Technical Communication
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Technical Communication explores the principles and practices of effective communication in scientific, technical, and professional contexts. The course emphasizes writing and presenting complex information clearly and persuasively for diverse audiences, including reports, manuals, proposals, and presentations. Students develop skills in audience analysis, document design, research, and the ethical use of information technology, preparing them to convey technical ideas accurately and efficiently in professional environments.
Recommended Textbook
Practical Strategies for Technical Communication 2nd Edition by Mike Markel
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15 Chapters
600 Verified Questions
600 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is an advance organizer?
A) a note card listing some of the major points of your presentation, prepared in advance as a memory aid
B) a stress-relief exercise that you perform in the last few minutes before you begin to speak, to shake off some of the nervousness that you will probably experience
C) an assistant or colleague who helps prepare the room to ensure that your audiovisual aids are working, the lighting and room temperature are appropriate, and sufficient seating is available for the audience
D) a statement that tells the listener what you are about to say
Answer: D
Q2) What should you do if a belligerent audience member rejects your response during a question-and-answer session and insists on restating his or her point?
Answer: You should politely offer to discuss the matter further after the presentation has concluded.
Q3) In an oral presentation, what is an advance organizer?
Answer: An advance organizer is a statement that tells the listener what the speaker is about to discuss.
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Page 3
Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) For most employers, communication skills are less important than technical knowledge.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Generosity and honesty are characteristics of effective technical communicators.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Chapter 1 states that technical communicators use design to increase readability and make their documents more effective. Which of the following is an example of a design feature?
A) easy-to-understand vocabulary
B) typography
C) definitions of key terms
D) effective topic sentences
E) all of the above
Answer: B
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4
Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Obligations
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Sample Questions
Q1) what do court rulings in lawsuits about consumer products tend to reinforce?
A) Consumers must sometimes choose between safe products and effective products.
B) Consumers have a right to expect that companies will consider utility when creating products.
C) Consumers have access to a lot of information, so consumers must be expected to choose the safest, best products.
D) Companies know more about their products than consumers do, so companies have a responsibility to make products that are safe and effective.
Answer: D
Q2) Only professionals with management responsibilities have ethical responsibilities to the environment.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Plagiarism is a legal issue and not an ethical issue.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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5
Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively
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Sample Questions
Q1) Chapter 3 discusses five aspects of conducting meetings, a crucial component of collaboration. What are two of those aspects?
Answer: The five aspects discussed are listening effectively, setting the team's agenda, conducting efficient meetings, communicating diplomatically, and critiquing a team member's work.
Q2) Chapter 3 discusses three features of word-processing software that are particularly useful in collaboration. Name one feature.
Answer: The three features are the comment, revision, and highlighting features.
Q3) What are two technologies that can make the collaborative writing process more efficient?
Answer: Wikis and shared document workspaces make the collaborative writing process more efficient.
Q4) Chapter 3 discusses three forms that collaborative teams can use to help ensure that the team's efforts will be successful. List the forms.
Answer: Work schedule, team-member evaluation form, and style sheet
Q5) Is email a synchronous or an asynchronous medium of communication?
Answer: Email is an asynchronous medium of communication.
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Page 6
Chapter 4: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these is a cultural variable "on the surface"?
A) tolerance of uncertainty
B) distance between ranks
C) distance between business and private life
D) prevalence of religion
Q2) You are writing a report about new regulations that affect your company. Your primary audience of company executives is very busy and will read your report quickly, but the secondary and tertiary audiences are likely to read more slowly and carefully. Which of the following options is most appropriate for your situation?
A) Include detailed footnotes on each page.
B) To save time, omit the executive summary and put more details in the body of your report.
C) Follow the patterns of writing that were successful for you in college English and history classes.
D) Break your report into modules and put highly detailed information in an appendix.
Q3) As you complete assignments, why should you consider not only your instructor's expectations but also the audience and purpose specified in those assignments?
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Chapter 5: Researching Your Subject
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Sample Questions
Q1) You are interviewing the mayor of your city for a report on the prospects for high-tech manufacturing there. Which of the following questions will be most effective in an interview?
A) "Are tax incentives helping to retain expanding companies?"
B) "How well are tax incentives helping to retain expanding companies?"
C) "How long have you been the mayor?"
D) "Do companies complain about the tax system here?"
Q2) "How will China's rapid industrial development affect the global energy market over the next decade?" is more likely to be a workplace research question than an academic research question.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Primary research is the set of sources that you consult while you are in the document-planning stage.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is the difference between secondary research and primary research?
Q5) Chapter 5 advises researchers to look for information that is current. List two other characteristics of reliable information, according to the chapter.
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Chapter 6: Writing for Your Readers
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the phrase "Special Restricted Incoming Materials Storage Area" an example of?
Q2) Of the options listed below, which is the most effective way to organize a document describing the events that led to an Internet company's bankruptcy?
A) classification
B) comparison and contrast
C) problem-methods-solution
D) chronological
Q3) To create an effective title for your document, what should you focus on?
A) key words that describe the document's subject and purpose
B) key words that describe the attitudes of your audience
C) key words that you used in an Internet search during research
D) key words that establish coherent transitions
Q4) Classification is an organizational pattern in which a unit is divided into its components.
A)True
B)False
Q5) According to Chapter 6, what are the two types of paragraphs?
Q6) What is a euphemism?
9
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Chapter 7: Designing Print and Online Documents
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Sample Questions
Q1) In typography, what is leading?
Q2) What is the difference between a serif typeface and a sans-serif typeface?
Q3) Which document-design practice will most effectively convey the hierarchy within a document?
A) queuing
B) chunking
C) underlining
D) binding
Q4) What is the purpose of using "alt" tags in the design of an online document?
A) They tell the computer to increase the volume of an audio file to an alternate level.
B) They provide text to describe visual elements on the screen.
C) They provide an alternate path to the website's homepage.
D) They allow a person to move through a website with a keyboard rather than a mouse.
Q5) Chapter 7 discusses four basic principles for designing effective print and online documents. One is contrast. What are the other three basic design principles discussed in the chapter?
Q6) What is queuing?
Q7) What is the definition of white space?
Page 10
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Chapter 8: Creating Graphics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Besides using existing graphics, what is one other approach to producing graphics, according to Chapter 8?
Q2) If a graphic is on the Internet, you may assume that you are free to republish it.
A)True
B)False
Q3) graphics are important in technical communication because they can help writers communicate information that is difficult to communicate in words. What is another reason graphics are important?
Q4) Chapter 8 offers six principles for using color in graphics. One is "Don't overdo it." Which of the following principles is also mentioned in the chapter?
A) Use color to create patterns.
B) Use as many colors as possible.
C) Use dark colors to make objects look smaller.
D) All responses are correct.
Q5) Chapter 8 provides seven guidelines for creating effective infographics. One is "Don't go on forever." Name two other guidelines mentioned in the chapter.
Q6) Why is it important to either begin graph axes at zero or mark them clearly?
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Page 11
Chapter 9: Writing Correspondence
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Sample Questions
Q1) A salutation is a greeting at the beginning of a letter, traditionally consisting of "Dear," the reader's courtesy title and last name, and a colon.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In some cultures, a person is more likely to walk down the hall to deliver a brief message than to send an email, because doing so shows more respect.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is flaming?
Q4) which of the following is NOT a guideline for effective on-the-job microblogging?
A) Sound like a person.
B) Apologize when you make a mistake.
C) Regard your followers as a market for your company's products and services.
D) Learn the technology.
Q5) it is inappropriate to use headings in memos.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What does the notation cc stand for in a letter, memo, or email?
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Chapter 10: Writing Job-Application Materials
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these is most important to include in your résumé to avoid having it placed into the "no" pile?
A) a hashtag to link with a database
B) keywords from the requirements for a specific job
C) a QR code
D) names of specific courses you have completed
Q2) Which of the following statements best displays appropriate levels of both confidence and politeness?
A) "I hope you will have some time available to consider my qualifications for this position. Please contact me at (123) 555-5555 if you would be able to set up a time."
B) "I am eager to meet with you to discuss my qualifications for this position. Please contact me at (123) 555-5555 to set up a time."
C) "I am clearly a solid candidate for this position. Call me at (123) 555-5555 to get this thing going."
D) "I hope you will be able to consider me for this position. Please contact me at (123) 555-5555 if you would be able to meet with me. Thank you for your time."
Q3) what should you do after interviewing for a job?
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Page 13
Chapter 11: Writing Proposals
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Sample Questions
Q1) one way to demonstrate professionalism in a proposal is to discuss your work history.
A)True
B)False
Q2) what must you demonstrate to show that your organization can complete the work described in a proposal?
A) efficiency
B) qualifications and experience
C) program information
D) certification and authorization
Q3) Which of the following is NOT an example of a quality-control measure?
A) a formative evaluation conducted by members of the project team
B) a performance test conducted by a third party
C) a list of all the heavy equipment used in a construction project
D) an on-site evaluation conducted by the customer
Q4) What does IFB stand for?
Q5) The proposed program section of a proposal contains an itemization of the costs associated with the project you are proposing.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Writing Informational Reports
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Sample Questions
Q1) field reports "explain problems, methods, results, and conclusions, but they deemphasize methods and can include recommendations." What does it mean to deemphasize methods?
A) Spend less effort describing how you did the research and more effort on what you learned from it.
B) Write fewer words describing how you did the research and more words on what you learned from it.
C) Always make sure that your methods section is not the first section.
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q2) Whether you have good news or bad news to share, it is important to keep a professional, measured tone in an informational report.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What course of action should you take if you find that you will not be able to meet your original deadline for delivery of a report?
Q4) A status report is usually organized according to task.
A)True
B)False
Q5) what is the common goal of all informational reports?
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Chapter 13: Writing Recommendation Reports
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Chapter 13, the conclusions section of a typical recommendation report provides a summary of the report.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following recommendation statements is NOT effective?
A) NerveCenter software shows excellent potential in helping us increase our productivity.
B) We should buy NerveCenter software because other companies have successfully used it to address problems similar to ours.
C) We should buy NerveCenter software to address our productivity problem.
D) We should buy new software to fix our productivity problem.
Q3) What is the name for a table or spreadsheet used to systematically evaluate options according to specific criteria?
A) problem-solving model
B) recommendation generator
C) decision matrix
D) flowchart
Q4) In what order should definitions relevant to a report be presented in a glossary?
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Page 16
Chapter 14: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Several organizations have issued guidelines and standards for communicating information about safety. Which of the following is NOT one of these organizations?
A) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
B) American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
C) International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
D) Institute of Safety Ordinances (ISO)
Q2) A writer is creating an employee handbook for assembly-line workers and their supervisors. One particular extended definition is approximately a page long. Where should the writer place this definition if it will be of interest to only the supervisors?
A) in a marginal gloss
B) in a footnote
C) in an appendix
D) in the text
Q3) In what way is the definition "In a bankruptcy action, a nonsecured debt is a debt that is not secured" flawed?
Q4) What is the function of a conventions section?
Q5) What are the three types of descriptions discussed in Chapter 14?
Q6) How long should an instructional video be?
Page 17
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