Deck 18: Writing for the Professions

Question 1

Plain English is a readable writing style that uses the 'you' approach, positive language, clear expression and an assertive, courteous tone.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

What is the most important principle of plain English?

A) Ensure that your writing makes sense.
B) Have a purpose for your writing.
C) Approach the writing with vigour.
D) Put yourself in the place of the receiver(s) of the intended message.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Analysing the content enables a writer to compose persuasive, user-centred written messages.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

As advantages of a plain English writing style, equity, efficiency and effectiveness have a significant impact on your organisation and your audience.

Question 5

The use of plain English increases the number of incorrectly completed forms and the clerical time needed for processing or returning incomplete or incorrectly completed forms.

Question 6

The three-stage process for effective writing is

A) researching, writing and presenting.
B) planning, writing and editing.
C) planning, researching and writing.
D) planning, doing and checking.

Question 7

Which question helps to determine the structure and purpose of the document?

A) What does the reader need to know and how much do they understand about the subject?
B) What is the best way to organise ideas so that they make sense to the reader?
C) Is the document really necessary or would another method of communication work better?
D) All of the above

Question 8

Plain English writing makes good business sense because of the three advantages of

A) empathy, economy and elegance.
B) equity, efficiency and effectiveness.
C) friendliness, familiarity and formality.
D) conciseness, clarity and concern.

Question 9

What are the three means of persuasion-or types of appeal-available to writers, and what is a concrete example of each?

Question 10

Writing that presents facts objectively, explains concepts and cites external sources would be an

A) appeal to emotion.
B) appeal to logic.
C) appeal to character.
D) none of the above.

Question 11

Ethos appeals to emotion to evoke an emotional response.

Question 12

The main purpose in any work-based writing task is to

A) engage the reader and, if required, act.
B) educate, elucidate and entertain.
C) get the message across.
D) present the message in a convincing way.

Question 13

The two features of a document written in plain English are

A) the right purpose and focus.
B) a sequence of information that is easy to understand and an appropriate tone.
C) an appropriate tone and the right approach.
D) an effective approach and an equitable tone.

Question 14

Plain English is highly recommended because it

A) helps people communicate without using body language.
B) is easy to write down.
C) communicates as simply and effectively as possible.
D) looks attractive when written.

Question 15

Plain English is the best way to ensure that your managers, staff, suppliers, customers and the wider public understand. In business terms, this is

A) efficiency.
B) effectiveness.
C) equity.
D) none of the above.

Question 16

All documents, formal and informal, should be created and written from the point of view of the receiver.

Question 17

The rough proportions for the three different phases in writing are considered to be

A) planning (25%), writing (50%), revising and editing (25%).
B) planning (50%), writing (25%), revising and editing (25%).
C) planning (25%), writing (25%), revising and proofreading (50%).
D) none of the above.

Question 18

Pathos incorporates figurative language, vivid descriptions, connotative meanings and emotional examples.

Question 19

Rhetoric is the art of speaking and writing effectively.

Question 20

What is 'plain English'? How does writing in plain English benefit the reader?

Question 21

A cliché is

A) a technical term.
B) an allegory.
C) an overworked expression.
D) a metaphor.

Question 22

In coherent sentences and paragraphs, when a sentence is too long, it is often a problem of

A) passive voice.
B) a compound sentence.
C) sentence sprawl.
D) a complex sentence.

Question 23

Clear, easy-to-understand communication is achieved by using the natural word order for the English language. This is shown in

A) subject-verb-object
B) subject-verb-clause
C) object-verb-subject
D) clause-verb-subject

Question 24

Use of the active voice in writing

A) is more economical.
B) is where the subject of the sentence is acted upon.
C) is where the subject of the sentence is placed after the action.
D) communicates vividly and clearly, emphasising the subject as doing the action.

Question 25

What sort of language is needed in business writing to offer Australia's diverse population equal access to opportunities in education, jobs and promotion?

