English
345‐‐Business
Writing
Final
Exam
Review
You are writing a report that recommends renovation projects in several buildings on your campus. The most
appropriate organizational pattern would be:
A) Pro and con
B) Functional
C) Chronological
D) Geographic or spatial
You are a technical writer in a large company who is working on a training manual to help new users learn the
company's computer system. Employees will use your manual in training seminars taught by your company's
trainers. The manual will also serve as an on-the-job reference later. Both of the system analysts who designed the
computer system and the trainers will comment on your draft. The trainers would be classified as what kind of
audience for your manual?
A. Watchdog
B. Gatekeeper
C. Primary
D. Secondary
Which of the following is an effective opening for a sales letter?
A) The special keyboard design helps people who spend long hours at a computer.
B) With an ActionRest keyboard, you can spend long hours at a computer with little or no discomfort to your
wrists.
C) Do your wrists ache when you spend long hours working at your computer?
D) Wrist discomfort is experienced by many people.
If a business associate from overseas refuses to look you in the eye while you and he are speaking, you should
A) understand that his culture may consider constant eye contact to be inappropriate in a business situation.
B) confront him and ask him why he will not look you in the eye.
C) recognize that he is not telling you the truth.
D) keep moving, until you force him to look you in the eye.
In which of the following sections of a proposal for a research project would you be MOST likely to include a draft
of your survey questions?
A) Topics to Investigate
B) Problem
C) Methods
D) Call to Action
In a(n) _______________ presentation, the speaker speaks without interruption and questions are held until the
end.
A) monologue
B) guided discussion
C) interactive
D) sales
Negative actions in groups that hurt the group's product and process include all of the following EXCEPT:
A) dominating
B) coordinating
C) withdrawing
D) blocking
If you are discussing a report with the subordinate who wrote it and she sits with her legs crossed and hands
crossed over her chest she probably feels:
A) comfortable and relaxed
B) confident and accepted
C) uncomfortable, and perhaps threatened by your feedback on the report
D) creative, because she has just solved a difficult problem
Which of the following is NOT one of the criteria that can help you decide whether a Web site is good enough to
use for a research project?
A) Graphics
B) Author's credentials
C) Objectivity
D) Information
Which of the following would be considered an informative or positive message?
A. Providing information about different options of insurance coverage the company is offering
B. Advising employees of upcoming personnel cutbacks due to a downturn in sales
C. Requesting monthly progress reports from the members of the sales staff
D. Convincing a potential customer to switch to your brand of product
You have been offered a summer internship position in London. In a letter negotiating the terms of your contract,
you write that you must return by 917 to resume your studies in the U.S. Your correspondent writes that that will be
impossible because the summer position does nQt end until August. You are puzzled because you said that you did
not have to return until September. What is the most likely cause of this miscommunication?
A) Your letter was poorly written, so the reader did not understand it.
B) The reader is not a native speaker of English and therefore misinterpreted the letter.
C) The writer dislikes Americans and is purposely being rude.
D) The person in London assumed that you had to return on July 9, since in England the day is written before the
month.
________ refers to the rising or falling inflection that tells you whether a group of words is a question or a
statement, whether the speaker is uncertain or confident, whether a statement is sincere or sarcastic.
A) Volume
B) Stress
C) Tone of voice
D) Pitch
Which of the following is a danger of groupthink?
A) A full range of alternatives never emerges, resulting in a poor decision.
B) Too many alternatives will emerge, making it impossible to come to a consensus.
C) Each person will believe that he or she is right, making it impossible to agree.
D) The group will take longer to reach a decision than is necessary.
Which of the following is the best title for a graph?
A) The Cost of Computer Memory, 1998-2008
B) A Chip Off the Dollar
C) Computer Memory
D) The Falling Cost ofComputer Memory, 1998-2008
You are writing a report which recommends that your company organize a fund-raising campaign to aid several
hundred people in your community whose homes have been destroyed by the worst flood your city has ever seen.
You anticipate that readers will be very supportive of your recommendation. Which ofthe following is the BEST
title for your report?
A) Creating a Campaign to Fund Flood Recovery Efforts
B) ABC Corporation and the Flood
C) Supporting Victims
D) Money Required to Do Our Part
You have finished a report that you prepared as an outside consultant to a firm. When you send it out, the report
will be accompanied by
A) a memo of transmittal.
B) a letter of transmittal.
C) no transmittal, if you deliver it in person.
D) a thank-you letter.
The ___________ is the difference between the high and low figures for any given variable.
A) mean
B) median
C) average
D) range
Business communication practices in the United States place importance on the written word and tend to
emphasize the binding nature of written agreements. This indicates that our culture:
A) has low-context preferences.
B) has high-context preferences.
C) is polychronic.
D) is monochronic.
Which is a good practice when telling stories through visuals?
A. Simplify the data on a selected topic and convert numbers to easy-to-understand units.
B. Present all of the data collected, discuss what is relevant, and allow the audience to interpret the rest on their
own.
