Deck 4: Preparing Written Messsages

Question 1

Denotative words may be more easily misinterpretedthan connotative words.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Writing a message with a readability index appropriate for the audience guarantees the message will be understood.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Business communicators normally use active voice more heavily than passive voice because active voice:

A)places more emphasis on what was done and who or what it was done to than on who did it.
B)dilutes the concerns of a speaker.
C)conveys ideas more vividly.
D)avoids finger-pointing.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A best practice to communicate concisely is to:

A)incorporate redundancies.
B)restate ideas that are sufficiently implied.
C)include clichés that are wordy.
D)use compound adjectives.

Question 5

In a document, numerals are typically preferred overbullets unless the sequence of the items in theseries is critical.

Question 6

Condescending words seem to imply that a communicatoris temporarily coming down from a level of superiorityto join a receiver on a level of inferiority.

Question 7

"The training session was worthwhile; it was worthwhile because employees learned to do the task correctly" is an example of the emphasis technique _____.

A)position
B)repetition
C)words that label
D)coherence

Question 8

The Fog Indexand the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level calculator consider the length of sentences and the difficultyof words to produce the approximate grade levelat which a person must read in order to understand thematerial.

Question 9

To emphasize a word or an idea, position it first or lastin a sentence, clause, paragraph, or presentation.

Question 10

Use passive voice toreduce the number of wordsrequired to express an idea and thus save thereader a little time.

Question 11

Passive voice enables:

A)placing greater emphasis on a writer's concerns.
B)subordinating an unpleasant thought or avoiding finger-pointing.
C)placing more emphasis on who did it than on what was done.
D)conveying ideas more vividly.

Question 12

Writing rapidly with intent to rewrite certain portionscan be frustrating and canreduce the quality of the finished work.

Question 13

Business writers prefer simple, informal words that arereadily understood and less distracting than more difficult,formal words.

Question 14

A difference between active voice and passive voice is that active voice:

A)places greater emphasis on the subject's concerns.
B)conveys ideas less vividly.
C)avoids finger-pointing.
D)conceals the doer.

Question 15

Overuse of visual enhancements will cause a document to appear clutteredand will defeat the purpose of creating an appealing,easy-to-read document.

Question 16

Reading a document from right to left helps reduce reading speed, allowingan individual to concentrate deliberately on each word.

Question 17

Routinely used clichéscapture a receiver's attention because they are original,fresh, and interesting.

Question 18

The first step in proofreading a document is to use the spell checker.

Question 19

Business communicators normally use passive voice moreheavily than active voice because passive voice conveysideas more vividly.

Question 20

To emphasize an idea, place it in a dependentclause.

Question 21

Sentences in subjunctive mood:

A)distract the receiver from paying sufficient attention to the statements that follow.
B)include a reason that makes the negative idea seem less
objectionable and thus improves the tone.
C)divert attention from the real message to emotional issues that
have little to do with the message.
D)make an idea seem negative or disrespectful.

Question 22

Discuss why effective business communicators should vary sentence and paragraph length.

Question 23

A _____ is a phrasein which one word unnecessarily repeats an ideacontained in an accompanying word.

A)cliché
B)redundancy
C)jargon
D)euphemism

Question 24

_____ refers to euphemisms that deliberately mislead, hide, or evade the truth.

A)Enumeration
B)Doublespeak
C)Profanity
D)Jargon

Question 25

Which of the following is true of concise messages?

A)They involve messages that are implied.
B)They divert
attention from the real message to emotional issues that
have little to do with the message.
C)They save time and
money for both the sender and the receiver.
D)They imply that the communicator
is temporarily coming down from a level of superiority
to join the receiver on a level of inferiority.

Question 26

In order to effectively revise and proofread a document, one should:

A)avoid using visual enhancements at all times as they clutter the document.
B)avoid taking suggestions from others on rewriting the document.
C)revise the document until he or she finds new ways to improve it.
D)attempt to view things from the audience's perspective.

Question 27

To reduce the sting of an unpleasant thought:

A)employ active voice to convey negative ideas.
B)use second person when stating negative ideas.
C)state ideas using positive language.
D)use passive voice to promote positive ideas.

Question 28

Explain the value of using the reading level feature when processing a word document.

Question 29

_____ is anoverused expression that can cause its users to be perceivedas unoriginal, unimaginative, lazy, and perhaps even disrespectful.

A)Chunk
B)Jargon
C)Cliché
D)Connotation

Question 30

Which of the following is true of topic sentences?

A)They are facts that support the central idea.
B)They are clearly linked with details that precede or follow.
C)They are neither inductive nor deductive.
D)They are avoided when listing steps of a process.

Question 31

_____ are signposts that direct a receiver fromone section of a document to another.

A)Enumerations
B)Tables
C)Headings
D)Graphs

Question 32

_____ involves breaking down information into easilydigestible pieces.

A)Connotation
B)Chunking
C)Jargon
D)Redundancy

Question 33

In a document, enumerated or bulleted lists:

A)should be placed only in the appendix section.
B)result in divergence from the flow of the written message.
C)can be used to add visual impact to items in a series.
D)result in too much white space, making the page look less organized.

Question 34

To emphasize a word or an idea, _____.

A)position it in the middle of a sentence or clause
B)let it appear only once in a sentence
C)place it in a dependent clause
D)place it in an independent clause

Question 35

Graphs in a document:

A)organize large amounts of specific numeric data and facilitate analysis.
B)direct a receiver from one section of the document to another.
C)visually depict relationships within the data.
D)provide specific information rather than quick estimates.

Question 36

List and briefly explain five visual enhancements a writer can use to draw attention to important information.

Question 37

Which of the following is a difference between connotativewords and denotativewords?

A)Connotative words may be more easily misinterpreted than denotative words.
B)Denotative words involve messages that are implied, whereas connotative words involve messages that are explicit.
C)Denotative words are interpreted based on the context, whereas connotative words are not.
D)Connotative words distract the receiver from paying attention to the statements that precede, whereas denotative words distract the receiver from paying attention to the statements that follow.

Question 38

Mustafa is the president of ZoneIn Industries Inc., a company that manufactures PVC pipes and fitting. Due to losses incurred by the company, Mustafa reduced a major portion of the workers' pay and called it "temporary economic adaptation." The term used to represent the cutback exemplifies a:

A)jargon.
B)euphemism.
C)libel.
D)cliché.

Question 39

Which of the following best describes a deductive paragraph?

A)A paragraph that uses coherence techniques to keep receivers from experiencing abrupt changes in
thought
B)A paragraph that lays more emphasis on the dependent clauses
C)A paragraph in which the topic sentence precedes the details
D)A paragraph in which the topic sentence follows the details

Question 40

A _____ is a kind word substituted for one thatmay offend or suggest something unpleasant.

A)jargon
B)euphemism
C)cliché
D)redundancy

Question 41

Discuss in detail the procedure that needs to be followedto produce a finishedproduct that is free of errors.

Question 42

Email Request to Employees​Revise the following paragraph from an email message to employees. Focus on use of voice, appropriate sentence length, and word selection to make the passage effective.​With the approach of the end of this fiscal year, it has been recommended by our accountant that the monies allocated in the budget to capital equipment be used as soon as is expedient. Therefore, as has been our practice in the past, we are requesting that each of you compile a comprehensive detailed list outlining your requests for new equipment that you may have put on the back burner, so to speak. It would be appreciated if you could provide this information to me by the first of next month so that I can begin to process all orders prior to the expiration of the fiscal year. It is anticipated that a multitude of requests will be simultaneously submitted by departmental heads; it is highly probable that requests for equipment will be processed in the order received and delayed requests may not be funded. I sincerely appreciate your cooperation in our efforts to upgrade some of our capital equipment.

Question 43

Communicating Concisely Using a Positive Language​Tom is the general manager at Glorious Solutions, a content development company. He was impressed with Stephanie's work and considered promoting her to the position of team leader. To judge her leadership qualities, Tom decided to ask Stephanie to handle a sensitive issue at work and see how she performs. Tom wanted her to handle the case of Alan, a proofreader in the same company, who was on uninformed leave for two weeks. He asked Stephanie to send an email issuing Alan an ultimatum. Stephanie was not used to such situations and did not know how to handle it. She sought James's help. James is a team leader at Enumerations Corp., a multinational corporation, and a close friend of Stephanie. Being a team leader, James is used to handling such sensitive issues in a constructive manner. Discuss in detail the suggestions James made to Stephanie to reduce the sting from the sensitive message.

Question 44

Discuss in detail the techniques employed by writers to link ideas together.

Question 45

Discuss the significance of proofreading a document to improve its quality.

Question 46

Discuss the techniques to be followed to communicate concisely in a document.

Question 47

Why is it necessary to avoid discriminatory language
List the guidelines that will help a writer avoid bias in a document.