Chapter 6 Completing Business Messages 1) Regarding the three-step writing process, all of the following except ________ are important elements of the completing step. A) proofreading the message B) revising the message C) forecasting the message D) producing the message Answer: C Explanation: C) The third step in the three-step writing process (completing messages) includes the important tasks of revising, producing, proofreading, and distributing the message. 2) When you begin the ________, focus your attention on content, organization, style, and tone. A) production process B) editing process C) revision process D) research process Answer: C Explanation: C) When you begin the revision process, focus your attention on content, organization, style, and tone. 3) In business communication, the ________ of a message usually have the greatest impact on the readers. A) body paragraphs B) bulleted and numbered lists C) topics and subtopics D) beginning and ending sections Answer: D Explanation: D) The beginning and end of a message usually have the greatest impact on readers, so make sure they're clear, concise, and compelling. 4) When you need to revise a long, complex document, A) start the process as soon as you've finished your first draft. B) start by focusing on misspelled words and grammar errors. C) save time by multitasking while you're revising the document. D) try to put your draft aside for a couple of days before you start. Answer: D Explanation: D) With complex messages, put your draft aside for a day or two before you begin the revision process; that way, you can approach the material with a fresh perspective. 5) When reviewing your document for content, you should be concerned with A) grammar and usage. B) punctuation and spelling. C) the accuracy and relevance of the information. D) style and tone. Answer: C Explanation: C) Content involves the accuracy, relevance, and effectiveness of the information you have provided. It does not involve stylistic elements such as tone, or technical elements such as grammar, punctuation, or spelling. 6) When evaluating the work of others, you should A) make sure you understand the writer's intent before you begin suggesting or making changes. B) talk with the writer about his or her intent only after you suggest changes, since this is a good way to test the effectiveness of the document. C) avoid talking with the writer about the document, since other readers may not have that opportunity. D) compare the other person's writing style with your own, and if yours is better, rewrite the document in your own style. Answer: A Explanation: A) When evaluating the work of others, your first responsibility is to determine what they are trying to communicate to their audience. Once you have a clear idea of the author's purpose and point of view, you can move on to suggesting or making critical changes. 7) For general business messages, gear your writing toward readers at the A) first-grade to fourth-grade level. B) fifth-grade to sixth-grade level. C) eighth-grade to eleventh-grade level. D) twelfth-grade to fourteenth-grade level. Answer: C Explanation: C) Most business documents score in the 8-11 range on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level readability scale. 8) Because readability indexes are able to measure ________, they offer a useful reference point for improving your writing. A) document design B) sentence length C) tone of voice D) proper word usage Answer: B Explanation: B) Readability indexes offer a useful point of reference by measuring word length and number of syllables, as well as sentence and paragraph length. 9) Using short paragraphs will help you improve the readability of your business messages because A) they will make your writing look inviting. B) they can help you emphasize your ideas. C) they are easier to read than long paragraphs. D) all of the above. Answer: D Explanation: D) Short paragraphs are easier to read than long ones; they also make your writing look inviting and help you emphasize your ideas. 10) Business writers use bulleted and numbered lists to accomplish all of the following except A) simplifying complex subjects. B) helping readers locate key points. C) enhancing the visual impact of their ideas. D) adding decorative elements to their messages. Answer: D Explanation: D) Lists are effective tools for highlighting and simplifying material. 11) When you're writing a business message, use headings and subheadings to A) reveal how your document is organized. B) capture the attention of your readers. C) indicate shifts from one idea to the next. D) all of the above. Answer: D Explanation: D) Use headings and subheadings to show how your document's organized, draw readers' attention to key points, and show connections between ideas. 12) Which of the following is not a technique for helping readers who skim your document? A) Using lists and bullets instead of narrative B) Keeping all sentences the same length C) Including headings and subheadings D) Using shorter paragraphs Answer: B Explanation: B) Short simple sentences, short paragraphs, headings, and bullets all qualify as aids to skimming. Sentences that are all the same length make text more difficult, not easier to skim. 13) Skilled business writers A) use long sentences to emphasize important information. B) keep their sentences to an average length of 40 words or fewer. C) vary the length of their sentences. D) do all of the above. Answer: C Explanation: C) Varying sentence length makes writing more lively and unpredictable, keeping readers interested and on their toes. That is why good writers mix in short, long, and medium-sized sentences. 