When right margins are not aligned or justified, they provide more white space and
improve readability.
a. True
b. False
When you give a speech without multimedia technology, you may need to prepare
notes. You should prepare these notes by writing major ideas
a. as single words.
b. in paragraph form.
c. in a complete sentence or two.
d. on a Kleenex so that your audience won’t know you have any notes.
Careful writers avoid labeling main ideas because they know that readers prefer to
identify main ideas for themselves.
a. True
b. False
The Internet has changed the way individuals search for jobs.
a. True
b. False
When you organize an informational report directly, in what order should the ideas be
presented?
a. Introduction/background, facts/findings, and summary
b. Introduction/background, summary, and facts/findings
c. Summary, introduction/background, and facts/findings
d. The direct strategy presents ideas in any order for maximum effectiveness and
flexibility.
Which of the following sentences represents an appropriate end date in a claim
message?
a. Because we have enjoyed your prompt service in the past, we hope to receive the
correct projectors by January 12.
b. We wish to end our contract with your company if you cannot improve your service.
c. Service calls were made to our Washington Street office on May 20, May 22, and
May 27 without resolving the problem.
d. Please replace the five Panasonic projectors we received on December 22 because
the model numbers do not match the models ordered.
Corbin must inform employees that overtime pay will be reduced from the current 2.0
factor to a 1.5 factor. Because he anticipates a hostile reaction, which of the following
sequences should Corbin use for the parts of his message?
a. Bad news, explanation, reasons, and closing
b. Bad news, reasons, buffer, and closing
c. Buffer, reasons, bad news, and closing
d. Buffer, explanation, reasons, and closing
An oral presentation that incorporates visual aids is far more likely to be retained than
one lacking visual enhancement.
a. True
b. False
The central objective of communication is the transmission of meaning.
a. True
b. False
Persuasive claim or complaint messages are often written when
a. products are damaged.
b. wrong shipments are delivered.
c. mistakes in billing occur.
d. All answer choices are correct.
Goodwill messages should be short, selfless, specific, spontaneous, and
a. sassy.
b. sincere.
c. spiritual.
d. suave.
When should passive voice be used in business writing?
a. When you want to deemphasize the action or the recipient of the action
b. When you want to emphasize the bad news
c. When you want to conceal the doer of the action
d. Never
Business writers who use words such as interrogate, remuneration, and terminate are
using language many readers would consider
a. slang.
b. conversational.
c. jargon.
d. unfamiliar.
You will sound more professional and sincere if you include a sentence such as Thank
you for your cooperation in the closing paragraph of an informationrequest message.
a. True
b. False
In today’s fastpaced, competitive business world, employers are not interested in the
ethical behavior of their employees.
a. True
b. False
Instant messaging and texting
a. provide “presence functionality,” allowing coworkers to locate each other online,
which saves time tracking someone down who is out of the office.
b. are delayed; a user has time to recall sent messages if he or she decides the message
should not have been delivered.
c. prevent multitasking and encourage employees to focus on one job at a time.
d. allow indepth analysis of data, including charts and graphs, and lengthy conversation
of the chosen topics.
Branch managers of First Federated Savings and Loan received this email message:
Please inform all personal that management retains the right to check personal
belongings of employees before employees leave the bank. What error did the writer
make?
a. A grammatical mistake
b. A proofreading error
c. A failure to use spell check
d. No error was made. The sentence is correct as written.
You can effectively build interest in a sales message by
a. including your credentials.
b. motivating action in the closing.
c. emphasizing central selling points identified in the prewriting analysis.
d. suggesting the reader lacks good judgment if he or she doesn’t buy today.
To respond effectively to behavioral questions, use the storytelling technique to relate a
success story about a recent educational or work situation or task.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following is not a social networking site?
a. LinkedIn
b. Facebook
c. Twitter
d. Firefox
When delivering bad news, you should first determine if the negative information is
newsworthy.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following statements about workplace criticism is most accurate?
a. When receiving criticism, individuals should focus on their feelings rather than on
the content of the criticism.
b. Most individuals like to give and receive criticism.
c. Giving and receiving criticism is a normal occurrence in the business world.
d. In today’s workplace, only managers must give criticism.
Before you write a message, your first step should be to
a. conduct research.
b. prepare an outline of your ideas.
c. analyze the audience and anticipate its reaction to the message.
d. select an appropriate organizational pattern.
