style quiz 1

Which of the following phrases is an example of overblown diction? A) "There are many reasons why students should pay attention to the contents of Dr. Trainor's audio lectures." B) "Instructional opportunities that elucidate the lofty artistry of crafting prose are of exceptional usefulness to inquiring youths seeking professional enlightenment." C) "The first business writing courses at the University of Florida were offered in the early 2000s." D) "This is a good example of one of the style or diction errors we're studying this week."

"Instructional opportunities that elucidate the lofty artistry of crafting prose are of exceptional usefulness to inquiring youths seeking professional enlightenment."

Which of the following phrases contains a nominalization? "The first business writing courses at the University of Florida were offered in the early 2000s." "The Management Communication Center is the creation of Dr. Fiona Barnes." "This is a good example of one of the style or diction errors we're studying this week." "Instructional opportunities that elucidate the lofty artistry of crafting prose are of exceptional usefulness to inquiring youths seeking professional enlightenment."

"The Management Communication Center is the creation of Dr. Fiona Barnes."

Which of the following phrases contains a dummy subject? "This is a good example of one of the style or diction errors we're studying this week." "Instructional opportunities that elucidate the lofty artistry of crafting prose are of exceptional usefulness to inquiring youths seeking professional enlightenment." "There are many reasons why students should pay attention to the contents of Dr. Trainor's audio lectures." "The Management Communication Center is the creation of Dr. Fiona Barnes."

"There are many reasons why students should pay attention to the contents of Dr. Trainor's audio lectures."

Which of the following phrases contains a vague pronoun? "The first business writing courses at the University of Florida were offered in the early 2000s." "The Management Communication Center is the creation of Dr. Fiona Barnes." "This is a good example of one of the style or diction errors we're studying this week." "There are many reasons why students should pay attention to the contents of Dr. Trainor's audio lectures."

"This is a good example of one of the style or diction errors we're studying this week."

What else can you do to ensure your writing is as clear as possible? (Select the twoanswers that apply.) Avoid negative constructions. Avoid inactive verbs. Omit pronouns. Omit articles.

Avoid negative constructions. Avoid inactive verbs.

Why is passive voice typically a problem? (Select the two answers that apply.) Because it allows writers to omit the person or thing responsible for an action. Because it's a vague placeholder that doesn't identify who or what is responsible for your sentence's action. Because it takes dynamic verbs and transforms them into static nouns. Because it inverts the timeline of action your sentence describes.

Because it allows writers to omit the person or thing responsible for an action. Because it inverts the timeline of action your sentence describes.

Why should you always strive to maintain parallel phrasing? Because items and lists that use the same grammatical form are easier to read. Because parallel phrasing helps you avoid dummy subjects. Because parallel phrases typically use plain language. Because parallel items rarely include nominalizations.

Because items and lists that use the same grammatical form are easier to read.

Why are vague pronouns a problem? Because they take dynamic verbs and transform them into static nouns. Because they invert the timeline of action your sentence describes. Because they force readers to look back to a previous sentence to understand what the opening pronoun refers to. Because they're vague placeholders that don't identify who or what is responsible for your sentence's action.

Because they force readers to look back to a previous sentence to understand what the opening pronoun refers to.

Why are nominalizations a problem? Because they invert the timeline of the action your sentence describes. Because they force readers to look back to a previous sentence to understand what the opening pronoun refers to. Because they're vague placeholders that don't identify who or what is responsible for your sentence's action. Because they take dynamic verbs and transform them into static nouns.

Because they take dynamic verbs and transform them into static nouns.

Why are dummy subjects a problem? Because they're vague placeholders that don't identify who or what is responsible for your sentence's action. Because they invert the timeline of action your sentence describes. Because they take dynamic verbs and transform them into static nouns. Because they force readers to look back to a previous sentence to understand what the opening pronoun refers to.

Because they're vague placeholders that don't identify who or what is responsible for your sentence's action.

Which of the following items in a series represents a lapse in parallel phrasing? Typing a passage that reads like this one. Writing a sentence in this fashion. Authoring an expression of this sort. Compose a phrase in this way.

Compose a phrase in this way.

How would you rewrite the following sentence to avoid clarity and cohesion errors? "First and foremost, it was felt that, if students were going to successfully participate in the competition for jobs, they would need strong communication skills." First, administrators felt that, if students wanted to compete for jobs, strong communication skills were needed. Students felt that they needed to communicate well to successfully compete for jobs. First, administrators believed that students needed to communicate well to successfully compete for jobs. First, it was felt that, if students were to successfully compete for jobs, they would need strong communication skills.