14) When it comes to paragraph length, A) use long paragraphs with detailed information for direct-mail letters. B) use long paragraphs if you want your document to look more inviting. C) keep all paragraphs to fewer than 60 words. D) use one-sentence paragraphs only occasionally, for emphasis. Answer: D Explanation: D) When you want to emphasize an idea, expressing it in a one-sentence paragraph can be especially effective. One-sentence paragraphs should be used sparingly to make sure that they retain maximum impact when they do appear. 15) When creating a list for a business document, A) always use bullets, rather than numbers or letters. B) keep in mind that the items need not be parallel. C) be sure to introduce it clearly. D) any text in the list should be typed in all caps. Answer: C Explanation: C) Lists are effective in a variety of different formats, including bullets, numbered items, or lettered items. Failing to introduce a list properly can detract from the list's effectiveness. 16) Informative headings and subheadings A) simply identify topics covered in the document. B) guide readers to think a certain way about the topics covered. C) are easier to write than descriptive headings. D) are less helpful to readers than descriptive headings. Answer: B Explanation: B) A heading is a brief title that tells readers about the content of the section that follows. Informative headings guide readers to think in a certain way about the topic. 17) Do all of the following except ________ when you're editing a document for conciseness. A) eliminate redundancies B) shorten long words and phrases C) delete unnecessary words and phrases D) convert sentences to "it is" or "there are" structures Answer: D Explanation: D) Editing for conciseness involves deleting unnecessary words and phrases, shortening long words and phrases, eliminating redundancies, and rewriting sentences that start with "it is" or "there are." 18) Which of the following is an example of a hedging sentence? A) The employee's performance appears to be less than satisfactory. B) The deadline is next Tuesday. C) The financial statement needs to have two sections. D) None of the above are hedging. Answer: A Explanation: A) A hedging sentence is an overly legalistic sentence style that seeks to qualify definitive conclusions by making them conditional or subject to circumstance. Hedging sentences convey uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the information you are presenting to your audience. 19) What is wrong with the following sentence? "To waste time and missing deadlines are bad habits." A) Similar ideas are not parallel. B) It contains a dangling modifier. C) It contains a split infinitive. D) Nothing—it is grammatically correct as written. Answer: A Explanation: A) Parallel items work only if they are of the same phrase type. "To waste time" is an infinitive phrase, while "missing deadlines" is a gerund phrase. As two different phrase types, these phrases should not be placed in a parallel construction. 20) What is wrong with the following sentence? "Having stalled for two days, the assignment was now late." A) It lacks parallelism. B) It contains a dangling modifier. C) It contains an awkward pointer. D) Nothing—it is grammatically correct as written. Answer: B Explanation: B) Only a person can stall for two days, not an assignment, so the modifying phrase, "Having stalled for two days," does not modify the subject of the sentence, "the assignment." Therefore this sentence contains a dangling modifier. 21) "Environmental impact consultant study results" is an example of A) redundancy. B) a dangling modifier. C) a dependent clause. D) a long noun sequence. Answer: D Explanation: D) Sequences in which one noun after another are strung together constitute a long noun sequence. Long noun sequences can be difficult and confusing to read. 22) Which of the following sentences contains a camouflaged verb? A) Some do; others don't. B) She is a marketing manager but also serves as ad manager. C) The recommendation of the committee is to proceed as planned. D) He slowly, deliberately added the numbers. Answer: C Explanation: C) The sentence could be better written by uncovering the camouflaged verb: "The committee recommends to proceed as planned." 23) "The above-mentioned book" is an example of A) a redundancy. B) a strung-out sentence. C) an indefinite pronoun starter. D) an awkward reference. Answer: D Explanation: D) Rather than use such confusing and antiquated constructions as "the above-mentioned book," refer directly to the book by name or description. For example, when referring to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone you might say: "the first book in the Harry Potter series." 