All of the following are helpful tips to deliver a badnews message personally in the
workplace except
a. consider taking a partner if you fear a “shoot the messenger” reaction.
b. focus on the future and avoid discussing the past or the present.
c. think about timing and do not deliver bad news on a Friday afternoon.
d. prepare and rehearse; outline what you plan to say.
End dates and specific actions in a routine request message should be placed in the
a. introduction.
b. body.
c. closing.
d. enclosure notation.
Laura values individualism and personal responsibility in herself and coworkers. These
values are typical of North American culture.
a. True
b. False
An American businessperson who thinks that all Swiss are hardworking, efficient, and
neat is demonstrating an example of
a. ethnocentrism.
b. tolerance.
c. stereotyping.
d. a cultural norm.
Which of the following statements about workplace teams is most accurate?
a. Teams tend to respond more slowly to competition or problem solving.
b. Because conflict often results, teams tend to have decreased productivity.
c. Team members who are involved in the decisionmaking process show less resistance
to change.
d. Individuals tend to make better decisions than teams.
Use the opening of a persuasive request to gain your reader’s attention and interest.
a. True
b. False
When you have a conversation with someone from another culture, you can reduce
misunderstandings if you
a. speak in short sentences.
b. accept a yes or a nod to affirm comprehension.
c. wait until you finish a long explanation to request feedback.
d. use lots of slang to demonstrate your knowledge of your culture’s language.
A topic sentence
a. provides specific details, explanations, and evidence that support the main idea of a
paragraph.
b. links sentences within a paragraph.
c. is unnecessary in a paragraph.
d. states the main idea of the paragraph.
To emphasize an idea through mechanics, place it in
a. boldface.
b. a different font style.
c. italics.
d. Any of these techniques would emphasize the idea.
An effective persuasive technique is to tie the facts to writer benefits.
a. True
b. False
Profiling the audience for a business message helps the writer
a. identify the appropriate tone, language, and channel.
b. guarantee that the audience will respond positively to the message.
c. select slang the audience will recognize and appreciate.
d. create a perfect first draft.
Commonly shared in online environments, a(n) ___________________ is a type of
visual aid that combines images and graphic elements to present complex information
in a format that is easy to understand.
An important preliminary step in public speaking is performing
____________________ analysis, which helps a speaker determine his or her
organizational pattern, delivery style, and supporting material.
Putting yourself in the receiver’s shoes to better adapt your message to that person’s
needs is called ____________________.
In the ____________________ of a persuasive request, you should build interest,
explain the purpose of the request logically and concisely, prove its merit, and reduce
resistance.
The ____________________ of a communication channel describes the extent to which
a channel or medium recreates or represents all the information available in the original
message.
Instructions should be written in ____________________ using the imperative
(command) mood.
HTMLENTITY#8203HTMLENTITYDescribe the functional rsum and explain its
advantages for recent college graduates.
ANS: HTMLENTITY#8203HTMLENTITYA functional rsum lists skills gleaned from
all sources, including work, education, and hobbies. It deemphasizes work history.
Because it focuses attention on what the candidate can do for the company rather than
on the candidate’s limited work experience, the functional rsum style works well for
recent college graduates.
RATIONALE: HTMLENTITY#8203HTMLENTITY
Using a(n) ____________________voice verb enables you to depersonalize an action
and cushion the bad news.
Badnews messages can be organized using the direct or indirect strategy. Identify one
situation when each strategy would be appropriate and identify the organizational
pattern for each strategy.
A communicator who intends to deceive when writing a badnews message is displaying
____________________ behavior.
The ____________________ of a phone call should name the person being called,
identify the caller and his or her affiliation, and provide a brief explanation of the
reason for the phone call.
Professional marketers and salespeople follow the _______________ strategy
(attention, interest, desire, and action) when persuading consumers.
Your interviewer says to you Describe a time when… or Tell me about a time when…
These phrases are openings for a(n) ____________________ question.
Messages that offer thanks, recognition, or sympathy are called
____________________ messages.
Identify two ways to use electronic media professionally in the workplace.
Persuasive ____________________ messages, also called complaint messages, are
used to complain about damaged products, mistaken billing, inaccurate shipments,
warranty problems, limited return policies, insurance snafus, faulty merchandise, and
other problems.
Empty space on a page is called ____________.
A(n) ____________________ of qualifications, which presents three to eight bulleted
statements identifying your most impressive accomplishments to prove that you are the
ideal candidate for the position, appears near the top of your rsum.
The planning of every report begins with a statement of ____________________ that
describes the goal, significance, and limitations of a formal report.