C. Combine the data from several important stories into one visual.
D. Tell all of the stories that a dataset allows in order not to waste any information.
Which of the following visuals would be BEST to show a trend?
A) Table
B) Line graph
C) Gannt chart
D) Pie chart
Your boss says, "You can't seem to ever get the monthly reports in on time." Which of the following responses
buys time with limited agreement?
A) "You're right. It won't happen again"
B) "That's not quite true. We got them in on time every month except the last one"
C) "It's true that we did get them in late last month"
D) "If the reports are so important, why don't you give me more time to complete them?"
A letter to your customer contained the following sentence, "Your order was shipped today." Indicate the
alternative that both correctly evaluates the sentence and correctly explains the reason for the evaluation.
A) It is a well written sentence because it uses an active verb.
B) It is a well written sentence because it focuses on what the writer did.
C) It is a poorly written sentence because it focuses on what the reader wants to know.
D) It is a poorly written sentence because it does not specify what the order is or when it will arrive
To show parts of a whole, use a ________________ as your visual.
A) bar chart
B) line graph
C) pie chart
D) table
____________ , such as nods, "uh huhs," and frowns, help convey the message that you're listening.
A) Acknowledgement responses
B) Open body language
C) Infonnational messages
D) Procedural responses
Which of the following should be included in the first paragraph of a solicited job application letter?
A. A complete discussion of the writer's skills and qualifications
B. A statement that you are applying for a particular advertised position
C. Dates and times that you are available for an interview
D. A statement that will catch the reader's interest
Truncated graphs
A) are preferable in oral presentations, because they take less time to explain.
B) make major changes look like small changes.
C) start at zero.
D) start at a number other than zero and may make small changes seem like major changes.
Choose the alternative which indicates the kind of resume which is best for a person whose education and
experience is not the usual route to the position to which he or she is applying.
A) Chronological resume
B) Skills resume
C) Reverse skills resume
D) Activities resume
Which of the following should NOT be done when preparing a scannable resume?
A) Use as many pages as you need.
B) Use 12-or 14-point type.
C) Use a ragged right margin rather than full justification.
D) Use lines, boxes, and borders to draw the reader's attention to certain sections.
Which of the following is a formal report?
A) PowerPoint slides printed out and bound together
B) Computer printouts of sales figures for the past six months
C) A memo describing an event
D) A long document with a title page, a transmittal and a table of contents
Which of the following reports does NOT provide a recommendation?
A) A feasibility report
B) A problem-solving report
C) A justification report
D) An annual report
The acronym RFP refers to:
A) resume filler page
B) report filing process
C) request for proposal
D) recommendation for performance
Social networking in business
A. is strictly prohibited since it distracts employees from doing their jobs.
B. promotes information sharing and collaboration among employees.
C. does not include personal profiles like recreational social networking does.
D. typically is used to connect a company's employees to the outside world.
Resumes must be free from typos because employers
A) will not hire anyone who cannot type.
B) assume that someone who is careless with a resume would be careless on the job.
C) believe that typos are evidence of alcohol or substance abuse.
D) will hire only people rich enough to hire professional typists.
You are attending a professional conference and are privileged to be introduced to Caroline Peters. You know
nothing about her except that she is an executive at a very successful company. You have an idea that you would
like to talk over with her. How should you address this person during your conversation?
A) Ms. Peters
B) Mrs. Peters
C) Caroline
D) Madam Vice President
Choose the alternative which indicates the kind of resume which is best for someone with impressive job titles,
degrees, and honors.
A) Chronological resume
B) Skills resume
C) Reverse skills resume
D) Activities resume
Choose the alternative that indicates in which kind(s) of job application letter you should tell where you learned
about the job.
A) Solicited letters
B) Prospecting letters
C) Referral letters
D) Resumes
Which of the following is NOT a primary purpose in attending an information interview?
A) The worker can refer you to someone who will hire you.
B) The worker can tell you what he or she does on a daily basis.
C) The worker can give you infonnation about how you can best prepare to enter that field.
D) You can find out whether or not you like the type of work the worker does.
Identify the error in the following list of job duties: "Recruited seventeen volunteers, designing of brochures, and
spoke to five community groups."
A) The list lacks emphatic order.
B) The list lacks details.
C) The list lacks parallel structure.
D) The list uses a complete sentence.
Choose the best revision of this sentence for a job application letter: "I want an interview with you." A) I anxiously
await a phone call from you so that we can meet to discuss job opportunities.
B) I can't wait to hear from you.
C) Any time at all that you want to call and have me for an interview, I am available.
D) I look forward to talking to you about how my qualifications could meet McMillen's corporate needs.
When you want to work for an organization that has not announced openings, you should write a ________ letter.
A) solicited
B) prospecting
C) referral
D) transmittal
When interviewing for a job, the best response to the question "Why do you want to work for us?" is to
A) explain your financial situation.
B) admit that you probably aren't the best person for the job.
C) explain your strengths for this job.
D) list the relatives and friends who hope you get this job.
You walk into a dark interview room and sit in a chair with a broken spring. The interviewer suddenly raises the
blinds of the window and sunlight blinds you momentarily. "So what are you here for?" the interviewer asks. You
are probably in a
A) stress interview.
B) second interview.
C) behavioral interview.
D) situational interview.
You are writing to the IRS to straighten out an error in your W-4 withholding form. You do not have the name of
an agent. Which ofthe following is the LEAST acceptable?
A) Use "Dear IRS Agent" as your salutation
B) Use a letter format that omits the salutation
C) Use "Dear Sir" as your salutation
D) Use "Dear Withholding Officer" as your salutation
Which heading is NOT in parallel structure with the others?
A) Office Expenditures Declined Last Quarter
B) Increase in Payroll Expenses
C) Sales Exceeded Projections
D) Budget Adjusted for Inflation
Which of the following is NOT an example ofa signpost?
A) Saying "You may wonder what you can do about this problem"
B) Changing the PowerPoint slide to indicate a new topic
C) Saying "Now we have come to the third key point . . . "
D) Asking if everyone in the room can hear you
Which of the following would be an example of an emotional appeal that is part of a persuasive message?
A. "All of the ingredients we use are home-grown in the United States."
B. "We can save 20% in labor costs if we relocate our plant to the Midwest."
C. "Collectively our management team has over 100 years of experience in the business."
D. "The new company president invites a different employee to breakfast each day in order to get to know each of
the staff members."
You are responding to a letter from a potential new client named Chris Fox and do not know if "Chris" is a man or
a woman. Which ofthe following is the LEAST acceptable strategy?
A) Call the company to ask the receptionist whether Chris Fox is male or female
B) Use the full name in the salutation and write "Dear Chris Fox."
C) Use a letter format that omits the salutation
D) Assume that Chris is male, since no title was given and write "Dear Mr. Fox."
As you revise a written document,
A. begin thinking about your audience and the amount of time they can devote to reading your document.
B. add lists where appropriate to clarify or summarize information.
C. check that you have adhered to the guidelines for good page design.
D. begin considering how the guidelines for good page design can enhance your message.
Which of the following is the BEST replacement for "due to the fact that"
A) "because"
B) "due to it being the fact"
C) "on account ofthe fact that"
D) "pursuant to the evidence concerning"
Language from a previous document that a writer includes in a new document is called
A) a storyboard
B) boilerplate
C) feedback
D) a transmittal
Which data is MOST appropriate for the appendix of a report rather than the body?
A) a small bar chart
B) A quarter-page data table that relates to the discussion on page 32
C) information that is crucial to the recommendations
D) A copy of a previous report on the same subject
Which of the following is NOT one of the modes for openers in oral presentations?
A) Startling statement
B) Narration or anecdote
C) Question
D) Argument
You are giving a 30-minute presentation to potential investors in your new business. Which of the following should
you write out and memorize before speaking, rather than putting it on note cards? A) The opening
B) Signposts
C) Examples of key points
D) Possible questions
When you prepare presentation slides with Powerpoint, use at least ________ point type for the smallest words.
A) 64
B) 44
C) 28
D) 8
When asking someone else to evaluate your written work, you can improve the quality of the feedback you get by:
A) including another sample of your writing.
B) reading the document out loud to your colleague.
C) telling your colleague which aspects you would especially like comments on.
D) maintaining a defensive posture
Which of the following is MOST likely to be an example of a noncompetitive proposal?
A) A response to an RFP that was issued to choose a phone vendor
B) A student's proposal that his group choose his topic for their report
C) One of five companies' proposals to have its products selected by a landlord choosing a new company to do the
internal signs in the building
D) A student's proposal to his professor that he be allowed to write his assigned report about the marketing
practices of the company where he works
Which of the following should be done before a collaborative document is written?
A. Proofread for grammar, mechanics, and spelling.
B. Evaluate the content and discuss possible revisions as a team.
C. Edit the document to account for different writing styles.
D. Plan the organization, format, and style of the document.
A proposal for a student report will include a section on qualifications that will address which of the following
questions?
A. How will you get answers to your questions?
B. Do you have the knowledge and skills needed to conduct this study?
C. Are you sure that a solution can be found in the time available?
D. What organizational problem exists?
You are giving a presentation to persuade upper management to start an onsite daycare center. You have two really
strong points to make, and two weaker points. You should speak about the points in which order?
A) Strong Strong Weak Weak
B) Strong Weak Strong Weak
C) Strong Weak Weak Strong
D) Weak Strong Weak Strong
The opener in an oral presentation should
A. tell the audience what to do.
B. explain why you are qualified to speak on this topic.
C. summarize the three to five points you will make in the presentation.
D. interest the audience and establish a rapport with them.