Chapter 1-4 Quiz

Lewis must communicate important policy changes to his sales reps on the road. He would also like their active participation and immediate feedback. The proper medium for this message would be which of the following?

A virtual meeting

Which of these sentences does not include empty words?

AT&T invested its resources into fiber optics.

Morgan believes she should write separate e-mails to the supervisors, line workers and administrative staff. This is an example of which of the following?

Adaptation

Which of these sentences de-emphasizes the bad news?

Although the company cannot reimburse you for tuition costs, you may attend class during work hours.

Which of these statements regarding bulleted or numbered lists is accurate?

Bulleted lists do not need to show a chronology.

Our team was lacking discipline and focus; however, we found a way to win the game. This is an example of which of these?

Compound sentence

Katelyn needs to participate in an important conference call. She shuts down her computer, turns off her smartphone, and tells her assistant to hold all incoming calls for the next hour. What technique is Katelyn using to improve her listening?

Controlling the listening environment

Proofreading includes which of these tasks?

Correcting spelling, grammar, punctuation, names and numbers, and format

Which of these sentences includes a redundant expression?

Each and every employee will be pleased to learn about our new benefits offerings.

Which of the following sentences uses language that is bias free?

Each nurse is responsible for charting the status of their patients.

Which of these is not an advantage of frontloading?

Eliminates the need for researching

In drafting an e-mail announcing staff reductions, Morgan's goal is to put herself in the place of her audience. This is an example of which of the following?

Empathy

Which of these phrases is a trite business phrase?

Enclosed please find

The audit committee has uncovered that verbal messages from the international office are being misunderstood. This most likely because words have different meanings for different people, which is an example of which of the following?

Encoding

Although bad weather interrupted the games. The picnic was still fun. This is an example of which of these?

Fragmented sentence

Lewis has a habit of dominating a conversation and fails to listen carefully to others. He is much more interested in his ideas more than others. What barrier to effective listening is Lewis exhibiting?

Grandstanding

Economist and banker Mark Carney states that "Almost all decisions in finance are taken under uncertainty, making it especially important that decision makers are exposed to a range of views and engage in open debates with people whose perspectives challenge the prevailing wisdom." This school of thought would be a deterrent to which of the following?

Groupthink

Ed is standing against the wall sending personal email messages during an organization's meet and greet activity. This nonverbal communication sends what type of message to others.

He is unavailable for a conversation and listening.

Lewis is annoyed that Marcus used a SMS text to send important corporate information, which is both unprofessional and against organizational policy. This is an example of which of the following?

Information

Steve drafts several typical business messages that follow the direct strategy. Which of these is an advantage of this style of writing?

It gets to the main point quickly.

Which of the following statements is true regarding using losing your temper or being sarcastic with a customer?

It will seldom accomplish your goals as a business communicator

Lawyers refer to briefs and politicians refer to sound bites. These references are examples of which of the following?

Jargon

How many typefaces should you use in a business document?

No more than two

Which of these sentences is an example of an active voice?

Officials in the press box review all close rule calls.

Lewis has decided he will spend half of his time revising his major writing assignment. This is an example of which of the following?

Pacing the writing process

According to anthropologist Edward T. Hall, which social interaction zone describes communication that usually occurs at approximately 1.5 to 4 feet?

Personal zone

Raul is attending a workshop, but he is having difficulty hearing the speaker because the people behind him are talking. What type of barrier to effective listening is a Raul experiencing?

Physical barrier

Which of these is an example of a direct opening?

Please donate all extra office equipment to the local grade school.

In business writing it is important to use which of the following?

Precise and specific words

Which of the following identifies the three phases of the writing process?

Prewriting, drafting, and revising

Which of the following is considered a useful technique if you are responding to an inquiry or drafting a routine message?

Search your company files

Most business messages should use typeface from which of these categories?

Serif or sans serif

Businesses work to improve employee writing skills by which of these methods?

Spending thousands of dollars in communication consultants

Which of the following statements about listening is true?

Studies show that most of us are poor listeners and only recall a quarter to half of what we hear.

The quote from psychologist and philosopher Paul Watzlawick "that we cannot not communicate" means which of the following?

That every behavior is sending a message even if we don't use words.

Which of these sentences emphasizes a harsh statement?

The HR office reported that you were fired.

Which is a false statement about nonverbal behavior?

The appearance of an email does not reflect on its writer.

Which of the following sentences does not show exuberance?

The company president was happy to learn that sales were increasing after the new product launch.

Which of these sentences avoids buzzwords, slang, or clichés?

The proposal for the tuition reimbursement program must be submitted to the board for approval by June 1.

Which techniques are recommended to help writers organize data?

The scratch list and the outline

Experienced writers practice which of the following processes?

They alter, compress, and rearrange the steps as needed.

Bruce uses the following opening for an email message, "I am writing you this message to see if you can speak at our conference on May 3." Which feedback should his supervisor provide?

This sentence should be revised because it begins with a long lead-in.

Which of these sentences does not contain a dangling or misplaced modifier?

To apply for financial aid, send in your application by January 1.

Why have many companies found it necessary to create cross-functional teams within their organizations?

To empower employees and boost their involvement in decision making.

Which statement about writing in today's workplace is accurate?

Today's workers are expected to be media savvy.

Which of the following are examples of the new "sharing economy"?

Uber and Lyft

Ethnocentrism and stereotyping are barriers to which of the following?

Understanding and interacting successfully with people from other cultures

Which of these sentences avoids burying a verb in a wordy noun expression?

We hope to discover the reason our profits are declining.

Which of these is a compound sentence?

We know that you'll want to receive the early-bird pricing; therefore, please register for the conference by October 15.

Which of the following represents positive business writing?

Your order will be shipped as soon as we receive credit authorization.

There is a department meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. on Friday is an example of a sentence containing _______.

a filler

According to researchers, a strict top-down management structure _______.

allows for faster decision making

You need to let your employees know that there will be a regular staff meeting next Monday. The appropriate channel to communicate this message to your employees is _______.

an e-mail

Sentences are dovetailed when _______.

an idea at the end of one sentence connects with an idea at the beginning of the next sentence

Claire and Brandon are in the first phase of the writing process as they prepare a formal report for a client. In this phase, they should _______.

analyze the audience and determine the purpose of the message

Business writing should be purposeful, economical, and _______.

audience centered

To write in a way that creates meaningful images in the mind of the reader is an example of _______ writing.

clear

The term research simply means _______.

collecting information about a topic

Gina will graduate from Tulane University in July, her brother will graduate from Arizona State University in December is an example of a _______.

comma splice

Superior _________ skills make you marketable in the workplace of the future regardless of the economic climate.

communication

Brittany is preparing a market analysis for her business plan and knows she will have to conduct formal research to gather the information she needs. To conduct formal research, she should _______.

conduct interviews and surveys or organize a focus group

Megan is creating a property description for a new real-estate brochure. To make her brochure effective, Megan should anticipate her audience by _______.

considering what the readers are like and how they will react to the message

When microblogging, you should practice all the following except _______.

creating long messages to ensure reader comprehension

The complex system of values, traits, morals, and customs shared by a society, region, or country can be defined as _______.

culture

Translating a message from its symbol form into meaning involves _______.

decoding

The third phase of the 3-x-3 writing process involves _______.

editing, proofreading, and evaluating your document

Paragraphs with _______ or fewer lines look inviting and readable.

eight

An effective paragraph _______.

focuses on a single main idea

For complex documents, it's best to proofread _______.

from a printed copy

Collecting information before composing a message is important primarily because doing so _______.

helps shape the message

Some people maintain a "poker face" as a method of _______.

hiding their feelings

To build paragraph coherence, _______.

incorporate transitional expressions that connect your ideas

An attitude of independence and freedom from control characterizes _______.

individualism

When writing you should avoid referring to an individual's disability unless _______.

it is relevant

Communication is defined as the transmission of information and meaning from a sender to a receiver. The crucial element of this definition is _______.

meaning

E.T. Hall believed that keeping people waiting for business appointments is considered a waste of time and rude. He called this form of time orientation _______.

monochrome time

Anything that interrupts the transmission of a message in the communication process is called _______.

noise

Business Manager Heather Guite expects her employees to be displeased or even hostile when she announces a new work schedule that will become effective next month. An effective organizational strategy for Heather is to _______.

offer an explanation first

Proofreading is considered especially difficult because _______.

people tend to read what they thought they wrote

Tony is conducting a team meeting and he notices that some people are rolling their eyes every time he says something. Tony should _______.

politely seek additional information from the team by saying, "I'm not sure that everyone agrees with my ideas. Do you have a suggestion to improve them?"

A culturally diverse workforce in which employees are tolerant of differences can benefit both the organization and its employees. One way to improve tolerance is by _______.

practicing empathy

In writing business messages, you should strive to be conversational, but _______.

professional

The primary purposes of business writing are typically to inform and persuade; a common secondary purpose is to _______.

promote goodwill

Megan and her staff are trying to agree on what constitutes secondary sources. They correctly agree that secondary sources come from _______.

reading what others have experienced or observed and written about

Many job applicants post their résumés on company websites some post on social networking sites such as LinkedIn is an example of a _______.

run-on sentence

Groupthink is defined as _______.

sameness that fosters an absence of critical thinking

All the following are techniques to increase white space within a document except _______.

selecting an appealing typeface

Transitional expressions are used to _______.

show connections and achieve paragraph coherence

Mary Ann wants her readers to be able to browse quickly and grasp the main ideas of her memos. She is looking to employ _______.

skim value

The belief that all members of a group have the same behavioral pattern or ability is an example of _______.

stereotyping

Business writers prefer the active voice because in active voice sentences, the _______.

subject performs the action

Everything you write, whether for yourself or someone else, _______.

takes the place of a personal appearance

People struggle to properly proofread their own writing because _______.

they tend to see what they expect to see

A method to evaluate the effectiveness of your writing is________.

through feedback from your receiver

Some key dimensions of culture include context, individualism, power distance, communication style, and _______.

time orientation

Criticism of your writing can be painful, so you should _______.

try not to be defensive

You can establish a professional yet conversational tone in business messages by _______.

using familiar words and pronouns such as I or you

In a survey of business professionals, how many believe misspelled words are inexcusable?

75 percent

With regards to remote work and 24/7/365 it can be said that:

A major stressor leading to burnout has been digital overload.

Eli must motivate the sales force to increase sales in the fourth quarter. If he chooses the wrong medium it could result in which of the following?

A message that is less effective or even misunderstood