24) Which of the following sentences is the most concisely worded? A) The project manager is in charge of furnishing specifications until such time as the project gets underway. B) All specifications should be provided by the project manager prior to the start of a project. C) Project managers have the capability of changing specifications before the official start date. D) The project manager must give the engineers the revised specifications before the project starts. Answer: D Explanation: D) Choice (D) avoids cluttering phrases and provides the information in the simplest and most understandable form. 25) "Visible to the eye" is an example of A) a cliché. B) redundancy. C) the passive voice. D) obsolete language. Answer: B Explanation: B) If something is visible it can be seen with the eye. Therefore, the phrase "visible to the eye" is redundant because it is unnecessarily repeating the same idea twice. 26) Starting a sentence with "It is" or "There are" is A) usually a sign that the sentence could be shorter and more active. B) perfectly acceptable, and you need not try to rewrite the sentence. C) a sign that you are using active voice. D) a sign that you are using passive voice. Answer: A Explanation: A) Rather than use the passive, "It is believed that…" to begin a sentence, switch to a more active voice: "We believe that…" The result is a sentence that is more lively and has more impact on the reader. 27) The "replace all" feature in word-processing programs A) tracks down words or phrases and automatically changes them all. B) can save you time when revising messages. C) must be used with care, since it can make undesirable changes. D) is characterized by all of the above. Answer: D Explanation: D) Note that items must be precisely spelled for the "replace all" function to work. If you misspell a word by even one letter, the "replace all" function will not be able to find the word. Also, when using the "replace all" function beware of inadvertently changing words that you don't intend to change. For example, if you change all instances of "mom" with "dad" you will end up changing words such as thermometer and momentary as well as "mom." 28) A spell checker A) cannot automatically correct misspelled words as you type. B) highlights words it doesn't recognize. C) suggests synonyms. D) has eliminated the need for proofreading. Answer: B Explanation: B) Most spell checkers leave the choice up to you. The spell checker finds words that appear to be misspelled. It is up to you whether or not these words are actually misspelled and how to correct them. The spell checker does give you plenty of options to use to make your choice, and will make automatic corrections if that option is chosen. 29) A computer thesaurus A) catches punctuation as well as grammar errors. B) highlights phrases in passive voice. C) suggests correct spelling. D) can help you find just the right word for a given situation. Answer: D Explanation: D) A computer thesaurus provides synonyms for the specific word you have chosen. In addition, some computer thesauruses allow you to link from one synonym to another. For example, synonyms for "light" may link to "bright" and "bright" may link to "sparkling" or "smart." 30) You can count on grammar checking software to ________ when you're using technology to revise a message you've written. A) assess the readability of your message B) show proposed changes and a history of revisions C) determine whether you've stated your message clearly and completely D) highlight potential concerns, such as long sentences and passive voice Answer: D Explanation: D) Grammar checkers can highlight items you should consider changing, such as passive voice, long sentences, and commonly misused words. 31) Which of the following design elements would be the easiest to measure objectively? A) Paying attention to the details of design B) Balancing the various elements on a page C) Exercising restraint when applying design elements D) Using margins, typeface, type size, and spacing consistently Answer: D Explanation: D) Evaluations of the level of balance, restraint, and detail in document design are likely to involve judgment and opinion. However, the consistent use of margins, typeface, type size, and spacing can be measured objectively. 32) The ________ of a message involves the total effect of elements such as page or screen design, typography, and graphics. A) resonance B) semantic structure C) production quality D) information value Answer: C Explanation: C) The production quality of a message (the total effect of page or screen design, typography, graphics, etc.) plays an important role in the effectiveness of a message. 33) The term type style refers to A) the space around text and between text columns. B) any modification that lends contrast or emphasis to type. C) a combination of text, graphics, photographs, audio, video, and interactivity. D) the letters, numbers, and other text characters in a message. Answer: B Explanation: B) Type style refers to any modification that lends contrast or emphasis to type, including boldface, italics, underlining, and color. 