BCOM Exam 2

The following is a topic sentence for a descriptive paragraph. My most valuable possession is an old violin--the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to play. All the sentences below support this topic sentence with specific details for a unified descriptive paragraph except:

"you should set aside a certain time each day for meditation."

Which of the following sentences avoids faulty parallelisms?

A company is responsible not only to its shareholders but also to its customers and employees.

Courtesy can be enhanced in business messages by:

Adding a personal note for the reader.

Unity

All the parts of the sentence work together to create one clear point.

In which of the following will the style of communication be least formal?

An email from an employee to her co-worker discussing her holiday plans.

You can help give your documents a courteous effect by:

Avoiding a preachy tone.

A writer can avoid writing preachy messages by:

Avoiding the tone of a lecture.

Denotation

Basic meaning.

Goodwill

Businesses cannot survive without goodwill, and you will not last long in business if you do not value it.

Short sentences

Carry more emphasis than long, involved ones. They call attention to their contents by conveying a single message without the interference of related or supporting information.

Incomplete construction

Certain words used early in a sentence signal that the rest of the sentence will provide a certain kind of content.

Plain language

Communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.

Coherence

Enabling readers to proceed easily through your message, without side trips and backward shifts.

Which of the following statements is least conversational?

Enclosed please find an estimate whose confirmation will aid the procedures of the project.

Active voice

Ex: The auditor inspected the books.

Passive voice

Ex: The books were inspected by the auditor.

Topic sentence

Expresses the main idea of a paragraph, and the remaining sentences build around and support it.

Rubber stamps

Expressions used by habit every time a certain type of situation occurs. They are used without thought and are not adapted to the specific situation.

Subordinated

For example, i none independent clause and one dependent clause, one gets more emphasis than the other.

Identify the independent clause in the following sentence. Daniel, while proofreading his assignment one last time found that he had made a spelling error.

He had made a spelling error

Select the most formally worded statement.

I will consult with my superiors on the matter and report back to you by tomorrow.

Which of the following best exemplifies the we-viewpoint?

If you do not return the item within the specified date, you will be fined.

Important information can best be emphasized by including it:

In the last statement of the last paragraph.

Coordinated

In two independent clauses, for example, they get about equal emphasis.

The you-viewpoint:

Is specially important when delivering bad-news messages.

Which of the following statements is true about sentence structures?

It is best to use simple sentence structures to reach people with lower communication abilities.

Which of the following is an example of a cluttering phrase

It is interesting to note that numerous individuals required assistance, whereas, the remainder took a pass.

You-viewpoint

It means focusing on the reader's interests, no matter what type of message you are preparing. It is fundamental to the practice of good business communication

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

Mary was unable to attend the hockey game because she had jury duty.

Surplus words

Meaningless extra words as a matter of habit.

Which of the following transitional words will most efficiently increase the cohesiveness of the given information? There is a source of energy that produces no radioactive waste and very little pollution. The source can provide the energy that conventional sources may not be able to furnish.

Moreover.

Which of the following is true about paragraph structure?

One-line paragraphs are an appropriate means of emphasizing major points in business messages.

Dangling modifier

People whom the opening phrase is supposed to modify have been left out.

Cluttering phrase

Phrase that can be replaced by shorter wording without loss of meaning.

Which of the following statements is true about managing emphasis in writing?

Short sentences lay more emphasis on its contents than subordinating ideas.

Which of the following statements is most positively worded?

Smoking is permitted only in the assigned area.

Mixed construction

Sometimes illogical sentences occur when writers mix two different kinds of sentences together.

Concrete words

Stand for things the reader can see, feel, taste, smell, or count.

Redundancies

Such repetitions are rarely needed. Ex: The beginning of the speech will open with a welcome. The beginning and will open are two ways to say the same thing. Better sentence is The speech will open with a welcome.

Misplaced modifier

The "prospects" aren't really the ones using the information.

Which of the following statements avoids the use of rubber stamps?

The MP3 player you requested, will reach you latest by Monday.

Karl is furious that a package from a supplier which was supposed to contain a hundred pieces of iron rods only contains ninety two pieces. Which of the following statements should Karl use if he wants to avoid blaming the reader and maintain goodwill with his supplier?

The shipment that you sent most recently has ninety two pieces of iron rods, as opposed to one hundred.

Which of the following statements is true regarding the use of negative words in business messages?

The use of negative words is highly destructive of goodwill in messages between acquainted parties.

Camouflaged verb

The verb describing the action in a sentence takes the form of a noun.

Connotation

Their social and emotional associations.

Abstract words

These words are more vague.

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

They rectified the software problems in their systems.

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of dangling/misplaced modifiers?

To repair a jammed chain on a bicycle, rotate the cranks backward while pulling the chain.

Courtesy

Treating people with respect and consideration. Courtesy produces friendly relations between people, and the result is better human climate for solving business problems and doing business.

Which of the following is true about sentence unity?

Unrelated ideas often cause violation of unity in a sentence.

Faulty parallelism

Violates this logical expectation.

Conversational language

Warm, natural, and personable. It leaves an impression that people like, and it is also the language that is most easily understood.

Identify the dependent clause in the following sentence. Your coat is still on the dining table where you left it last night.

Where you left it last night.

Idioms

Word combinations that have become standard in language.

Discriminatory words

Words that do not treat all people with equal respect.

Adaptation

Write in such a way that your different readers can find and understand the parts of your message that are of value to them.

Roundabout constructions

You can write anything in many ways. Some of the ways are direct, whole some cover the same ground in a roundabout way. Usually the direct ways are shorter and communicate better.

Which of the following statements is most conversational?

You will find the details of the products you had enquired about enclosed within the document.

The quality of enabling readers to proceed easily through a message, without side trips and backward shifts, is called _____.

coherence

Repetition of ideas in a sentence through the use of different words that mean the same thing is called _____ in sentence design.

redundancy

The _____ expresses the main idea of a paragraph, and the remaining sentences build around and support it.

topic sentence