Chapter 2

Memorandums can be distinguished from other messages primarily by their _____.

form

Which of the following forms of communication places a strong emphasis on brevity?

Text messages

In which of the following messages would it be appropriate to use informal language?

A message written to a coworker, asking her about her plans for the day

As director of the human resources department, Alex has to write an email to the employees requesting them to volunteer at the company's annual United Way fund raiser. After determining the purpose of his message, which of the following steps should Alex take next in planning his message?

Alex should analyze his audience.

Which of the following is true about the revision stage of the writing process?

At this stage, a writer checks whether he has included all the necessary information in his message.

Which of the following is a commonly used complimentary close in today's business letters?

Best Regards

If someone other than the primary recipient is to receive a copy of the message in such a way that the primary recipient will know who else has received a copy of the message, the sender should use the _____ field.

Cc

Which of the following constitutes formal research in the context of gathering information for a message?

Conducting a survey

Jason Smith is writing a letter to one of his prospective clients, Alex Harper, the sales manager at Perry McKay Fashion House. Having sourced Alex's contact details from a vendor, Jason is unsure of Alex's gender. How should he address Alex in his letter?

Dear Alex Harper

Regarding the writing process, which of the following steps is typically included as part of the planning process?

Determining your goals

Which of the following is an advantage of email over text messaging, instant messaging, and social media?

Email does not limit the number of characters that can be used in a message.

Which of the following statements is true about emails?

Emails can be archived and filed for easy access to a written record of correspondence.

Which of the following should ideally be avoided during the drafting stage of the writing process?

Focusing on creating a perfect draft on the first attempt

Which of the following writing styles should be used in an email report to the client of a research organization?

Formal style

In which of the following cases will the direct order plan of organizing information be most effective?

In an email to a client who has requested the shipping details for a purchased product

In which of the following cases will the indirect order plan of organizing information be most effective?

In an email to a supplier about the organization's plan of switching to a different supplier

Which of the following is true of written communication?

In written communication, writers cannot rely on their tone of voice to make up for ambiguous wording.

William wants to communicate information to a client, but he thinks that the information runs the risk of evoking a negative response. In this context, which of the following formats should William use to organize the information in his message?

Indirect order

Which of the following statements is true about informal writing?

It uses colloquialisms but more selectively than in casual writing.

_____ are the oldest form of business messages.

Letters

Which of the following statements is true about the use of letters?

Letters are often the most appropriate form to use when corresponding with an external party whom you do not know well.

Which of the following is true about memos or memorandums?

Memos generally use casual or informal language.

Which of the following is true about social media?

Messages on a company's social networking site need to be brief and concise.

Which of the following is true about the different stages involved in the writing process?

Novice business writers should spend roughly a third of their writing time in each of the three stages.

Which of the following statements is true regarding print text and online text?

Online text uses fragments and abbreviations more frequently than print text.

Which of the following is the best practice to be followed when writing messages?

Organizing information in the order that will draw the most positive reaction from your readers

Which of the following statements is true about text messaging?

The need for brevity in text messaging has led to the creation of many abbreviations.

Which of the following factors is common to all forms of written communication?

The need to adapt messages according to the audience

Which of the following is true about the process of writing?

The three stages involved in the process of writing are recursive and interrelated.

Which of the following is true about instant messaging in a business setting?

The use of emoticons in an instant message is dependent on the target audience.

Which of the following is true regarding the amount of time novice business writers should ideally spend on each stage of the writing process?

They should spend an equal amount of time on each of the three stages.

Which of the following statements is true about the planning stage of the writing process?

This stage involves the convergence of a writer's business goals with his writing goals.

Which of the following must be avoided when creating an online document or a Web page?

Using long sentences instead of short ones

The direct order plan of organizing information will be the most effective in writing _____.

an email to the HR manager asking her how to access the new forms for reporting vacation time

In the context of planning a message, once the goal of a communication is set, the immediate next step is to _____.

analyze the audience

In the proofreading stage of the writing process, you are most likely to _____.

check the mechanical and grammatical elements of your message

With respect to the email format, Cc stands for _____.

courtesy copy

You examine your sentences to see if they pace the information in such a way that the reader can easily follow it, if they emphasize the right things, and if they combine pieces of information coherently at the _____ level of the revision process.

editing

In today's business world, _____ are the most widely used form of written communication.

emails

The style of organizing Web pages such that the most important point is presented first, followed by supporting information, and then by the historical or background information is known as the _____ pyramid style.

inverted

The indirect order plan of organizing information in a message is best suited for messages containing information that _____.

is likely to evoke a negative response from your readers

A(n) _____ is primarily used to represent the writer and his or her topic rather formally to an external audience.

letter

The first step in the process of writing is _____.

planning

When using the direct order plan to organize your information in a message, you should _____.

present information that readers consider routine in the beginning

Michael is in the process of writing a message. He is trying to find out whether the words he has used to describe his goals emphasize the right things and if there are better, more concise ways of structuring his sentences. In the context of the different stages involved in writing, Michael is _____ his message.

revising

With respect to email format, the link "Bcc" or "blind courtesy copy" is used when _____.

the sender wants to forward copies of the email without the knowledge of the primary receiver

The similarity between casual language and informal language is that _____.

they have the effect of conversation

When communicating with close friends, the email messages that are exchanged every day _____.

use a casual style of writing

In the context of writing email messages, a formal style of writing _____.

uses sentences that are well structured and highly organized

While typing a text message, Mike uses the emoticon ":-0". This emoticon indicates that Mike is _____.

yelling