34) For effective document design, you should A) fit as much material as possible on each page. B) use a mix of several typefaces and type sizes and include a variety of decorative touches to make the pages look more interesting. C) balance the space devoted to text, artwork, and white space. D) do all of the above. Answer: C Explanation: C) Balance is key to an effective design. Simplicity as opposed to clutter is the best policy for balance, but documents that are overly simple can come off as wasted space. 35) Using white space in a document A) is considered "cheating." B) is only an option when you can't use color. C) makes your document look unappealing. D) provides contrast. Answer: D Explanation: D) Keep in mind that white space is not wasted space. White space serves the function of contrasting with areas in your document that are filled with text or graphics. The correct amount of white space is important for giving your page a balanced look that is pleasing to the eye. 36) Justified type is type that is A) set flush or "lined up" on the right and left. B) centered. C) set flush left and ragged on the right. D) set flush right and ragged on the left. Answer: A Explanation: A) The choice between justified type and ragged type is largely a matter of personal preference. Unless you are publishing a newspaper, there is no reason to insist on justified text that is set flush on both the right and left margins. 37) Centered margins A) make the document easier to read. B) create a cleaner look because of increased white space along the right margin. C) are best for headings and tables. D) help get audience members' attention, even before they start to read. Answer: C Explanation: C) Text that is centered and ragged on both the right and the left is generally suitable only for headings, subheadings, and tables. 38) Which type sizes are best for a business document? A) 10 point text and 10 point headings B) 12 point text and 16 point headings C) 12 point text and 24 point headings D) 18 point text and 36 point headings Answer: B Explanation: B) A typeface that uses 12 point text and 16 point headings is a fairly standard choice for a business document. Text typically uses 10 or 12 point type, and headings are larger, up to 18 points. 39) Serif typefaces are generally preferable to sans serif fonts for A) display treatments. B) headings and captions. C) regular paragraph text. D) none of the above. Answer: C Explanation: C) Serif typefaces are generally thought to be more readable for text than sans serif typefaces. For headings, sans serif texts are generally preferred. 40) When selecting typefaces for most business documents, you should A) generally avoid using more than two typefaces on a page. B) make generous use of such styles as all caps, underlines, and boldface. C) choose a nice sans serif face for your main body text. D) use a large type size (at least 14 points) for your basic text if you need to fill up space. Answer: A Explanation: A) Multiple typefaces end up making the page look confusing and distract the reader from the main task, which is reading and comprehending the text. 41) Multimedia documents A) are generally too expensive to produce to be useful in business. B) require highly technical training in order to create. C) convey information more slowly than traditional documents. D) can allow recipients to personalize the communication process to their own needs. Answer: D Explanation: D) Multimedia documents combine text, graphics, photos, audio, video, and hyperlinks to allow the receiver to enhance his or her experience with choices and interactivity. For example, a receiver may choose to stick primarily to the text; conversely, the reader may click on various links and features and spend more time watching video and referring to hyperlinks than he or she does in reading the main text. 42) When you're proofreading a workplace document, treat the process as a A) survey of convenience, security, and privacy issues. B) casual scan up and down the page or the screen. C) methodical procedure in which you look for specific problems that may occur. D) review of the content, organization, style, and tone of the document. Answer: C Explanation: C) A methodical approach to proofreading will help you find the problems that need to be fixed. 43) Which of the following techniques can help you proofread more effectively? A) Read each page backward, from the bottom to the top. B) Proofread the document as soon as you complete the draft. C) To ensure consistency, proofread long documents from beginning to end without stopping. D) Always proofread using your monitor (rather than printing out a hard copy of the document). Answer: A Explanation: A) Reading the page backward prevents your eye from looking at what it is "supposed" to see and instead finding irregularities in what it does see. 44) If you're sending extremely large files, you should A) use overnight delivery to send a hard copy rather than sending them electronically. B) consider using a file compression utility, as long as your recipients have the ability to expand the file. C) always send them as MS Word attachments. D) send them through the mail to avoid excessive costs. Answer: B Explanation: B) File compression programs shrink files for easy transmission via email. Once received, the file can be reconstituted using the same program (or similar program) in its expansion mode. 45) When you're determining the best way to distribute a business message, consider A) cost of distributing the message. B) convenience for you and your audience. C) security and privacy concerns. D) all of the above. Answer: D Explanation: D) When choosing a means to distribute messages, consider cost, convenience, time, and security and privacy. 46) After you have completed the first draft of your business message, the next step is to make a final, quick pass through it to check for typos and spelling errors. Answer: False Explanation: Before proofreading, you first need to evaluate and revise your text to make sure it expresses your message effectively. Once the editing and revision process is complete you need to go through a production process. After the production process, you can go through a final proofreading stage. 47) With practice, most writers can create first drafts that do not need to be revised. Answer: False Explanation: Even the most seasoned professionals almost never create a first draft that needs no revision. You should expect to revise any document you create. For an important document, you may need to go through several revisions. 48) The best approach to completing your business message is to focus on the details first before addressing the document as a whole. Answer: False Explanation: In a first draft your priority should be to get your basic thoughts and big ideas expressed. Once the big ideas are written, you can spend more time and effort on nailing down the details. 49) With more complex messages, it is a good idea to set aside a first draft for a day or two before beginning the revision process. Answer: True Explanation: The act of waiting for a day or two allows you as a writer to "get away" from your text and see it through more objective eyes. This extra objectivity can do wonders for making revisions and corrections in your work. 50) At the beginning of the revision process, you should evaluate the content of your message, then review the effectiveness of its organization. Answer: True Explanation: As you begin the revision process, read the text as you would something written by someone else. Look to see if the text is interesting, accurate, meaningful, and relevant. Evaluate how well the text achieved your goals and will accommodate the needs of your audience. Only after these tasks are complete can you begin to address the organization of the document. 51) The items in a bulleted or numbered list should be parallel; that is, they should all use the same grammatical pattern. Answer: True Explanation: Parallel forms are easier to read and skim. You can create parallelism by repeating the patterns in words, phrases, clauses, or entire sentences. 52) Although readability formulas are easy to apply, they ignore some factors that contribute to reading ease. Answer: True Explanation: Things such tone, smooth transitions, organization, "you" attitude, and document design cannot be measured by readability programs. 53) Skilled business writers keep all their sentences as short as possible. Answer: False Explanation: Skilled writers try to vary sentence length to maximize interest for readers and avoid monotony. 54) Although you should vary the length of paragraphs in your business messages, in general you should strive for short paragraphs. Answer: True Explanation: Readers find large paragraphs and long blocks of text intimidating, and frequently fail to read an entire paragraph if it seems too long. Since your goal is to be understood, try to keep paragraphs short. 55) An example of an informative heading would be "Redesigning to Cut Material Costs." Answer: True Explanation: This section head gives specific information about the content of the section. If you are interested in cutting material costs you are likely to read this section. If you are not particularly interested in cutting material costs you are likely to skip the section. 56) Readers can get a more out of a document just by reading its descriptive headings than by reading its informative headings. Answer: False Explanation: Informative headings provide much more information than descriptive headings. Informative headings, when well written, can function like an outline of the entire document. 57) One way to make your messages clearer is to break up overly long sentences into shorter sentences. Answer: True Explanation: Long, complicated sentences that are technically and grammatically correct can still sometimes interfere with comprehension—simply because they are harder to decode than short sentences. 58) "The qualification of the runner in the race took one hour" is an example of a sentence with a camouflaged verb. Answer: True Explanation: Camouflaged verbs are verbs that get changed into a noun by adding a suffix. In this sentence the verb "qualify" is turned into the noun "qualification." The sentence can be rewritten without a camouflaged verb as: "The runner qualified for the race in one hour." 59) The subject and predicate of a sentence should be kept as close together as possible. Answer: True Explanation: For clarity, keeping subject and predicate close to one another is best. Sentences that interject long phrases and clauses in between subject and predicate are hard to follow and understand. 