A) Concrete language
B) A 'you' approach
C) Parallel language
D) Inclusive language

Question 26

The benefit of understanding and being able to apply correct sentence structure is so you

A) avoid writing fragments instead of whole sentences and writing sentences that lack unity.
B) let the reader know how to understand complex sentences.
C) know how to express everything in compound sentences.
D) can handle plain English writing.

Question 27

The use of a gender-specific reference, such as 'lady doctor' is inappropriate in business writing because

A) it is potentially discriminatory.
B) it is non-representative.
C) it carries hidden meaning.
D) it is promoting a stereotype.

Question 28

According to Murphy (2001), the phrase 'it would seem that' is an example of

A) a conditional phrase.
B) a filler that shows the writer is still thinking.
C) a fallacy.
D) a redundancy.

Question 29

The difference between a compound sentence and a complex sentence is

A) whether or not they express more than one idea.
B) the relationships between the two clauses.
C) the meaning of the two sentences.
D) all of the above.

Question 30

The use of the passive voice has an important role to play

A) when we wish to communicate in a sonorous fashion.
B) when counterbalancing excesses of active voice in a document.
C) when wishing to be diplomatic or avoiding laying blame.
D) all of the above.

Question 31

Who said 'the reader is the judge' in writing?

A) Dwyer (2008)
B) Murphy (2001)
C) Aristotle (320 BC)
D) Jones (2003)

Question 32

Which of the following demonstrates sentence sprawl?

A) Forsooth, what manner of man is this?
B) The vast canvas of the Russian steppes served as the background to the great patriotic war.
C) The blind man heard it, the deaf man saw it. All were stunned at this turn of events.
D) The horse, perhaps barely able to maintain momentum because of the great load upon her and struggling mightily, was near dead from exhaustion as well as from lack of water in the last few days.

Question 33

The use of a 'you' approach in writing

A) should be avoided because such familiarity with the reader may not be welcome.
B) helps to create a more personal, reader-friendly document.
C) is reserved for immediate circle users and excludes formal business usage.
D) all of the above.

Question 34

'The family ship of state sailed on to greener pastures' is an example of

A) a mixed metaphor.
B) concrete language.
C) colourful expression.
D) an abstract expression.

Question 35

Which of the following is in the passive voice?

A) The motorcycle engine was overhauled by Justine.
B) Justine has overhauled the motorcycle engine.
C) The carburettor was misfiring.
D) Justine is cleaning the carburettor.

Question 36

Because technical terms can be useful for informed people but make uninformed people feel nervous, they

A) need to be deleted from plain English.
B) should be used as often as possible.
C) should be clearly explained at the beginning of the writing.
D) need to be used appropriately.

Question 37

The use of a phrase such as 'It appears that' is an example of

A) hedging.
B) being non-committal.
C) using cautious language.
D) all of the above.

Question 38

Which of the following is preferred instead of 'in the event that'?

A) Even though
B) Even if
C) If
D) None of the above

Question 39

Which of the following is a sentence fragment?

A) The youth donned his helmet.
B) Riding towards the hills.
C) Galahs shrieked and wheeled overhead.
D) Up the street and down the road walked the man whose legs were bowed.

Question 40

Inclusive language can best be defined as

A) the restructuring of sentences to avoid gender-specific pronouns.
B) male and female interests being represented equally in the communication.
C) language that does not carry any hidden meaning or discriminatory, negative overtones and which avoids invisibility or extra visibility.
D) including all people without fear or favour, recognising the needs of all persons to be treated democratically.

Question 41

A cliché is a description of an object or an action that is imaginative but not literally applicable.

Question 42

Words are used as a communication tool in business writing.

Question 43

Personal pronouns help writers to avoid abstractions and keep sentences short, and encourage them to use concrete language.

Question 44

The purpose of punctuation in writing is to

A) alert the reader to the appropriate speed when reading.
B) aid understanding and convey a clearer message by providing flow to the words.
C) help the reader to better understand the tone of the communication.
D) indicate where capital letters are needed.

Question 45

Technical terms are used to help the reader understand the message rather than to show the reader the cleverness or superiority of the writer. Whenever possible, use as many technical terms as possible.

Question 46

Inclusive language includes all readers regardless of gender or race.

