Reading and Writing for Purpose
Clauses in your contracts will always match what you've been told by a realtor, a car salesman, your mortgage broker, or your employer.
False
Susana just finished writing a lengthy essay that required lots of research on endangered species. When she handed the essay in, she felt confident that she did very well. However, when she received her grade, she was surprised to find that her teacher gave her a D, stating in the comments that Susana's sources were not credible. What does her teacher mean by this?
Her sources were not believable or trustworthy.
No writing exists in a vacuum, so the situations that caused an author to write something matter.
True
Only 10 percent of adults trust the information that they receive from the national media.
True
Social media can often feel like a digital bulletin board that allows you to collect things you want to remember, like souvenirs of your experiences.
True
The best moments of your writing will come as you revise what you've created in that drafting stage.
True
The first step of determining your revision strategy is understanding your unique scenario and timeline.
True
To make sure that nothing gets in the way of your goal and to convince your audience that your way of thinking is correct, you should spend a portion of your budgeted revision time looking at the small details at the sentence level.
True
Being mysterious is never a good quality in academic writing because no one should ever doubt what about your topic?
what your position on your topic is
When James Vicary exposed Fort Lee, New Jersey, theater patrons to messages telling them to eat popcorn and drink soda every five seconds for the entire length of the movie, what did he claim that the results and impact on sales were?
Coca-Cola sales went up more than 18 percent and popcorn sales skyrocketed more than 57 percent.
The conclusion is often the most difficult portion of any paper to write and the introduction is often the easiest.
False
Every employee who starts a new job needs to fill out a _____ form and has to provide two types of documents to prove their status that they are eligible to be an employee in the United States.
I-9
Most of the time, having too many deductions comes from ignoring or not understanding the allowances worksheet.
True
Serena has just received her W-2 from her employer and is reviewing it to see how much money she has earned over the past year and also to see:
how much she's paid in taxes.
What is the place or situation where the message being read or viewed is referred to?
immediate context
While using spell-check on your word processing program is one way to check your grammar, what strategy can make it easier to find grammatical errors yourself?
listen to your essay being read out-loud by a friend or computer program
If you're critically reading a piece of writing, you can _____ and _____ the basic ideas and the author's point in order to know what it says and understand if it's successful.
outline; summarize
What term refers to the main events of a story?
plot
When something is viable, it means that it is capable of:
working successfully.
When finding and choosing a mortgage, what elements of the financing can you control?
your fees and interest rate
Anytime you write a to-do list in your planner, record an event in a journal, post about an outing on social media, or reflect on how far you've come to meet a particular goal, who are you writing for?
yourself
Why is it likely more difficult to determine the audience of an advertisement than the audience of an email?
Because with an email, only the intended audience will receive and see the email but with an advertisement, many people, both the intended and not the intended audience will see it.
What well known news source began as an experiment by Ted Turner in 1980?
CNN
Benefits packages really don't vary that much so it is not terribly important to understand which option is best-suited for you.
False
Bias is always a bad thing for individual journalists to have or include in their reporting.
False
Root words that you see at work in English are usually from Latin and:
Greek.
_____ refers to the characteristics and purposes of the different ways in which we communicate in writing.
Rhetorical modes
As a historical researcher, Melanie uses search engines regularly and is very familiar with how they can be metaphorical rabbit holes, leading her from one subject to another until she's spent far too much time getting very few helpful results. What is the BEST strategy that Melanie can use to help her avoid getting stuck in one of these rabbit holes?
She can give herself a specific time limit.
Asking about someone's motivation is one important step to better understand the information you're encountering every day.
True
When you're critically reading, you should never take anything at face value.
