Which of the following statements about language translation is FALSE?
a. A translator must work with thoughts in two languages.
b. Words in one language may not have equivalent meanings in some other languages.
c. Cultural barriers can affect the accuracy of language translation.
d. People generally resent the simple efforts of a person of another culture to learn a
few common phrases in the new language.
Answer:
Tristan is developing a presentation for employee orientation. Which of the following
should NOT be used as a technique to ensure that the audience understands the points
of his presentation?
a. Interesting anecdotes that tie into the presentation.
b. Relevant statistics to lend authority to points.
c. Presentation visuals to enhance effectiveness.
d. Long, complex sentences to enhance credibility.
Answer:
A strategic force affecting communication is
a. an influence that occasionally affects the communication environment.
b. a set of conditions that simplifies the communication process.
c. a challenge that can be overcome by skilled communicators.
d. an impact that influences the communication process and helps to determine and
define the nature of the communication that occurs.
Answer:
Effective strategies for structuring bad-news messages
a. follow the deductive sequence.
b. vary dramatically from one company to another.
c. can generally be applied to cultures around the world.
d. are generally consistent among North American audiences.
Answer:
Which of the following sentences is correctly punctuated?
a. “We will meet the deadline,” the supervisor said, “even though we have to work
overtime.”
b. “We will meet the deadline” the supervisor said “even though we have to work
overtime.”
c. “We will meet the deadline”, the supervisor said, “even though we have to work
overtime”.
d. “We will meet the deadline” the supervisor said, “even though we have to work
overtime”.
Answer:
To overcome receiver resistance to a persuasive appeal, the price typically should be
a. mentioned early in the message to avoid the impression of deception.
b. delayed in the message until reader benefits have been established.
c. implied or stated in broad terms.
d. omitted from the sales message.
Answer:
An email message with the subject of “Planning Meeting for Glen Project” should have
which of the following as its first sentence?
a. Please remember to attend our next meeting on Friday.
b. Attached are the notes from our Monday meeting discussing the launch of the Glen
project on March 3.
c. Does anyone recall the name of the contractor we discussed at the meeting?
d. Thanks for your help on the committee.
Answer:
Which of the following best describes the common attitude that those from the U.S,
Canada, and northern Europe have about the concept of time?
a. Time is money.
b. The early bird gets the worm.
c. Time is like air.
d. Important things take more time than unimportant things.
Answer:
You must deny a request for credit to an applicant who does not meet your company’s
requirements. Using a sentence such as “You are encouraged to make cash purchases”
illustrates a
a. counterproposal.
b. bait and switch technique.
c. confirmation of priorities.
d. consideration of eligibility.
Answer:
During the question-and-answer period at the end of your presentation,
a. encourage the audience to ask questions.
b. ask hostile questioners to leave the audience.
c. allow the questions to continue until there are no more asked.
d. avoid restating the question and instead focus on the answer.
Answer:
A consumer researcher who observes the buying habits of people at a clearance
warehouse is using which of the following methods for collecting data?
a. Experimental research
b. Normative survey
c. Personal interviews
d. Participant observation
Answer:
Which of the following statements represents the BEST advice for inclusion of personal
information on a résumé?
a. Include height, weight, and a personal photograph to make you appear real to the
employer and not just a paper “cutout.”
b. Reveal ethnic background only if it is job related.
c. Exclude any mention of interests and hobbies; they are not job related.
d. None of the above are appropriate advice.
Answer:
Which one of the following sentences uses numbers incorrectly?
a. The poll showed 48 percent approved of the policy.
b. Miranda paid $99.95 for the table and $70 for the cabinet.
c. Joseph’s expense report was 80 dollars over the budget.
d. Send 5 managers and 37 production workers.
Answer:
Which of the following headings is NOT parallel with the others?
a. Cost of living in the Midwest Soars
b. Cost of Living in the South is Level
c. Increasing Cost of Living in New England
d. All are parallel
Answer:
You must deny a request for credit to an applicant who does not meet your company’s
requirements. Using a sentence such as “You are encouraged to make cash purchases”
illustrates a
a. counterproposal.
b. bait and switch technique.
c. confirmation of priorities.
d. consideration of eligibility.
Answer:
Which of the following is true concerning what the writer should do during the
preparation of an effective proposal?
a. Prepare the parts according to the standard accepted arrangement.
b. Start with the hardest part of the proposal and then go on to another.
c. Arrange the parts in whatever order seems appropriate.
d. Write the proposal by beginning on line one, page one, and proceed to the end.
Answer:
Rochelle must write a resignation message because she found a better paying job. What
writing sequence should she use?
a. Deductive
b. Inductive
c. Direct
d. Persuasive
Answer:
Documentation of the work of others in a report accomplishes all but which of the
following?
a. It gives credit where credit is due.
b. It protects the writer against plagiarism.
c. It strengthens weak research methods.
d. Documentation accomplishes all of the above.