Question 47

In business writing, sentences should be kept relatively short and compact. A reasonable sentence length in the business context would be in the range of

A) eight to fourteen words.
B) twenty to thirty words.
C) twenty-five to thirty words.
D) fifteen to twenty words.

Question 48

A metaphor is a collection of words that has become so familiar through overuse that it either annoys or makes no impression on the reader.

Question 49

What are the key skills used to group sentences together in business writing?

A) Linking words, punctuation and parallel structure
B) Limiting sentence fragments
C) Balancing sentence sprawl
D) Avoiding paragraph unity

Question 50

Fillers are words that 'creep into sentences while the writer is still thinking'.

Question 51

The basic requirement of paragraph writing is that

A) no more than three sentences are included.
B) each paragraph has one main idea.
C) coherence is limited.
D) an introduction is required.

Question 52

Mixed metaphors should be widely used in writing because they make documents interesting and easily understood.

Question 53

An effective writer places the action before the subject to give a stronger link between them and to show who or what is doing the action.

Question 54

According to Strunk and White (2000), 'a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts', referring to the need for a sentence to contain no unnecessary words.

Question 55

'The man and the lady' is an example of parallel language.

Question 56

Concrete language uses specific words that are easy to understand.

Question 57

What Fog index is a reasonable average for business writing?

A) 4-5
B) 6+
C) 2-3
D) None of the above

Question 58

The 'we' style of writing projects an empathetic tone, is personal and includes both male and female readers.

Question 59

The feature of good writing is that it communicates clearly to the other person what is happening in real life.

Question 60

Passive voice is useful to give bad news.

Question 61

A complex sentence has one main clause and one or more subordinate or dependent clauses.

Question 62

Tone, rhythm and format are important for readers in business writing because

A) they help the document to sound and look professional.
B) they make the writing readable and interesting.
C) they focus on creating a relationship with the reader.
D) all of the above.

Question 63

A compound sentence has two main clauses, and each could stand alone as its own sentence.

Question 64

The role of the editor is

A) to ensure that what writers set out to say is indeed what they have said and check that the result is clear, correct and appropriate for the receiver.
B) to check that the language surpasses the information.
C) to make sure that redundancy and repetition are highlighted.
D) none of the above.

Question 65

Describe two techniques that help to organise information into a paragraph. Identify three techniques that can be used to emphasise a point.

Question 66

In a document that uses vertical channels of communication, a writer should request acknowledgement of the message and point the way ahead before stating the action to be taken.

Question 67

In business writing, the order in which the information is presented is always direct.

Question 68

Sentence sprawl occurs when a sentence contains consistent ideas.

Question 69

A question-such as 'What should we do?'-uses the imperative mood.

Question 70

Which of the following basic design principles is used to rank levels of information?

A) Layout
B) Colour
C) Hierarchy
D) Typeface

Question 71

Discuss situations in which you would use an active and a passive voice in writing business documents.

Question 72

The measured flow of sounds is known as tone.

Question 73

Achieving a professional layout includes basic design principles and highlighting the main points.

Question 74

A reader, like a listener, interprets meaning from both words and tone.

Question 75

The tone of business writing is basically divided into two types,

A) coherence and flow.
B) imperative and positive.
C) relevant and effective.
D) top-down and bottom-up.

Question 76

Document layout and design deal with

A) line length, line spacing, type size and justification.
B) provision of visual cues and generous use of white space.
C) headings, graphics, use of colour, bolding, italics and capitals.
D) all of the above.

Question 77

What is the 'you' approach in writing? What is its purpose? Why is it important to use inclusive language in business writing?

Question 78

Contrast a positive tone with a negative tone and give an example of each. Briefly describe the design elements that make up the layout of a document. Describe an order of information suited to a document that uses vertical channels of communication.

Question 79

Discuss the differences between a 'simple sentence', 'compound sentence' and 'complex sentence'. Give an example of each type of sentence. What is a sentence fragment and sentence sprawl? Briefly discuss three ways of removing sentence sprawl from your writing.

Question 80

The topic sentence identifies a course of action or a summary.