C) emphasize what you’re looking for in the new position more than what you’re
leaving behind
D) focus on what is lacking in your current position and disparage the company or
employer
E) respectfully decline to answer the question
Answer:
Which of the following is done in the first step of ACE?
A) analysis of your purpose
B) organizing content
C) revising the content
D) formatting conventions
E) drafting the content
Answer:
A(n) ________ is a separate, standalone mini-report inserted at the beginning of a
formal analytical report that completely summarizes the report’s main ideas and
recommendations.
A) introduction
B) abstract
C) executive summary
D) glossary
E) informational report
Answer:
________ involves reducing the audience’s resistance to the sales message, which is
especially important when you create unsolicited sales communication.
A) Making it easy for your audience to act and respond
B) Creating a sense of desire
C) Building your audience’s interest
D) Grabbing your audience’s attention
E) Enabling your audience to respond favorably
Answer:
Voice mail messages ________.
A) do not require you to consider the design, as they are an oral communication
B) are best done spontaneously
C) should focus on one topic
D) do not require you to leave contact information
E) should allude to your main point without becoming too specific, to arouse the
recipient’s curiosity and ensure a return phone call
Answer:
For which of the following reasons would the telephone be preferable to sending an
email?
A) It allows you to reach large audiences.
B) It allows you to include additional documents that may help your persuasive appeal.
C) It gives your audience time to consider your appeal before carefully responding.
D) It allows for immediate feedback so you can alter your appeal on the fly, if
necessary.
E) It makes it more comfortable for the audience to respond negatively.
Answer:
________ allow you to include additional information that may interest the reader but is
too detailed to include in the body of the proposal.
A) Glossaries
B) Executive summaries
C) Cover messages
D) Appendices
E) Tables of contents
Answer:
Which of the following approaches to resolving conflicts is most likely to result in
quick solutions, but often leads to relational conflicts?
A) compromise
B) avoid confrontation
C) collaborate to find the best solution
D) accommodate
E) compete to win
Answer: