Business Writing
Solved Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Business Writing is designed to develop students' ability to communicate effectively in professional settings through clear, concise, and purposeful written communication. The course covers essential topics such as formatting business documents, crafting persuasive messages, composing emails, proposals, memos, and reports, and adapting tone and style for various audiences. Emphasis is placed on the practical application of writing skills to real-world scenarios, critical editing, and the ethical considerations of business communication. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the tools to produce professional-quality business documents that meet organizational goals and enhance workplace communication.
Recommended Textbook
Excellence in Business Communication 4th Canadian Edition by John V. Thill
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18 Chapters
1541 Verified Questions
1541 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Achieving Success Through Effective Business Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) React emotionally when you receive constructive feedback.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The term "corporate culture" refers to ______________________
A) the number of organizational levels within a corporation.
B) the extent to which corporations dominate a particular culture.
C) the mixture of values, traditions, and habits that give a company its atmosphere or personality.
D) a company's sponsorship of cultural events.
Answer: C
Q3) When people must choose between conflicting loyalties and weigh difficult trade-offs,they are facing an ethical lapse.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) A major barrier to effective communication is competing messages. A)True
B)False Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Communicating in Teams and Mastering
Listening and Nonverbal Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some group members have a(n)__________: private motives that affect the group's interaction.
Answer: hidden agenda
Q2) A manager might be comfortable using hugs to express support or congratulations,but his or her subordinates might interpret those hugs as either a show of dominance or sexual interest.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) A(n)__________ is a unit of two or more people who work together to achieve a goal.
Answer: team
Q4) When planning a meeting,the person holding the meeting prepares a(n)__________ of items to discuss.
Answer: agenda
Q5) List at least three general categories of nonverbal communication.
Answer: The general categories of nonverbal communication include (1)facial expressions, (2)gesture and posture, (3)vocal characteristics, (4)personal appearance, (5)touch,and (6)use of time and space.
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Chapter 3: Communicating Interculturally
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Sample Questions
Q1) Regardless of the country you're doing business in,a person suspected of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) In general,when writing to someone in another country,Canadian businesspeople should be a bit more formal than they would be otherwise.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) In international business correspondence,you should __________ your approach,style,and tone to meet their expectations. Answer: adapt/ modify,change
Q4) Knowing what your communication partners expect can help you adapt to their particular style.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Planning Business Messages
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is better to use the indirect approach if your audience will ___________
A) have a positive reaction.
B) be neutral about what you have to say.
C) be displeased by what you have to say.
D) be above you in the hierarchy.
Q2) Using the journalistic approach you can quickly tell whether a message fails to deliver.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The three general purposes of business messages are to inform,to persuade,or to __________ with the audience.
Q4) When you know your audience will be receptive to your message,use a direct approach.
A)True
B)False
Q5) You can minimize __________ by double-checking every piece of information you collect.
Q6) List at least four methods of gathering information to include in your message.
Q7) Briefly define media richness,and provide at least one example of a rich medium and a lean medium.
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Chapter 5: Writing Business Messages
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Sample Questions
Q1) A software feature called autocompletion completes the remainder of your message.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Your audience's belief in your competence and integrity is not important; it's the content of your message that counts.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The best approach to getting someone to buy a magazine subscription from your charity group would be to say ??______________
A) "Please buy a subscription; our group really needs the money."
B) "If you buy a subscription from me I'll make my quota."
C) "This magazine will keep you informed on issues that affect your daily life."
D) "Our group doesn't get any assistance from government agencies, so these magazine sales are our main source of funding."
Q4) Your company's interests and reputation take precedence over your personal communication style.How does this affect the way you communicate with your audience? What must you consider?
Q5) A(n)__________ is a cluster of sentences related to the same general topic.
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Chapter 6: Completing Business Messages
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ typefaces have small crosslines at the ends of each letter stroke.
Q2) "Visible to the eye" is an example of a redundancy.
A)True
B)False
Q3) To create a pleasing document design _____________
A) take readability formulas into account.
B) use as many decorative touches as possible to make the pages look more interesting.
C) balance the space devoted to text, artwork, and white space.
D) all of the above.
Q4) Describe what is meant by,"For effective design,pay attention to: consistency,balance,restraint,and detail."
Q5) Explain why editing for conciseness is important; then list the four steps it involves.