First, administrators believed that students needed to communicate well to successfully compete for jobs.

What's one of the simplest ways to ensure your reader can navigate your writing quickly? Follow all the major clarity principles. Avoid all prepositional phrases. Use the fewest number of words possible. Repeat all your most important thoughts at least three times.

Follow all the major clarity principles.

What style errors does the following sentence contain? "I believe that there might be potential for some misunderstandings between your team and the sales team from Japan." (Select the two answers that apply.) Passive voice Hedging Vague pronouns Dummy subject

Hedging dummy subject

What style errors does the following sentence contain? "I would like to know how much paint is required to cover the total area, the final cost, and the expected time to delivery." (Select the two answers that apply.) Vague pronoun Metadiscourse Redundant pair Passive voice

Metadiscourse Passive voice

What style errors does the following sentence contain? "John Spillane, the well-known business journalist, wrote that these are not fully appreciated by students, or rather how valuable they are to employers." (Select the two answers that apply.) Nominalization Passive voice Vague pronoun Metadiscourse

Passive voice Vague pronoun

Which of the following phrases is an example of passive voice? "The Management Communication Center is the creation of Dr. Fiona Barnes." "There are many reasons why students should pay attention to the contents of Dr. Trainor's audio lectures." "The first business writing courses at the University of Florida were offered in the early 2000s." "Instructional opportunities that elucidate the lofty artistry of crafting prose are of exceptional usefulness to inquiring youths seeking professional enlightenment."

The first business writing courses at the University of Florida were offered in the early 2000s."

What is passive voice? When writers transform a verb into a noun (typically by adding an "-ion" or "-ment" suffix). When writers start sentences or clauses with "there" or "it" followed by some form of a "to be" verb. When writers use the same grammatical form for all the items in a list or series. When writers put the recipient of an action before the actor in a sentence.

When writers put the recipient of an action before the actor in a sentence.

What is a dummy subject? When writers start sentences or clauses with "there" or "it" followed by some form of a "to be" verb. When writers start sentences or clauses with the word "this," "that," "these," or "those," unaccompanied by a following noun. When writers use the same grammatical form for all the items in a list or series. When writers put the recipient of an action before the actor in a sentence.

When writers start sentences or clauses with "there" or "it" followed by some form of a "to be" verb.

What is a vague pronoun? When writers start sentences or clauses with the word "this," "that," "these," or "those," unaccompanied by a following noun. When writers put the recipient of an action before the actor in a sentence. When writers start sentences or clauses with "there" or "it" followed by some form of a "to be" verb. When writers use the same grammatical form for all the items in a list or series.

When writers start sentences or clauses with the word "this," "that," "these," or "those," unaccompanied by a following noun.

What is a nominalization? When writers start sentences or clauses with the word "this," "that," "these," or "those," unaccompanied by a following noun. When writers use needlessly complex or hyperbolic terms in place of simpler words and phrases. When writers transform a verb into a noun (typically by adding an "-ion" or "-ment" suffix).

When writers transform a verb into a noun (typically by adding an "-ion" or "-ment" suffix).

overblown diction

When writers use needlessly complex or hyperbolic terms in place of simpler words and phrases.

What is parallel phrasing? -When writers use the same grammatical form for all the items in a list or series. -When writers transform a verb into a noun (typically by adding an "-ion" or "-ment" suffix). -When writers put the recipient of an action before the actor in a sentence. -When writers start sentences or clauses with the word "this," "that," "these," or "those," unaccompanied by a following noun.

When writers use the same grammatical form for all the items in a list or series.

How would you rewrite the following sentence to avoid clarity and cohesion errors? "All expenses are handled by the corporate office and there will be staff in place from the other locations to run store #123 while you and your employees are at the summit." While you and your team are at the summit, all expenses will be handled by corporate staffers at store #123. While you and your team of colleagues are at the summit, there will be staffers on hand to run store #123 and handle its monetary expenses. While you and your team are at the summit, there will be staffers on hand to run store #123 and handle its expenses. While you and your team are at the summit, corporate will send staffers to run store #123 and handle its expenses.

While you and your team are at the summit, corporate will send staffers to run store #123 and handle its expenses.

Select the best definition of "concision." Writing that uses the fewest number of words possible. Writing that your audience can read and navigate quickly. Writing that avoids all pronouns. Writing that avoids all prepositional phrases.

Writing that your audience can read and navigate quickly.