True
What can you create by using the rubric for your paper that will help you systematically go through your work and look for and identify each element one by one while globally revising the structure of your paper?
a checklist
Leslie is a seasoned journalist who is well-known and well-respected in the small town where she works. As a good journalist, what is one of Leslie's primary responsibilities?
a commitment to the truth
Silvia is trying to sign up for electric service but she has never had any kind of utility services in her name before. Based on this, the electric company will likely ask to find someone whose name will also go on the electric service and agrees to take responsibility for payment if she cannot. What is this person called?
a cosigner
What is one kind of essay structure that allows you to identify a problem and recommend a solution?
a proposal argument
What term refers to an advert in a magazine or newspaper that is written like an article giving facts rather than appearing as an advertisement for a product?
advertorial
What do we call either a prefix or a suffix attached to a root word in order to create meaning?
affix
What term refers to the desirable features that a property has?
amenities
When you're considering how to personalize the problem and make it matter to your audience, you might consider incorporating personal stories to demonstrate your point make the abstract far more concrete for your readers. What is another term for these personal stories?
anecdotes
Figuring out the purpose of a message can help you identify who a message is directed to, which is described as the:
audience
To maintain credibility, writers should back their arguments using _____ sources.
authoritative
If you'd like some consistency for budgeting purposes regarding your electric bill, you can ask your electricity provider about a budget pay plan which will do what?
averages your usage over 12 months and gives you a standardized payment
When comparing prices on potential homes, why should you avoid comparing one-bedroom apartments with single-family homes?
because in order to get a fair comparison, you want to compare similar sized homes
When engaging in a virtual tour of a neighborhood or using Google Street View, why is it important to look at the dates on the images?
because neighborhoods can change a lot in just a few years and you may not be getting a clear idea of the neighborhood today
Cyrus is critically reading in order to learn about the piece of information he is reading and who it was meant to speak to. Thanks to the act of critically reading, Cyrus is:
becoming part of the audience.
A prefix comes _____ the root word and a suffix comes _____ the root word.
before; after
Fitzgerald is using critical reading skills to help him evaluate what he is reading more effectively. What should Fitzgerald do when he comes across words and terms that he doesn't know in order to figure out what he doesn't know?
circle them and look them up
Consider the many different ways that you can describe the feeling of being surprised by using words such as shocked, astonished, startled, stunned, staggered, amazed, awed, or jolted. While all of these words have a very similar denotation, they all maintain a very different:
connotation.
Many buyers will ask that their offer is valid only if other circumstances are met, such as a home inspection. In other words, their offer is _____ on these other circumstances being met.
contingent
Suzanne has always been told that she has a certain quality that allows people to trust her and believe in her. You might say that she has a certain _____ about her.
credibility
What term refers to amounts withheld from an employee's payroll check?
deductions
Many sources will include section headings, tables, sidebars, photos, and captions as a part of their overall:
design and content.
Sanjay has worked in construction for years and has always been very careful to avoid accidents and injuries. Unfortunately, last week he fell off of a roof that he was working on and broke both of his legs. While he is very upset that he will be unable to work for several months, he is grateful to be financially protected by what kind of policy?
disability insurance
What is the third stage of writing that involves a written work in progress rather than a finished product?
drafting
If the author wrote to inform, and you read to understand, you create a _____ relationship with the text where everyone's needs are met.
dynamic
When a company begins an online advertising campaign about why their product is better, their goal is to convince people to choose their product. What is MOST likely the company's motivation?
economic
Deductions are the amounts that are withheld from a(n):
employee's paycheck.
Pay stubs show how much money you're making after taxes and deductions as well as offering proof of ______ to a lender.
employment
Making sure to have multiple sources or witnesses explaining the source's background upfront in a story so that the audience understands the relationship, and asking all sides of the story for comment to ensure balance, are all examples of:
ensuring that their information is as accurate as possible.
What are the four most common rhetorical modes?
exposition, persuasive/argumentative, narrative, and descriptive
When examining the stages of revision, which stage involves looking at the whole argument and making the big changes?
global revision
When you order services, you'll almost always be offered many options, many of which come with a discount if you decide to bundle, which means to:
group several services together.
What W-4-related worksheet is for everyone and allows you to figure out how many deductions you'll claim and, therefore, how much tax money the IRS will withhold from each of your paychecks?
personal allowances worksheet
The purpose of an outline is to show the relationship between claims and evidence and to allow you to:
sketch out the flow of your argument.
Superheroes who fight for the underdog and fight for causes that specifically address topics that resonate with readers, like the Green Arrow are also called:
social justice warriors.
Alex finds that he is getting large tax returns each year. He may want to revisit the personal allowances worksheet to:
solve his tax problem.