Answer:
Which of the following would be considered a recommendation?
a. The cost of the brick veneer will be seven percent more than aluminum siding.
b. Even though brick veneer is more expensive, we understand it will be more durable
over the years.
c. Install brick veneer, since its slightly higher cost will be well offset by its durability.
d. Both brick veneer and aluminum siding have their advantages.
Answer:
Open punctuation
a. omits the commas after the salutation and the complimentary close.
b. includes a colon after the salutation and a comma after the complimentary close.
c. leaves punctuation to the discretion of the writer.
d. omits the colon after the salutation and the comma after the complimentary close.
Answer:
Javon explains a new policy to his staff which prohibits the use of office computers for
personal email. Several of the employees frown at the news and one staff member
makes a sarcastic remark. Steve’s staff is
a. giving feedback.
b. interfering.
c. decoding.
d. encoding.
Answer:
Which of the following is NOT a recommendation for designing a research
questionnaire?
a. Use a logical item sequence of difficult to easy.
b. Ask for easily remembered information.
c. Avoid items that require essay-type answers to be written.
d. All of the above are recommended for questionnaire design.
Answer:
In Total Quality Management (TQM) programs, the emphasis is on
a. distributing the decision-making power throughout the organization.
b. limiting the role of each employee in the organization.
c. increasing functional and departmental boundaries.
d. eliminating the middle management layer.
Answer:
A restaurant is faced with the challenge of communicating to its employees a significant
change in service and style. Which method is LEAST effective for communicating this
change?
a. Inform employees directly that they must accept the change.
b. Emphasize reasons the changes were made.
c. Explain the employees’ important role in implementing the change.
d. Emphasize the benefits employees gain from the change.
Answer:
As vice president of sales, you would like to send company personnel a good-news
message about the company’s first quarter sales results. Which of the following would
be the best subject line for your message?
a. Good News!
b. FYI
c. Sales Figures
d. First Quarter Sales Exceed Projections
Answer:
Jakeel is a new sales representative with Sensations, Inc. He attends a regional sales
meeting, followed by a reception. He converses with three new sales people and an
hour later forgets their names. This is an example of the following bad listening habit:
a. Faking attention: he pretends to listen but misses the message.
b. Empathetic listening: he is unable to be objective because her emotions are in the
way.
c. Stereotyping; the speakers did not meet his standards, so he prejudged them.
d. Failing to observe nonverbal aids: he does not take note of the body language of the
sales reps.
Answer:
Which of the following statements about Internet resources is NOT correct?
a. Resources on the Internet may not always be reliable and credible.
b. Internet resources may be used without concern for copyright, since materials must
be cleared for posting before appearing on the Internet.
c. In addition to the vast material available on the Internet, libraries provide some
additional resources that an effective business researcher will at times need to use.
d. Partial text from articles and documents are often available via the Internet, while full
texts may only be available in published form.
Answer:
Thomas is writing a report which contains a column (vertical) bar chart that shows last
year’s employee enrollment in three management training programs: conflict resolution,
time management, and team building. Which of the following statements best interprets
and analyzes the graph?
a. Figure 1 shows enrollment for each of the management training programs we offer.
b. As Figure 1 indicates, the enrollment for team building was almost double that of
time management, and conflict resolution was the highest of the three.
c. The enrollment for time management was 42; for team building it was 81, and for
conflict resolution, it was the highest at 127.
d. Figure 1 data indicate that employee management training needs are shifting from
training in time management and team building toward conflict resolution.
Answer:
Which of the following stages is LEAST likely to occur in team development?
a. storming
b. performing
c. norming
d. forming
Answer:
Which of the following is correct concerning the executive summary (abstract) in the
preliminary pages and the summary that appears as a final section of the report body?
a. Only one or the other is necessary, since they would contain the same information.
b. Both are necessary because the executive summary summarizes the essential
elements of the entire report and the summary reviews the main points presented in the
body.
c. Both are necessary because they are prescribed sections in the APA style.
d. Neither is necessary in a well-written, concise report.
Answer:
Marisol wants to know the best way to let the recipient of her application letter know
that her résumé is included. Which of the following would you advise?
a. All that is necessary is an enclosure notation after the signature block.
b. Include the following in the second half of the letter: “The enclosed résumé details
my responsibilities as office manager at Carson Office Systems, a job that gave me the
opportunity to experience some of the situations you described in your ad.”
c. Include the following sentence in the opening paragraph: “A résumé is attached that
fully details each qualification I have acquired.”
d. Include as a final sentence: “See the enclosed résumé for further details.”
Answer:
Which of the following statements is true concerning the use of a word processor’s spell
check feature?
a. You can rely on the spell checker to locate any misspelled word.
b. Spell check can locate errors such as homophones and omitted words.
c. Another term for spell check is thesaurus.
d. When the software cannot guess the spelling based on your attempt, you must use a
paper or online dictionary to look up the correct spelling of any incorrect word.