60) To increase the sophistication of your message, make liberal use of references such as "the latter," "the former," "the aforementioned," and "as mentioned above." Answer: False Explanation: Terms such as "the latter," "the former," "the aforementioned," and "as mentioned above" fail to make a text sound more sophisticated. Instead these terms cause the text to seem stuffy, pretentious, and vague to the reader. 61) Words that do not affect the meaning of a sentence are usually unnecessary and contribute to sentence clutter. Answer: True Explanation: To make your writing more concise and more clear, eliminate any word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, or entire section that is not absolutely necessary for getting your point across. If an item does not help you communicate your main point, it should be deleted. 62) Short words are generally more vivid and easier to read than long words. Answer: True Explanation: When in doubt, replace long words with short words. Use long words only if they express your idea better than short words. For example, the words "tough" or "brave" are usually more effective than longer words such as "indomitable" or "unassailable." 63) "Three AM in the morning" is an example of a redundancy. Answer: True Explanation: By definition, "three AM" occurs in the early hours of the morning. So the phrase "three AM in the morning" is a redundancy. 64) Using a spell checker guarantees that your documents will be free of spelling errors. Answer: False Explanation: A spell checker can overlook many different kinds of errors. For example, the spell checker will not detect when you use the word their in place of the word there. 65) Today's powerful grammar checkers can easily determine whether your document states your message correctly and communicates it clearly. Answer: False Explanation: Grammar checkers are useful, but not foolproof. Primarily, they discover items that are questionable with respect to grammar or usage, and allow you to decide whether or not they are acceptable. 66) Because the first thing that readers will notice about your message is its appearance, you should pay special attention to design and page layout. Answer: True Explanation: Design is critical to catching the reader's eye and helping the reader to organize information. You should consider it to be a critical part of your overall message. 67) To make your message more interesting and accessible, you should use as many design elements and decorative touches as possible. Answer: False Explanation: Design elements should be used judiciously. A cluttered, or over-designed document is often worse than a document in which design was completely ignored. 68) One advantage of justified type is that it makes a message look more personalized and less like a form letter. Answer: False Explanation: Justified type generally does the opposite—it makes the message look impersonal and more like a form letter. 69) To draw attention to important points or terms italic type is more effective than boldface. Answer: False Explanation: Italic type is thought to create emphasis for a word or phrase, but not as much emphasis as boldface. Italic type is also standard for such things as book titles, foreign words, and an unconventional use of a word or phrase. 70) If you find graphics, photos, videos, and other elements online, you can use them in your own documents without worrying about copyright violations. Answer: False Explanation: Many images that you find on the Internet require legal permission to use in a published format. Before incorporating an image or graphic into your document, make sure that you have proper legal permission. Options such as Creative Commons feature multimedia elements that are often free of charge. 71) Using a ________ formula will give you a rough idea of how educated your audience must be to read and comprehend your message. Answer: readability Explanation: The Flesch-Kincaid readability program can quickly and accurately assess your document for readability. Keep in mind that readability programs cannot assess stylistic or artistic elements for their level of quality or sophistication. 72) An effective alternative to using conventional sentences is to set off important ideas in a(n) ________, which is a series of words, names, or other items. Answer: list Explanation: Lists summarize information in succinct, easy-to-grasp form. 73) ________ headings identify a topic but do little more; ________ headings guide readers to think in certain ways about a topic. Answer: Descriptive, informative Explanation: Descriptive headings identify a topic without giving much detail. Informative headings work like outlines to summarize the text, section by section. 74) A(n) ________ sentence uses words such as may and seems to avoid stating a judgment or fact directly. Answer: hedging Explanation: You should not hesitate to use hedging words when legally necessary. For example, in a criminal case, the writer must always refer to the suspects using terms such as "the alleged bank robbers" rather than "the bank robbers." When there is no legal reason, hedging words should be avoided and facts should be stated directly. 