What kind of cars are often more expensive than a standard SUV to insure?
sports cars
In order for any act of communication to be ______, it has to take into account what's happening around it.
successful
Johnny is preparing to write a proposal argument essay and is ready to create an outline to help guide his writing. While he knows that his outline doesn't have to have a formal Roman numeral structure, he does want to make sure that his outline has a clear structure that divides his ideas into:
the sections he'll be following in his proposal argument draft.
Before Bianca applies for a loan to purchase the house that she has been hoping to buy, she decides to gather all of the financial documents that she will need to tell her financial story. What will these documents MOST likely include?
two or three of her most recent pay stubs, her last W-2, last year's tax return, and a list of her debts and other expenses
What is the first step in determining your revision strategy?
understanding your unique scenario and timeline
With electric bills, your bill will likely fluctuate each month depending on what you've been up to electricity-wise since electric bills are based on your:
usage.
While working on her proposal argument essay, Cassidy has allowed her sources to become the loudest voice in her argument and make up the bulk of her entire essay with very little commentary from her own voice. In order to revise her paper so that she, the writer, retains more credibility than the source, what should she do?
use the evidence that she finds as examples rather than the bulk of her essay
Shane is looking at rental listings in the paper but keeps finding himself very confused by all of the lingo. He asks his friend what W/D and SS means. What would be the correct response from his friend?
washer and dryer; stainless steel
The general rule for creating a housing budget is that your rent payment shouldn't be more than what percentage of your gross monthly income?
30 percent
Before you spend the time and energy falling in love with a brand-new SUV or a condo in that new community you've been eyeing, you need to assess your financial landscape.
True
CNN is short for Cable News Network.
True
Disability insurance offers protection against either short-term or long-term illness, injury, or disability.
True
Examples of reliable sources are journal articles, books published by academic presses, and serious scholarly works like dissertations or conference presentations.
True
Finding the right information is crucial when planning for the big events in life.
True
What is one way to quickly tell the difference between a scholarly and popular source?
a scholarly source will cite research and source materials while a popular source generally will not
What term refers to the one-sentence declaration of what your argument will be in your essay?
thesis statement
It is totally reasonable to expect that you can create the perfect final product on your first try.
False
Outlining is basically the same exact thing as brainstorming.
False
The language of a contract doesn't matter.
False
The only way to construct a successful outline is by using formal Roman numerals.
False
Topic sentences should never be clear, specific, and narrowed down to the topic covered just in that one paragraph.
False
What does outlining involve that makes it different from brainstorming?
It involves organizing your ideas into the structure you'll use in your paper.
When ensuring that you avoid plagiarism in your writing, you may be asked to use a specific citation style in your citation information. What are examples of specific citation styles?
MLA or APA
Graphic novels and fantasy novels are examples of fiction writing.
True
If you don't leave yourself enough time to write you may have to move from an outline to a final, polished piece of writing without much in-between.
True
When you draft, you are writing from your outline and plan, putting together your ideas in a structure that is complete.
True
When you're scanning or skimming, you can get a good idea of what the rest of the words say by looking at the pictures chosen, the tables included, and the sidebar content.
True
What are some examples of straightforward words or phrases that could be used to help improve the transitions within an essay?
first, second, third
Even when you are reading just for pleasure or enjoyment, you are still able to _____ your vocabulary.
improve
What term refers to ideas or conclusions drawn from evidence and reasoning?
inferences
In the brainstorming stage of writing, you not only come up with the main idea for your argument, but you also decide on the:
main points.
Tyrone was recently called to the dean's office because he took credit for the claims and arguments of another author, completely copying the writing of his source and handing it in as his own. In other words, Tyrone is in trouble for:
plagiarism.
The idea that you need to jump from ideas and plans to a complete and final draft likely comes from a history of:
procrastination.
What punctuation or symbols can you use to instruct Google to search for an entire phrase?
quotation marks
What term refers to the three parts that make up any communication: audience, purpose, and immediate context?
rhetorical triangle
Jannah has completed the first step in developing her revision strategy by understanding her unique scenario and timeline and planning accordingly to give herself some space and distance between herself and her writing. What is the next step that Jannah should take?
scheduling in the two stages of revision
Victoria is working on brainstorming ideas for her latest magazine article. Her goal when brainstorming is to come up with as many ideas as possible so that she can then:
select the ideas she likes best.
