With the availability of telepresence and other sophisticated meeting technologies,
face-to-face meetings
A) are still valuable in many situations.
B) are wasteful and unnecessary.
C) should happen only when the topic is highly controversial.
D) offer nothing that technology cannot replicate.
E) should be avoided, even when participants work in close proximity.
Answer:
The most effective and easiest mode of delivering presentations in nearly all situations
is
A) memorization.
B) reading from a prepared script.
C) speaking from an outline or notes.
D) impromptu speaking.
E) from a seated position.
Answer:
Which of the following would be the best wording to use on a résumé?
A) “I was in charge of a staff of six employees.”
B) “I supervised six employees.”
C) “Was in charge of entire departmental staff.”
D) “Supervised staff of six employees.”
E) “In this job, I was in charge of six employees including an assistant manager.”
Answer:
The most common way to organize a résumé is
A) chronologically.
B) functionally.
C) geographically.
D) alphabetically.
E) none of the above.
Answer:
Advantages of using IM rather than email include its
A) ability to completely eliminate the equivalent of “junk mail.”
B) availability on a wide range of devices.
C) ability to mimic conversations.
D) ability to convey tone more effectively.
E) all of the above.
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of a message topic?
A) “To get the board of directors to increase the research and development budget”
B) “Competitors spend more than our company does on research and development”
C) “Funding for research and development”
D) “The research and development budget is inadequate in our competitive
marketplace”
E) Any of the above
Answer:
The first step in the basic listening process is ________ the message.
A) receiving
B) interpreting
C) evaluating
D) encoding
E) decoding
Answer:
When responding to a customer complaint about one of your company’s services, you
should
A) soften the situation with excuses such as “Nobody’s perfect” or “Mistakes will
happen.”
B) use a generous, grudging tone.
C) use a standard form letter, with blanks left for filling in unique information in neat
handwriting.
D) avoid blaming anyone in your organization by name.
E) always find a way to blame the customer for the problem.
Answer:
“It’s not all fun and games” is one example of
A) jargon.
B) buzzwords.
C) a cliché.
D) passive voice.
E) a complex sentence.
Answer:
If a customer uses the comment feature to criticize the content of your business blog,
A) you should respond promptly and honestly.
B) ignore it unless the critic is incorrect.
C) post it, and follow with a blog entry to show your audience that it will not be
tolerated.
D) you should immediately shut the blog down to avoid potential harm to your
reputation.
E) do none of the above.
Answer:
Transitional words and phrases
A) tie ideas together and show how one thought is related to another.
B) help overcome poor organization.
C) are essential to analytical reports but unnecessary in informational reports.
D) generally confuse readers, especially in online reports.
E) do all of the above.
Answer:
Which of the following is not a typical function of the introduction to a report?
A) Telling the audience what the report is about
B) Explaining to readers why they should be concerned about the topic
C) Outlining how the report is organized
D) Documenting sources
E) All of the above are typical functions.
Answer:
Explaining negative news in the body of your message
A) is always a good idea.
B) shows weakness and should be avoided.
C) confuses readers, and should not be done in most cases.
D) is required for external audiences, but never for internal.
E) is often helpful if you are writing to an important customer.
Answer:
If you must give an employee a negative performance review,
A) do so by email or fax.
B) support your assessment with careful documentation.
C) limit your discussion to the areas where the employee needs improvement.
D) do all of the above.
E) you should assume that eventually, he or she will have to be dismissed.
Answer:
The richest communication medium is
A) a phone call.
B) IM.
C) an email.
D) a face-to-face conversation.
E) a letter.
Answer:
Conducting successful meetings by phone or online
A) is much easier than doing so face-to-face.
B) is virtually impossible.
C) dramatically reduces the distractions participants must overcome.
D) requires extra planning before the meeting and more diligence during the meeting.
E) eliminates the need for anyone to take minutes.
Answer:
Which of the following sentences contains an idiomatic expression?
A) Our monthly sales quota is unrealistic.
B) We don’t expect to meet our monthly sales quota.
C) Making our monthly sales quota will be a piece of cake.
D) The sales quota is very reasonable.
E) These products are all quite popular.
Answer:
The letter of transmittal should
A) discuss the scope and methods of the project.
B) highlight important sections of the report.
C) thank the reader for the assignment, if appropriate.
D) do all of the above.
E) do nothing more than thank readers for their interest in your report.