75) With ________ construction, two or more similar ideas are expressed with the same grammatical pattern. Answer: parallel Explanation: Here is an example of parallel construction: baking cake, cooking soup, washing dishes, and cleaning floors. Here is an example of non-parallel construction: bake cake, boiling soup, clean floors, scrubbing pots. 76) A modifier is said to be ________ when it has no real connection to the subject of the sentence. Answer: dangling Explanation: An example of a sentence with a dangling modifier is: "Looking west, the birds were singing." The birds, the subject of the sentence, were not the ones looking west. Therefore the modifying phrase, "Looking west" does not modify the subject of the sentence so the modifier is said to be "dangling." 77) ________ verbs are those that have been changed into nouns or adjectives. Answer: Camouflaged Explanation: An example of an ordinary verb form is clarify. When camouflaged, the verb becomes a noun, clarification. 78) Word combinations that are needlessly repetitive are called ________. Answer: redundancies Explanation: The phrase "combine together" is a redundancy because anything that gets combined is automatically put together. 79) A(n) ________ compares your document with an electronic dictionary, highlights unrecognized words, and suggests correct spelling. Answer: spell checker Explanation: Spell checkers do not guarantee spelling accuracy. They simply identify words that are likely to be misspelled and let you determine whether or not they are correct. 80) An electronic ________ gives you alternative words and helps you find synonyms. Answer: thesaurus Explanation: A thesaurus program finds synonyms for selected words. Some thesaurus programs allow you to link from one synonym to another. 81) ________ provides visual contrast for your readers and gives them a resting point. Answer: White space Explanation: White space shouldn't be thought of as empty or wasted space. In design, white space is considered an important part of the composition of your page. If your page doesn't have the proper balance of white space to non-white space, it isn't likely to be visually effective. 82) Typeface or ________ refers to the physical design of letters, numbers, and other text characters. Answer: font Explanation: Technically, the font is a set of characters within a typeface, such as the capital letters. Practically speaking, when people use the term font they are referring to the typeface of document. 83) ________ typefaces have small crosslines at the ends of each letter stroke and are best for text. Answer: Serif Explanation: Popular serif typefaces, such as Times Roman and Palatino are standard for the text of a business document. The serifs on the letters allow for easier identification of words and easier reading. 84) A(n) ________ document can contain any combination of text, graphics, photographs, audio, animation, video, and interactivity. Answer: multimedia Explanation: A typical multimedia document is based in text, but has graphics and photographs mixed in like a magazine page. At various locations, clickable URLs can refer the reader to a website, video, audio, or animation of interest. 85) Every document requires ________ to ensure that it contains no errors in grammar, usage, and punctuation. Answer: proofreading Explanation: Proofreading is the final step in the preparation of a document for distribution. Hopefully, by the time you reach the proofreading process there won't be many errors left to correct, but the errors you do find can mean the difference between a successful or an unsuccessful document. 86) Briefly explain what the opening of a document should accomplish. Answer: The opening of any document should be relevant, interesting, and geared to the reader's probable reaction. For longer messages, the first few paragraphs should also establish the subject, purpose, and organization of the material. 87) Conclusions should accomplish what two tasks? Answer: Conclusions should (1) summarize the main idea and (2) leave the audience with a positive impression. 88) Briefly describe at least three advantages of using lists in business documents. Answer: Lists can show the sequence of your ideas, heighten their impact visually, and help readers find your key points. They also provide readers with clues, simplify complex subjects, highlight the main point, break up the page visually, ease the skimming process, and give readers a breather. 89) What three functions do effective headings serve in business documents? Explain each one. Answer: Headings contribute to the document's organization by showing the reader at a glance how the document is organized. They act as labels to group related paragraphs and organize material into short sections. Headings also control the reader's attention, making the text easier to read and helping the audience find the parts they need to read—or skip. Finally, headings help readers make connections between subordinate ideas and main ones. 90) Briefly explain the difference between descriptive headings and informative headings. Answer: Whereas descriptive headings do little more than identify a topic, informative headings guide readers to think in certain ways about the topic of your message. Well-written informative headings are self-contained, which means a reader can read just the headings and subheadings and understand them without reading the rest of the document. 91) Rewrite the following sentence to improve clarity and avoid the long noun sequence: "The financial estimates and accounting consulting firm will be closed next week." Answer: The consulting firm that provides financial estimates and accounting services will be closed next week. 92) Rewrite the following sentence to avoid camouflaged verbs: "The customer will ultimately make a determination about whether or not a purchase will occur." Answer: The customer will ultimately decide whether or not to purchase. 93) Briefly describe two strategies for clarifying sentence structure. Answer: Keep the subject and predicate of a sentence as close together as possible, and keep adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases as close as possible to the words they modify. 94) Rewrite the following sentence to eliminate the unnecessary phrases: "In view of the fact that the customer service department is closed, we do not have the capability of offering refunds until such a time as they reopen." Answer: We can offer refunds as soon as the customer service department opens. 95) Rewrite the following sentence to eliminate redundancies: "The engineers collaborated together in order to produce the uniquely original final outcomes of their research." Answer: The engineers collaborated to produce original research. 96) Explain at least three of the steps involved in editing documents for clarity. Answer: Editing for clarity involves breaking up overly long sentences and rewriting sentences that contain hedging (words such as may and seems). It also requires imposing parallelism, or using the same grammatical pattern to express two or more similar ideas. Correcting dangling modifiers is another necessary step, along with rewording long noun sequences. Improving the clarity of a document also involves eliminating camouflaged verbs, clarifying sentence structure and awkward sentences, and moderating your enthusiasm. 97) Explain why editing for conciseness is important, then list the four steps it involves. Answer: Editing business documents for conciseness is important because readers appreciate it and are more likely to read your documents if you have a reputation for efficient writing. Improving the conciseness of a message involves removing unnecessary words and phrases, shortening long words and phrases, and eliminating redundancies. It also requires shortening sentences that begin with indefinite pronouns such as it and there. 98) Describe at least three software tools that can help you revise and polish a document. Answer: Software tools such as revision marks and commenting keep track of proposed editing changes electronically and provide a history of a document's revisions. A spell checker compares your document with an electronic dictionary, highlights unrecognized words, and suggests correct spellings. A computer thesaurus gives you alternative words much more quickly than a printed thesaurus does. A grammar checker provides limited help with issues such as noun-verb agreement problems and items you should consider changing (such as passive voice, long sentences, or words that tend to be misused or overused). Finally, a style checker monitors your word choice and sentence structure and suggests alternatives that might produce more effective meaning. 99) Explain the importance and process of proofreading. Why does it matter and what should you look for? Answer: Proofreading is important because it is your last chance to make sure that your document is ready to carry your message—and your reputation—to the intended audience. When proofreading, you should check the document for errors from the writing, design, and layout stages, and mistakes that crept in during production. More specifically, you should be on the lookout for writing errors (such as typographical mistakes and misspelled words), missing elements (text sections and visual aids), and design and formatting errors (such as incorrect font selections and page numbers). 100) Describe four important issues to consider when distributing business messages. Answer: The first issue is cost. Although it won't be a concern for most messages, it may well be for lengthy reports or multimedia productions. It's vital to invest wisely depending on the importance of your message. Another issue is convenience: how much work is involved for you and your audience? The simplest distribution method is not always best, since what's convenient for you may come across as unprofessional to your audience. Time is also important to take into consideration: how soon does the message need to reach the audience? The distribution method you choose should reflect your audience's preferences and needs. Finally, security and privacy are key considerations. The convenience offered by IM and other technologies needs to be weighed against security and privacy concerns. To minimize potential risks associated with virus-prone email attachments, you can convert your documents to PDF files using Adobe Acrobat or an equivalent product. Test Bank for Business Communication Today Courtland L. Bovee, John V. Thill 9780132971294, 9780134562186, 9780135900239, 9780132539555
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