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Q:
Email hygiene refers to
A) the absence of slang and informal language in email messages.
B) a nationwide movement to do away with information overload.
C) all the efforts companies make to keep email clean and safe.
D) refraining from using foul language in email.
E) software that scans email messages for misspelled addresses.
Q:
When it comes to monitoring incoming and outgoing email,
A) most companies do not make the effort.
B) only about 10 percent of U.S. employers do it.
C) most employers view it as an invasion of employee privacy.
D) many employers do so, either with software, security staff, or both.
E) federal law strictly prohibits companies from doing it.
Q:
Compared to social media sites, email
A) no longer offers any advantages.
B) is much more difficult to use.
C) still has compelling advantages that make it useful in many companies.
D) is far less private.
E) is much more difficult to track and monitor.
Q:
Websites specifically designed to pool the inputs of multiple users in order to benefit the community as a whole are known as ________ websites.
A) hidden
B) open
C) user-friendly
D) community participation
E) open-source
Q:
You have decided to post a video on YouTube explaining how to use one of your company's new products. To be most effective, the video should be no more than ________ minute(s) long.
A) 1
B) 5
C) 25
D) 60
E) Any length is appropriate, as long as the content is compelling.
Q:
In terms of social networking, UGC stands for
A) user-generated content.
B) underground correspondence.
C) urgent governmental communication.
D) ungrammatical conversation.
E) none of the above.
Q:
One of your sales representatives has begun using social networks to aggressively promote a new product line. The best response would likely be to
A) encourage him to continue.
B) discourage him from using blatant "salespeak" since it is likely to alienate the audience.
C) enact a policy forbidding employees from using social networks on company time.
D) do nothing.
E) fire him immediately.
Q:
Thanks to Facebook, you've recently connected with an old friend who lives in another state. She contacts you frequently using your work email account, often sharing racially charged jokes that you find offensive. Concerned about what would happen if your boss or coworkers saw her emails, you should
A) loosen up, since no one at your company has the right to read your email.
B) politely ask her to stop sending the jokes, and then speak privately with your boss about the problem and how you have addressed it.
C) simply delete her email messages from your computer so no one will ever know about them.
D) go online and see if you can find the jokes on the Internet; if so, there is no need to be concerned.
E) do none of the above.
Q:
Social media postings on sites such as Twitter and FacebookA) are personal and confidential, and cannot be used in a court of law.B) cannot be forwarded or copied.C) appear online for only a very short time, so if you post something inappropriate there is no need to worry.D) have caused some employees to be fired.E) cannot legally be used by employers to make personnel decisions such as those related to promotion or termination.
Q:
When creating content for social media,
A) to reach a wide audience, you should write as informally as possible.
B) treat every message as a sales pitch.
C) write catchy headlines that play on words.
D) don't hide from criticism: take the opportunity to correct misinformation.
E) use plenty of jargoneven if your audience is not likely to understand itso everyone will know you are an insider.
Q:
When selecting the appropriate compositional mode for a communication task using electronic media, the central factor to consider is
A) which one you like the most.
B) which one will save you the most time.
C) which one is most likely to impress your boss.
D) what kind of information audience members are likely to need.
E) what medium you will use.
Q:
Using "teasers" in electronic media as a way to pull readers or listeners into a story or other document
A) is unethical and should always be avoided.
B) is appropriate only when large purchases are not involved.
C) is acceptable, as long as the payoff is valuable and legitimate.
D) is never appropriate for microblogging sites.
E) was once an effective technique, but not any longer due to an Internet-savvy public.
Q:
Which of the following compositional modes for electronic media involves helping people find their way through an unfamiliar system or new subject?
A) conversation
B) comments and critiques
C) orientations
D) summaries
E) narratives
Q:
Despite your numerous emails and voicemail messages, a normally dependable vendor has not responded to your important question. Which of the following would be a sensible next step?
A) Consider sending a printed message.
B) Send more email messages, but flag them as "high-priority" or "urgent."
C) Send multiple copies of the same email message.
D) Use IM to bombard the vendor until he responds.
E) Find the CEO's mobile phone number and bombard it with text messages demanding a response.
Q:
When it comes to writing messages in today's business environment,
A) printed letters are obsolete.
B) printed letters are still used for external communication.
C) email has completely replaced printed memos for all internal communication.
D) printed letters are used primarily for negative messages.
E) printed documents are considered highly informal.
Q:
Many companies are now using ________ to replace or supplement some conference calls, training courses, and other communication activities.
A) blogs
B) instant messaging
C) email
D) text messaging
E) podcasts
Q:
In terms of the three-step writing process, podcasts differ mostly from written messages in the ________ step.
A) planning
B) writing
C) completing
D) transcribing
E) There are no significant differences.
Q:
Which of the following is a particularly helpful medium when you need to update content for a large audience quickly?
A) webpage
B) email
C) instant message
D) podcast
E) blog
Q:
Which of the following is not true of instant messaging?
A) It allows a rapid response to urgent messages.
B) It is less susceptible to security and privacy problems.
C) It costs more than phone calls or email.
D) It is widely utilized in business.
E) It is more susceptible than email to problems with unwanted messages.
Q:
Compared to email, instant messaging
A) is slower and more complicated to use.
B) has not caught on in the business community.
C) is much faster, but more costly as well.
D) offers greater speed and is less susceptible to privacy problems.
E) has become much less popular for personal and business use.
Q:
Email is to be used for external communication
A) regularly, although it has been replaced in many cases by other tools.
B) only for formal documents that you need to keep a record of.
C) in response to letters your customers have sent.
D) only if a superior approves the message.
E) when confidentiality is required.
Q:
Which of the following statements is true?
A) Despite their popularity for personal use, social networking technologies are not very useful in business.
B) Social networking technology is so complex that only high-tech companies take advantage of it.
C) Social networking capabilities have led to a fundamental change in business communication.
D) The use of social networks is declining.
E) Social networking sites have become increasingly difficult to use.
Q:
When reviewing your document for content, you should be concerned with
A) grammar and usage.
B) punctuation and spelling.
C) the accuracy and relevance of the information.
D) style and tone.
E) type styles and typefaces.
Q:
Putting your first draft aside for a day or two before you begin the revision process
A) is a waste of valuable time.
B) generally makes it more difficult to revise effectively.
C) is often helpful, especially with more complex messages.
D) is unnecessary unless you are an unskilled writer.
E) can be helpful, but not for electronic documents.
Q:
When revising a document, you should
A) first read through it to evaluate its overall effectiveness.
B) first look carefully for grammatical errors.
C) try to accomplish all revision tasks in one pass, in order to finish quickly.
D) pay closest attention to the document's spelling.
E) keep in mind that a few errors here and there are no big deal.
Q:
Messages sent via IM, text messaging, email and blogging
A) do not require revision, even when used for business purposes.
B) should be revised, even if it involves nothing more than a quick review before sending.
C) do not need to be revised unless a potential sale is involved.
D) cannot be revised.
E) don't need to be revised, since software editing features will eliminate any errors.
Q:
The main tasks in completing a business message consist of all except
A) proofreading.
B) revising.
C) forecasting.
D) producing.
E) All of the above are part of the completing step.
Q:
Describe four important issues to consider when distributing business messages.
Q:
Explain the importance and process of proofreading. Why does it matter and what should you look for?
Q:
Describe at least three software tools that can help you revise and polish a document.
Q:
Explain why editing for conciseness is important, then list the four steps it involves.
Q:
Explain at least three of the steps involved in editing documents for clarity.
Q:
Briefly explain the difference between word processing software and desktop publishing software.
Q:
What is a multimedia document, and what advantage does this medium offer?
Q:
How do serif typefaces differ from sans serif typefaces?
Q:
Rewrite the following sentence to eliminate redundancies: "The engineers collaborated together in order to produce the uniquely original final outcomes of their research."
Q:
Rewrite the following sentence to eliminate the unnecessary phrases: "In view of the fact that the customer service department is closed, we do not have the capability of offering refunds until such a time as they reopen."
Q:
Define hedging and briefly explain why it should be avoided in business messages.
Q:
Briefly describe two strategies for clarifying sentence structure.
Q:
What does it mean to impose parallelism on your writing, and what are the results of doing so?
Q:
Rewrite the following sentence to avoid camouflaged verbs: "The customer will ultimately make a determination about whether or not a purchase will occur."
Q:
Rewrite the following sentence to improve clarity and avoid the long noun sequence: "The financial estimates and accounting consulting firm will be closed next week."
Q:
Briefly explain the difference between descriptive headings and informative headings.
Q:
What three functions do effective headings serve in business documents? Explain each one.
Q:
Briefly describe at least three advantages of using lists in business documents.
Q:
Conclusions should accomplish what two tasks?
Q:
Briefly explain what the opening of a document should accomplish.
Q:
If you find graphics, photos, videos, and other elements online, you can use them in your own documents without worrying about copyright violations
Q:
To draw attention to important points or terms italic type is more effective than boldface.
Q:
Using many different fonts in the same document will make it more appealing to your audience.
Q:
One advantage of justified type is that it makes a message look more personalized and less like a form letter.
Q:
To make your message more interesting and accessible, you should use as many design elements and decorative touches as possible.
Q:
Because the first thing that readers will notice about your message is its appearance, you should pay special attention to design and page layout.
Q:
Today's powerful grammar checkers can easily determine whether your document states your message correctly and communicates it clearly.
Q:
Using a spell checker guarantees that your documents will be free of spelling errors.
Q:
The sentence, "It is imperative that we hire more employees" begins with an indefinite pronoun and should be shortened.
Q:
"Future plans" is an example of a redundancy.
Q:
Short words are generally more vivid and easier to read than long words.
Q:
Words that do not affect the meaning of a sentence are usually unnecessary and contribute to sentence clutter.
Q:
If you regularly edit for conciseness and clarity, you'll likely find that audiences are more likely to read your documents.
Q:
In business documents, items in a list should always be numberedusing bullets or other graphics is unprofessional.
Q:
To improve the readability of your messages, make liberal use of references such as "the latter," "the former," "the aforementioned," and "as mentioned above."
Q:
The subject and predicate of a sentence should be kept as close together as possible.
Q:
"Take an action" is an example of a camouflaged verb.
Q:
A dangling modifier is one that has no connection to the subject of the sentence.
Q:
To avoid legal problems in your business messages, you should use as many hedging words (such as may or seems) as possible.
Q:
Readers can understand descriptive headings without reading the rest of the document.
Q:
An example of an informative heading would be "Redesigning Material Flow to Cut Material Costs."
Q:
Headings have only one function, which is to break up long blocks of type.
Q:
Items in a list do not need to have parallel construction.
Q:
Although you should vary the length of paragraphs in your business messages, in general you should strive for short paragraphs.
Q:
Skilled business writers keep all their sentences as short as possible.
Q:
You should strive for a sixth-grade reading level for most business messages.
Q:
The middle section of a message has the greatest impact on the audience.
Q:
With more complex messages, it is a good idea to set aside a first draft for a day or two before beginning the revision process.
Q:
With practice, most writers can create first drafts that do not need to be revised.
Q:
After you have completed the first draft of your business message, the next step is to make a final, quick pass through it to check for typos and spelling errors.
Q:
Using overnight delivery for a business message
A) is always a good idea, since it shows that the message is highly important.
B) is no longer needed, since electronic delivery options are always preferable.
C) hurts your image, since it suggests that you are a procrastinator.
D) is usually a waste of money unless the audience truly needs to receive it right away.
E) should always be your first choice among distribution methods if you work for a large company.
Q:
If you're sending extremely large files, you should
A) use overnight delivery to send a hard copy rather than sending them electronically.
B) consider using recordable media such as DVDs or a file-hosting site.
C) always send them as MS Word attachments.
D) send them through the mail to avoid excessive costs.
E) send duplicate copies as email attachments to ensure that they reach your audience.
Q:
Which of the following techniques can help you proofread more effectively?
A) Read each page backward, from the bottom to the top.
B) Proofread the document as soon as you complete the draft.
C) To ensure consistency, proofread long documents from beginning to end without stopping.
D) Always proofread using your monitor (rather than printing out a hard copy of the document).
E) Don't get bogged down: just make a casual scan up and down the page (or screen), correct any obvious problems, and move on.