Answer:
Three weeks ago you sent a proposal to a client who had asked for information on
upgrading his company’s security system. You’ve heard nothing in response. You should
A) inquire politely as to whether the report arrived or offer to answer any questions
regarding its subject.
B) take it as a sign that the client agrees with what you had to say.
C) assume that the report has not been read.
D) call the client and demand to know why you haven’t received a response yet.
E) call the client’s office, give a fictional reason for calling, and then casually ask about
the report as if you had forgotten about it, as well.
Answer:
Communication and culture
A) are completely unrelated.
B) are only slightly related.
C) are so closely related that separating the two is virtually impossible.
D) were once closely related, but have become separate thanks to the Internet.
E) present challenges, but all of them can be overcome by learning the language of your
audience.
Answer:
A metacrawler is
A) a highly specialized directory that focuses on a specific subject matter area.
B) a search engine that examines only newsgroup messages.
C) a type of aggregator that offers subscribers all-day information on their desktops.
D) a special type of engine that searches several search engines at once.
E) a search engine that can access the hidden Internet.
Answer:
When writing content to post on the web, keep in mind that readers tend to be
________ of online content.
A) respectful
B) receptive
C) skeptical
D) trusting
E) none of the above
Answer:
When receiving business-related phone calls,
A) you should use frequent verbal responses (such as, “I see”) to show that you are
listening.
B) it is impolite to say things such as, “I understand” while the other person is speaking.
C) it is perfectly acceptable to put the caller on hold without explanation.
D) your primary goal should be to get off of the phone (and back to work) as quickly as
possible.
E) do none of the above.
Answer:
VoIP is a
A) widely used format for sending documents electronically.
B) technology for making telephone calls via the Internet.
C) highly technical videoconferencing program.
D) type of voice-to-text translation software.
E) an outdated telephony system.
Answer:
“Viral marketing” is
A) the unethical practice of marketing products through computer viruses.
B) advertising products and services related to the health-care industry.
C) the transmission of messages about your company and products by individuals
outside your organization.
D) marketing that uses hostile language to ‘shame” consumers into purchasing goods
and/or services.
E) none of the above.
Answer:
A euphemism is a word or phrase that is
A) possibly offensive.
B) general or abstract in meaning.
C) highly technical.
D) a milder term for one with negative connotations.
E) difficult to understand.
Answer:
Using oral media for business communication
A) should always be your first choice, regardless of the situation.
B) can be unwise when you don’t want a lot of questions or interaction.
C) is increasingly necessary, due to the declining reliance on email.
D) suggests that you are old-fashioned, and should be avoided whenever possible.
E) can lead to awkward conversations, but also help you earn a reputation as an honest,
caring manager.
Answer:
Employers use ________ tests to measure a variety of attributes involved in acquiring,
processing, analyzing, using, and remembering information.
A) integrity
B) personality
C) job skills
D) mental capacity
E) cognitive
Answer:
The scope of a message will generally be longer when
A) the audience is unfamiliar with your topic.
B) the audience is unfamiliar with you and your credibility.
C) the audience is likely to resist your ideas.
D) your subject is controversial, complex, or both.
E) any of the above are true.
Answer:
When speaking with someone from another culture, avoid
A) talking down to the other person.
B) using any foreign phrases.
C) paying any attention to the person’s body language.
D) asking for clarification—it might offend them.
E) doing all of the above.
Answer:
Which of the following is an infinitive phrase?
A) updating clients
B) update clients
C) updated clients
D) to update clients
E) will update clients
Answer:
When conducting a meeting
A) if some people are too quiet, leave them alone; they probably have nothing to
contribute.
B) if some people dominate the conversation, let them do so, since they are probably
the most knowledgeable attendees.
C) try to simply act as an observer, and let the meeting “run itself.”
D) allow only one comment on each issue—otherwise discussion can take too long.
E) do none of the above.
Answer:
What is the tense of the verb in this sentence? “We had completed the revisions by
Monday afternoon.”
A) Present
B) Past
C) Future
D) Past perfect
E) Imperfect
Answer:
Speaking from notes or an outline is often effective because
A) you can look at the notes instead of at your audience.
B) you can maintain a natural speaking flow.
C) it reduces the likelihood that you will improvise.
D) it enables you to read the presentation word-for-word.
E) it takes far less time to prepare than writing out the entire presentation.
Answer: