Chapter 5

Which of the following is an example of a sentence in which one idea is subordinated to the other?

Although the company invested large amounts of money in research and development, it did not see an increase in quarterly profits

A phrase that can be replaced by a shorter wording without changing the meaning of the sentence where it appears is ________ phrase.

An abstract

Which of the following is true about clichés?

Business cliches can sometimes increase your credibility with other business people

Which of the following pieces of advice will help you use paragraphing to your best advantage?

Ensure that the different bits of information within each paragraph are logically related to each other

Which of the following sentences contains unnecessary repetition?

Every week, my boss requires us to attend weekly forecast meetings

It is mandatory for every paragraph in a business report to have a topic sentence.

False

The following sentence uses subordination: "The customer's question was insightful, and I had trouble answering it."

False

The word "complement" refers to words of praise.

False

This example illustrates faulty parallelism: "Jake is good at creating and delivering presentations."

False

This sentence uses a cliché: "The project uses state-of-the-art technologies."

False

This sentence uses a slang word: "We take pride in our work."

False

Transitional devices are limited to repeating key words and ideas and using transitional words.

False

You should never use difficult words.

False

Which of the following sentences uses an incorrect two-word expression?

He knew the names of all of his employees from heart.

Which of the following sentences correctly uses the word "farther"?

How much farther is the conference room from here?

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of excess words?

I would like to learn more about your project

Which of the following sentences uses technical words?

It is advisable to invest in an annuity

Which of the following statements about initials and acronyms is true?

It may be necessary to define initials and acronyms for readers.

Given below is a list of rules to be followed while designing a logo. Which of the following items is not parallel with the other items?

Keeping it simple

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of cluttering phrases?

Please fill out the forms and provide all relevant documents to speed up the application process

Which of the following sentences provides the best example of the use of specific words?

Please meet me in the boardroom at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.

Which of the following sentences is in active voice?

She presented her proposal to the committee yesterday

Which of the following is true about topic sentences?

The most common paragraph arrangement is to begin with the topic sentence.

Which of the following is true of incomplete constructions?

They fail to fulfill reader expectations

If there is any question about whether readers will understand what a set of initials stands for, you should spell out the words and follow them with the initials.

True

The following sentence contains surplus words: "Jesse made a good impression on everyone he came in contact with during the interview."

True

The following sentence has a dangling/misplaced modifier: "Believing home prices would fall, people were asked not to invest in real estate."

True

The use of specialized language can signal to other specialists that you are qualified to communicate on their level.

True

This sentence uses abstract language: "A sizeable portion of our revenue comes from one product."

True

To communicate clearly, you must use words that your readers are familiar with.

True

When the verb describing the action in a sentence takes the form of a noun, the verb is called a camouflaged verb.

True

Which of the following sentences provides the best example of the use of concrete words?

Whitney only sold 20 percent of her quota last quarter

A word may have several ________, or social and emotional associations.

connotations

Clichés should be used sparingly because they

create problems in cross-cultural communication

Choose the transitional word that best fits the following sentence: "Alice's grades have to be high; ________, she will not get the scholarship."

otherwise

Words that add nothing to sentence meaning and that can often simply be eliminated are referred to as ________ words.

surplus