While waiting for his new employee meeting to begin, Ethan decides it would be helpful to preview the handbook so that he knows what to expect. What sections might he look over in order to preview the handbook?
the agenda and the table of contents
What is considered one of the MOST intimidating things about contracts?
the language
When an entire sentence is made up of words that you don't understand, context clues will not be helpful. When this occurs, what will you want to look at for clues?
the words themselves
What term refers to the attitude of your writing, which is in part constructed by the diction you choose and your approach to your topic?
tone
What component of your essays should always be clear, specific, and narrowed down to the topic covered just in the one paragraph it is attached to?
topic sentences
If your paragraphs do not clearly show how they are connected to each other, what can you add while making small revisions to help ease your readers from one paragraph to the next?
transitional words or phrases
Reading isn't something to power through when you are struggling with dense content. You can keep your comprehension strong even in the middle of the toughest text by stopping regularly and asking yourself which question?
"What was just said?"
How many official documents do you need to bring with you to get a new license in order to prove that you are who you say you are in most states?
2
Serena is looking to rent an apartment in a different area of town than she lives in now. She has driven around, looking for RENT signs, and has read through the local classified ads, but she would like to move her search online. What are some of the BEST online places that she could look for rental listings?
Craigslist, Zillow, Apartments.com
What part of the employee handbook seen in the unit is the following passage MOST likely taken from? "I understand that it is my continuing responsibility to read carefully and understand its contents in addition to the complete version found online. I also understand and agree that the Abbreviated Employee Handbook is not an employment contract for any specific period of employment or for continuing or long‐term employment."
Employee Receipt and Acceptance
Even if you've never navigated the real estate market before, when you first get into the rental ads, the lingo will be easy to understand and totally intuitive.
False
If you use social media, you've probably never seen fake news in action.
False
If your audience changes, it's unlikely that the way you communicate your message will have to change as well.
False
The act of content marketing is wrong and unfair.
False
The compensation portion of any employee handbook will discuss how much vacation time you are allowed.
False
The question of why people communicate is one of the largest of society's questions and has a definitive and complete answer.
False
When you use a search engine to look up information about almost any topic, the result you get will always be simply trying to inform you, not convince you of anything or influence you in any way.
False
Writing rarely has a reason behind it, but when it does, those reasons are always very simple to identify.
False
Emily is reading over the legal policies included in the handbook at her new company. She read about how the company abides by a federal law that requires that employers provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period. This leave can be connected to the birth or care of a child, care of an immediate family member or a serious health condition. What is the name of this legal act?
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Who wrote the following sentiment in 1870, "Skill to do comes of doing; knowledge comes by eyes always open, and working hands; and there is no knowledge that is not power"?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you are checking out neighborhoods in order to decide where to live, what websites might be helpful in finding and reading reviews of the neighborhoods you are considering?
Street Advisor or Yelp
When searching online for facts about diabetes, Matthew noticed several search engine results at the very top of the search results page that looked slightly different than the rest. What are these results and why should Matthew beware of them?
They are ads customized for him specifically.
The most trusted news sources are said to have the least amount of bias. What does this mean?
They have the least amount of prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group in a way that is seen as unfair.
Good journalism, and its power to work as a watchdog and a check on government and institutional power in the United States, is one of the foundations of American society.
True
If the author wrote to inform, and you read to understand, you create a dynamic relationship with the text where everyone's needs are met.
True
If you preview what you're reading, you will have a clue about what to expect, and therefore you'll cue your eyes to find the information that's most important.
True
In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama was one of the first to harness the grassroots nature of the internet, raising a tremendous amount of money from small donations online and using social media to reach new and undecided voters.
True
After filling out all of the required paperwork on his first day at his new job, Noah is taken to a room with several other employees who also just started at the company. Noah spends the next few hours talking about payroll, company expectations, federal workplace policies, and learning about the benefits package available at the company. What type of meeting is Noah MOST likely participating in?
a new employee orientation
How can underlining words that you don't know be helpful when you are struggling to comprehend something that you are reading?
because it makes it easier to look up the underlined words, making the content clearer
When producing any type of writing, formal or otherwise, it is important to infuse that writing with your personality. This can be expressed through your word choice, your evidence, or your topic. In other words, it's important to add your:
creativity.
What term refers to a document that doubles as a driver's license and a passport?
enhanced driver's license
Once you have a place to live, utilities, and a new license, what is the final step to make your move to a new location official?
filling out and submitting a change of address form
In what way(s) is the internet similar to a giant warehouse store?
if you don't know what you are looking for, you might end up wandering around and purchasing something that you don't need, want, or use
An entire ________ focuses on creating content on websites that will help answer questions just like yours, but they use keywords, not search terms.
industry
What term refers to analyzing an author's writing to determine the purpose or meaning of it?
interpret
What term refers to the process by which a reporter uses verification and storytelling to make a subject newsworthy?
journalism
What term refers to the act of customizing information to a particular audience with the goal of selling a product or products?
marketing
Information that is not previously known to someone who hears it, such as the score from a local high-school football game or an announcement that a high-ranking politician has been convicted of a crime referred to as:
news.
Serafin is filling out her W-4 paperwork for her new job and has found that it is a bit confusing. Rather than just one worksheet for her to fill out, she has been given three. What are these three worksheets that must be filled out for a W-4?
personal allowances worksheet, deductions and adjustments worksheet, and the two-income earner/multiple job worksheet
Martina has a very early weekend curfew and has been begging her parents, who are both schoolteachers, to extend her curfew to at least midnight. They tell Martina that they will consider her request if she writes an essay that attempts to convince them to change her curfew using well-researched evidence including facts, logic, and statistics. What type of rhetorical mode will Martina MOST likely use to write this essay?
persuasive
While some people may love their work enough to do it free, a _____ will likely make you love it even more.
regular paycheck
Tonya is relocating to Denver, Colorado, from Boston, Massachusetts, next month and is trying to get everything organized and ready to go. One of the most important things that she will need to do is establish the fact that she legally lives in one place, which is also known as establishing:
residency.
When moving to a new state and going to get your new driver's license, what can you most likely avoid having to do as part of the process if you already have a driver's license from another state?
taking a road test and a written test
On nearly every utility bill, at the top of the page above your usage, you will notice charges that cover everything from complying with environmental regulations to paying for the nuclear plant that generates the power you use. This is because utility customers are subject to a host of various:
taxes
Olivia writes a blog that focuses on sharing her thoughts and opinions on a variety of products that she uses and likes. What is MOST likely the motivation behind Olivia's blog writing?
to inform others
Rex is working on an English degree at college and his favorite college course is American Literature. In this course, the professor regularly asks the students to spend time analyzing and discussing the writing of the authors that they study in order to determine what that author's specific purpose was for writing the text. What is the purpose that Rex and his classmates have for reading these texts?
to interpret
What does it mean to 'read widely'?
to read a variety of sources, looking at information from all sides
In 2012, Twitter recorded 175 million tweets in a day, but _____ percent of those were essentially noise.
99
Of all the social media sites that people use to get their news from, Instagram is the most popular.
False
Teenagers in one Macedonian town created an impressively lucrative business posting real and reliable news during the 2016 presidential election.
False
After Jackie left her recruiting job to start her own company, she was required to wait a year before contacting any of her old clients. This was due to an agreement that she signed where she promised to not directly compete with an existing business by opening a similar business or approaching the clients of a particular business. What is the name of the agreement that Jackie signed?
a non-compete agreement
When moving or relocating, there are a lot of important steps that need to be taken care of such as getting a new driver's license, turning on the electricity in your new home, or signing up for internet service. However, it is impossible to do any of these things until you have a(n):
address
Imagine that you are reading a news story that has been shared on social media and you believe that it may be fake news. Why can looking at other news outlets to see if they have the same story help you determine if it is fake news or not?
because it's unlikely that other reputable news sources won't be talking about the story if it is actually true
When you are just starting to search for information online, it is always a good idea to start _________ so that you are more likely to find results.
broad
Fake news generally features a headline that attracts attention by being sensational and encouraging you to click through for more details. What are these types of headlines referred to as?
clickbait
When you understand the background and environment in which a piece of information is created, you can understand the purpose of it more easily. What critical reading strategy is used to do this?
contextualize
