Deck 5: Writing Business Messages

Question 1

You earn respect from your audience by

A) being brutally frank in your criticisms.
B) flattering them as much as possible.
C) being polite and diplomatic.
D) doing all of the above.

Answer 1

being polite and diplomatic.

Question 2

For persuasive messages, the best approach is to

A) avoid the "you" attitude.
B) get straight to the point.
C) emphasize how your audience will benefit.
D) open with the main idea and then provide supporting points.

Answer 2

emphasize how your audience will benefit.

Question 3

The tone of business messages

A) can range from informal to conversational to formal.
B) should always be formal.
C) should always be fairly informal.
D) is governed by strict, unwritten rules that do not allow for humor.

Answer 3

can range from informal to conversational to formal.

Question 4

Generally speaking, business language used to be ____________ it is today.

A) less formal than
B) more formal than
C) about as formal as
D) simpler than

Question 5

Which of the following sentences contains the strongest and most effective wording?

A) Given the parameters of the situation, the most propitious choice would be to make adjustments in certain budget areas.
B) We need to cut the operating budget by 12 percent or profits will plummet.
C) Someone's going to need to do some budget cutting around here or heads will roll.
D) Perusal of budgetary figures reveals that a 12 percent reduction in operations is called for if we are to stave off a negative impact on profits.

Question 6

"Stock prices have fallen, and foreign investments are far below normal levels" is a

A) simple sentence.
B) compound sentence.
C) complex sentence.
D) compound-complex sentence.

Question 7

The _____________ feature in software enables you to personalize form letters by inserting names and addresses from a database.

A) File merge
B) Mail merge
C) Autocorrection
D) Boilerplate

Question 8

"John rented the office" is written in the active voice.

Question 9

You should completely avoid use of the passive voice in business writing.

Question 10

Nouns, verbs, and adjectives are functional words.

Question 11

In business messages, using a great deal of jargon is an effective way to increase your credibility.

Question 12

"We can hire Jane, but not at the salary she's requested" is a complex sentence.

Question 13

"Profits have increased and employee morale is high" is a simple sentence.

Question 14

"Insurance premiums are increasing, and health care costs continue to rise" is a compound sentence.

Question 15

Instant messaging and blogging are popular for entertainment, but have not caught on as important business technologies.

Question 16

____________________ words express relationships and have only one unchanging meaning in any given context; ____________________ words, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, carry the meaning of the sentence.