Q6) Using company document templates ensures a consistent look and feel for all print and online company documents)
A)True
B)False
Q7) Briefly describe at least three advantages of using lists in business documents.
Q8) Briefly explain what the opening of a document should accomplish.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Crafting Messages for Electronic Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) Email __________ refers to all the efforts companies are making to keep email clean and safe-from spam blocking and virus protection to content filtering.
Q2) One limitation of podcasts is that they can be played only on Apple iPods.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Define "flames" and explain how to avoid them in business.
Q4) Blogs have also become a popular medium for __________ support-enabling employees to answer questions and offer tips and advice.
Q5) Many businesses now use ___________ to keep project teams up to date,inform employees about general business matters,and replace email.
A) social networking software
B) bots
C) blogs
D) all of the above
Q6) Define "RSS" and briefly describe its function.
Q7) When creating a basic __________ for clients to download and listen to,a microphone,a sound card,and free recording software are all you need.
Q8) A video podcast is often called a __________ or __________.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Writing Routine and Positive Messages
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Sample Questions
Q1) Whenever you can assume that your audience will be interested in what you have to say or be willing to cooperate with you,use the direct approach.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Explain what you should do when replying to a claim when the customer is at fault.
Q3) In the past,news releases were ______________
A) typed on regular company letterhead.
B) written as blogs.
C) crafted in a way to provide information to reporters.
D) offered directly to the public.
Q4) When offering condolences,it is appropriate to mention your shock and dismay.
A)True
B)False
Q5) When making a request,you _____________
A) use the inductive plan.
B) assume the reader will comply with your request.
C) demand immediate action.
D) do all of the above.
Q6) Explain what you should include in an effective recommendation letter.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Writing Negative Messages
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Sample Questions
Q1) Briefly describe five guidelines to follow in writing effective conclusions to negative messages.
Q2) A message organized on the __________ plan starts with a clear statement of the bad news.
Q3) Rejecting credit requests,telling customers that shipments will be late,and rejecting job applicants are all types of __________ messages.
Q4) Words that should not appear in a bad-news letter include unfortunately,regret,and inconvenience,because they're negative and counterproductive.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Performance problems should place blame on the employee with an attack. A)True
B)False
Q6) It's best to end a bad-news message on a positive note.
A)True
B)False
Q7) An important goal of any __________ review is giving the employee a plan of action for improving his or her performance.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Writing Persuasive Messages
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain how to balance emotional appeals and logical appeals to persuade an audience.
Q2) Which of the following is not an example of demographic information?
A) Age
B) Occupation
C) Lifestyle
D) Income
Q3) When it comes to persuasive messages,the indirect approach _____________
A) is often preferable when using the "you" attitude.
B) is often preferable when trying to persuade higher-level managers.
C) is used only by top management.
D) does not require inclusion of justifications or explanations.
Q4) In preparing to write persuasive messages,what two types of information are vital to assess the needs of your audience?
Q5) Describe at least five strategies for establishing credibility when preparing persuasive messages.
Q6) The term AIDA refers to a computer program used to compose persuasive messages.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Describe several ways you can de-emphasize price in sales letters.
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Chapter 11: Planning Reports and Proposals
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Sample Questions
Q1) Using someone else's words or ideas without giving them proper credit is
Q2) In the 2 + 2 = 4 approach,the main points in your outline are ________________
A) quantitative in nature.
B) the main reasons behind your conclusions.
C) less important than your recommendations.
D) more important than your recommendations.
Q3) Describe several benefits and one potential drawback of organizing business reports using the direct approach.
Q4) Informational reports use a(n)__________ organization.
Q5) Intellectual property includes patents,copyrighted materials,trade secrets,and
A) blogs.
B) internet domain names.
C) company website code.
D) social media.
Q6) A(n)__________ is a logical interpretation of the facts and other information in your report.
Q7) What three pieces of advice would you give to a colleague who is organizing the company website?
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Chapter 12: Writing Reports and Proposals
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Sample Questions
Q1) If you want to illustrate a sequence of event from start to finish use a flow chart. A)True
B)False
Q2) Review each visual to ensure __________________
A) that your readers will enjoy it.
B) that it will fit into the length of your report.
C) that it doesn't distort the meaning of the information.
D) that it doesn't contain more than six colours.
Q3) If you want to present a large set of numerical values or detailed textual information,___________
A) use a table.
B) use a pie chart.
C) use a diagram.
D) put it all in the main body of the report.
Q4) Flowcharts are used to ______________
A) summarize large amounts of statistical data.
B) show the relative sizes of the parts of a whole.
C) show how something looks or operates.
D) illustrate processes and procedures.
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Chapter 13: Completing Reports and Proposals
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Sample Questions
Q1) With the advent of sophisticated computer tools for producing reports,more and more employees are turning over the production of their reports to a special department set up for that purpose.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Briefly explain the difference between an informative synopsis and a descriptive synopsis.
Q3) List at least three types of materials commonly included in appendixes.
Q4) The cover,title page,and table of contents are among the __________ parts of a formal report.
Q5) The __________ is a plain sheet of paper with only the title of the report on it.
Q6) Transmittal letters for unsolicited proposals should follow the form for ___________________
A) persuasive messages.
B) bad-news messages.
C) good-news messages.
D) routine messages.
Q7) Briefly explain the difference between a synopsis and an executive summary.
Q8) A(n)__________ is a fully developed "mini" version of the report itself.
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Chapter 14: Designing and Delivering Oral and Online Presentations
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Sample Questions
Q1) Printed __________ are an efficient way to offer your audience additional material without overloading your slides with information.
Q2) The average speaker talks at a rate of about ___________________
A) 50 words a minute.
B) 10 double-spaced pages an hour.
C) 2000 words an hour.
D) between 125 to 150 words per minute.
Q3) When selecting design elements for your visuals,contrasting colours
A) decrease readability.
B) increase readability.
C) can be confusing.
D) usually includes blue.
Q4) Generally speaking,what font sizes are best for the text in an electronic presentation?
Q5) ___________ control how one slide replaces another in an electronic slide show.
Q6) Organize short presentations the same way you would a letter or brief memo.
A)True
B)False
Q7) For a large audience and an important event,your tone will be __________. Page 16
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Page 17
Chapter 15: Building Careers and Writing Résumés
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Sample Questions
Q1) What potential risk do some experts associate with including a career objective on your résumé?
Q2) If you are still a student and have little work experience,your résumé should emphasize ___________
A) summer jobs you have held.
B) your educational background.
C) your hobbies and interests.
D) volunteer work you've done and service organizations in which you've been active.
Q3) To make your résumé scannable,you need to convert it to ASCII format.
A)True
B)False
Q4) When posting work that supports your website résumé,be sure you have permission to publish or link to material created for a previous employer.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the most preferred and least preferred ways organizations prefer to look for new employees and explain why one way is preferred more than the other.
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Chapter 16: Applying and Interviewing for Employment
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Sample Questions
Q1) You are more likely to be invited back for a second job interview if your __________ signals convince the interviewer that you are alert,assertive,confident,and responsible.
Q2) The opening paragraph of an unsolicited application letter needs to grab the reader's attention and interest.
A)True
B)False
Q3) You'll impress prospective employers with your application letter if you
A) use a gimmicky layout.
B) show that you know something about the organization.
C) use a personal, "chummy" tone.
D) do all of the above.
Q4) Even if you feel that you have little chance for the job,you should still send a thank-you message.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The opening of an application letter states one's reason for writing.
A)True
B)False
19
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Chapter 17: Format and Layout of Business Documents
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Sample Questions
Q1) The top of a memo usually includes headings for ______________
A) date, to, from, subject.
B) department, date, subject.
C) attention, to, from, date.
D) subject, to, date.
Q2) "Sept.10th,1999" is the correct way to type the date in a letter.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Canada Post scanning equipment can ______________
A) read both handwritten and typed addresses.
B) recognize both upper and lower case letters.
C) identify addresses in both official languages.
D) adhere to all of the above guidelines.
Q4) The inside address of a letter identifies the sender of the letter.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A memo has a complimentary close and a signature.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: Documentation of Report Sources
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the humanities system,bibliographic citations are given in either footnotes or endnotes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If you use the MLA style,your in-text citations include the author's last name and a page reference within parentheses.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The humanities system relies on superscript numbers to let readers know how to look for a footnote or endnote.
A)True
B)False
Q4) With Chicago's humanities style,you use ___________
A) the author-date system.
B) the author-page number system.
C) superscripts and footnotes or endnotes.
D) full citations within the text itself.
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