Answer:
An ultimate requirement of listening for information is that the listener
a. is judgmental.
b. takes copious notes.
c. avoids focusing on nonverbal cues.
d. is able to separate fact from fiction and humor from seriousness.
Answer:
Organizing a message before writing it
a. lengthens the time spent composing the message.
b. ensures that ideas are presented clearly and logically.
c. ensures that all ideas will receive equal emphasis.
d. All of the above
Answer:
List four guidelines for an applicant to start a job interview off “on the right foot.”
Answer:
A message that will not likely interest the receiver should be organized in a deductive
order.
Answer:
Enumerated lists, bulleted lists, tables, graphs, and pictures can all be used in email
messages to strengthen communication.
Answer:
To depict sales trends for the past five years, you would create a bar chart with the
y-axis beginning at the lowest value reported.
Answer:
Knowing the needs of the receiver is essential to preparing an effective sales message.
Answer:
A student who is listening to instructions for a homework assignment should be using
casual listening skills.
Answer:
Customer Requests Information for Returning Product
The customer service department of Software Solutions received a letter from Latif
Ahmed stating that he placed an order for the AccTabs accounting software and instead
received a software package entitled ThirdWave. He would like to receive a UPS
account number to use when returning the product so that he will not have to pay the
shipping, as well as instructions for packaging and labeling the returned product.
Required:
Write an e-mail message as the customer service manager of Software Solutions
responding to Mr. Ahmed’s requests. Include an appropriate subject line and message
body in your solution.
Answer:
In a flat organization structure, communicating among the cross-disciplinary teams
becomes more important than upward and downward communication.
Answer:
Offering a counterproposal may eliminate the need to state the refusal directly.
Answer:
In APA style, the complete list of references at the end of the paper is referred to as the
Works Cited.
Answer:
While text can be given an unethical slant, graphic aids eliminate that risk because of
their quantitative nature.
Answer:
Crafting an Effective Claim Request
Analyze the following routine claim letter and make needed revisions.
Dear Mr. Ortiz:
Eight months ago, I purchased the Wireless-G Broadband Router (2.4 GHz), Model No.
WRT54G, from your company. After only eight months of use, it no longer works. It
quit working while I was in the middle of a huge project, and the delay cost me
hundreds of dollars.
Since this product came with a year warranty, I am upset that it quit working after less
than a year. It must be defective. I have the receipt for purchase and want a replacement
immediately. The router problem has already cost me time and money. If I don’t receive
a replacement or refund immediately, I will not buy your products in the future.
Please send a replacement router via express delivery to the address on this letterhead.
Thank you.
Answer:
A sentence with “I” or “we” as the subject is written in first person.
Answer:
List three ways to organize a résumé and describe when each résumé is appropriate.
Answer:
Hal listed his former supervisor, Jean, as a reference. Because Hal asked permission to
list Jean, he has no legal recourse to negative comments Jean might make about him to
a prospective employer.
Answer:
Effective Wording of Staff Memo
The following memo contains many cliches and outdated expressions. Revise it,
substituting fresh, original expressions and sentences without redundancies and wordy
construction.
TO: All Sales Reps
FROM: Thomas Kotrola, Manager
DATE: August 15, 2011
SUBJECT: Client and vendor survey
Pursuant to our recent staff meeting, this written communication confirms the item of
business regarding surveying our clients and vendors that I recently discussed at our
recent meeting. The survey matter and procedures that I discussed are listed below as
follows:
To stay ahead of the game, management has determined that it is of utmost importance
to solicit input from our clientele and vendors, ASAP. Please be advised that the
detailed procedures for doing so and all the step-by-step instructions are available
online, as mentioned in the staff meeting. Utilize the online survey for your list of
clients and vendors. The absolute last deadline for soliciting this information is
September 15. The bottom line is that you must make it a top priority to be sure these
completed surveys are submitted to management by September 16 from your clients
and vendors. If you are out-of-pocket on the due date, make sure that all your bases are
covered so that you can verify and submit surveys prior to the established due date.
The ball is now in your court. I’m expecting everyone to come through and show your
stuff. Do not hesitate to check with me if you have a question. My door is always open.
Answer:
To assure clarity and ease of readying, an effective writer should generally use
sentences that follow the normal subject-verb-complement sequence to assure clarity
and easy reading.
Answer:
Emoticons can be used in email to lighten the mood and compensate the lack of
nonverbal cues.
Answer:
La’Shon is hoping to obtain a job in broadcasting and plans to send his résumé to a
variety of media organizations. He should make his résumé as convincing as possible
but should not send a video to avoid possible discrimination due to gender, ethnicity, or
other characteristics.
Answer:
Briefly discuss four reasons for exercising caution in using information gathered from
Internet sources.
Answer: