Technical Communication
Mock Exam
Course Introduction
Technical Communication is designed to equip students with the essential skills needed to effectively convey complex information in professional and technical environments. The course emphasizes clear, concise, and organized writing, as well as oral and visual communication tailored to diverse audiences. Students will engage with various genres such as reports, proposals, manuals, presentations, and digital communications, while learning principles of audience analysis, document design, ethical considerations, and collaboration. Practical assignments and case studies prepare students to communicate technical information confidently in academic, business, and industrial settings.
Recommended Textbook
Technical Communication with 2016 MLA Update 11th Edition by Mike Markel
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
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Q1) Which of these is a document-related factor you must consider when communicating on the job?
A) the amount of time you have to complete the communication task
B) the level of formality required in the final product
C) the number of resources available to help you complete the communication task
D) All responses are correct.
Answer: D
Q2) Chapter 1 defines technical communication as a process encompassing which of the following?
A) documents and activities
B) documentation and analysis
C) process and analysis
D) diagramming and activities
Answer: A
Q3) Social-media posts such as tweets can be examples of technical documents.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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3
Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT a guideline for using social media ethically and legally, according to Chapter 2?
A) Keep your private social-media accounts separate from those at work.
B) Avoid revealing unauthorized news about your own company.
C) Work efficiently by repurposing pieces of content you wrote for other workplace documents.
D) Avoid false endorsements.
Answer: C
Q2) saying that a recently fired employee was "offered an alternative career opportunity" would be an example of which of the following?
A) exaggeration
B) euphemism
C) legalistic construction
D) none of the above
Answer: B
Q3) Fair-use guidelines apply to graphics just as they do to words.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Writing Technical Documents
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Q1) Which of these questions is NOT likely to help you revise your document?
A) Have I included all the elements my readers expect to see?
B) Have I left out anything in turning my outline into a draft?
C) Have I kept the project within the available budget?
D) Is the document persuasive?
Answer: C
Q2) You should choose the method of delivering your document after the document is complete.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Chapter 3 lists eight steps that are often involved in planning a document. One is generating ideas about your topic. What are two other steps listed in Chapter 3?
A) analyzing your purpose
B) proofreading
C) freewriting
D) devising a schedule and a budget
Answer: A, D
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Chapter 4: Writing Collaboratively
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Q1) All of the participants in a video conference must be in dedicated conference rooms with sophisticated cameras and microphones.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of these statements about working with someone from another culture is true?
A) A topic of discussion that is common in one culture might be considered highly personal in another culture.
B) People from other cultures are likely to find it easy to participate actively in group projects.
C) People from other cultures have a knack for delivering criticism to teammates.
D) People from other cultures are likely to find it easy to ask for help on a project.
Q3) When critiquing the work of a team member, save a big compliment for the last comment in order to end on a positive note.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Is email a synchronous or an asynchronous medium of communication?
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6
Chapter 5: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
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Q1) Chapter 5 discusses certain variables that lead to differences among cultures. Which of these statements about cultural variables is true?
A) Different organizations within the same culture can vary greatly.
B) Cultural variables line up in clear, predictable patterns.
C) Each variable represents a small number of attitudes.
D) An organization's cultural attitudes tend to be static over time.
Q2) Chapter 5 lists seven categories of cultural variables that lie "on the surface." Two of these categories of variables are political and economic. Name two more.
Q3) Which of the following mistakes did McDonald's make when it printed takeout bags decorated with flags from around the world?
A) The bags showed a pair of hands holding a flag in a way that customers in some cultures would interpret as an obscene gesture.
B) The bags showed a Saudi flag, which depicts holy scripture from the Koran. The Saudis were offended because these bags would be thrown out.
C) The writing on the bags was in English, which offended numerous nonnative speakers.
D) All responses are correct.
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Chapter 6: Researching Your Subject
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Q1) Primary research is the set of sources that you consult while you are in the document-planning stage.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What kind of information is found in a periodical index?
Q3) When obtaining information on products and services from websites, discussion boards, and blogs, it is important not to assume that vendors' claims are accurate.
A)True
B)False
Q4) in which phase of the writing process is it best to conduct research?
A) editing
B) revising C) proofreading
D) planning
Q5) What is the function of an RSS feed?
Q6) It is relatively easy to design field research to measure what you are interested in, but it is difficult to conduct field research.
A)True
B)False
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Organizing Your Information
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Q1) Your supervisor has asked you to write a brief description of an abandoned silver mine that is slated for hazardous-waste cleanup. Of the organizational patterns discussed in Chapter 7, which would be most logical and effective for describing the mine?
A) classification or partition
B) general to specific
C) problem-methods-solution
D) spatial
Q2) Which organizational pattern often occurs in a comparison-and-contrast discussion?
A) meter-by-meter
B) bit-by-bit
C) whole-by-whole
D) problem-methods-solution
Q3) It is always unethical to compare your company's product to a similar product by another company when trying to argue that your own company's product is superior.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A proposal routinely makes use of which organizational pattern?
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Chapter 8: Communicating Persuasively
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Q1) What type of argument is one made against the writer, rather than against the writer's argument?
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a category of constraints on your ability to be persuasive in a workplace document?
A) partitional
B) personnel
C) financial
D) political
Q3) A writer's company has just adopted a policy of tracking employee emails to determine which employee is leaking confidential information. Because the writer knows that this policy will be unpopular with company employees, which is the best strategy for announcing the policy to employees in a memorandum?
A) Present the reasoning behind the new policy and then state the policy.
B) State the policy and then provide the reasoning.
C) State only the new policy.
D) State the reasoning behind the new policy and then state the policy in a follow-up memorandum.
Q4) What type of argument poses only two alternatives when in fact there might be more?
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Chapter 9: Emphasizing Important Information
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Q1) An effective topic sentence will reflect which of the following?
A) the character of the writer
B) the title of the document
C) the coherence devices used in the document
D) the organizational structure of the document
Q2) using Styles to design your headings can help you enhance the coherence of your document.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a coherence device?
A) replacing nouns with demonstrative pronouns
B) removing transitional words
C) repeating key words
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q4) Therefore, furthermore, consequently, and next are all examples of what category of words?
Q5) turning paragraphs into lists has four advantages for the writer. One is that it forces you to look at the big picture. What are two other advantages listed in the chapter?
Q6) what are the two types of paragraphs?
11
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Chapter 10: Writing Correct and Effective Sentences
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Q1) The sentence "Employees who seek their supervisor's advice often can improve their performance" contains an example of which type of modifier?
Q2) Sentences are often easier to understand and more emphatic if new information appears in which position?
A) at the beginning of the sentence
B) in the middle of the sentence
C) after a semicolon
D) at the end of the sentence
Q3) "Refer to the person first, the disability second" is one of the guidelines for using the people-first approach to writing about people with disabilities. Which of the following are other guidelines discussed in the chapter?
A) Remember that handicap and disability are synonymous terms.
B) Refer to a person who uses a wheelchair as wheelchair bound or confined to a wheelchair.
C) Refer to people with disabilities as abnormal, as opposed to atypical.
D) All responses are correct.
E) None of the responses are correct.
Q4) What is Simplified English?
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Designing Print and Online Documents
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Q1) You are working on a brochure about your business. The type for the body text will be black and that for the section headings will be blue. What document-design principles are you implementing with these color choices?
A) proximity and alignment
B) alignment and repetition
C) contrast and alignment
D) contrast and repetition
Q2) Chapter 11 discusses four basic principles for designing effective documents and websites. One is contrast. What are the other three basic principles discussed in the chapter?
Q3) One of the main challenges of document design is using as few pages as possible while still making the document easy to read.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In typography, what is leading?
Q5) An idiom is a phrase identified by linguists as universally understandable. A)True B)False
Q6) What is queuing?
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Chapter 12: Creating Graphics
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Q1) one way to create graphics is to modify existing graphics.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Graphics typically increase the costs of translating documents intended for international readers.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is structured to emphasize the person or group with responsibility for certain tasks?
A) deployment flowchart
B) deployment organization chart
C) logic tree
D) diagram
Q4) Why might you include a common, familiar item in a photograph of an item being discussed?
A) to give readers a sense of scale
B) to eliminate background clutter
C) to prevent manipulation of the photograph
D) to save space in your document
Q5) Where is the stub located in a table?
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Chapter 13: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Web Sites
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Q1) One principle of usability testing is that it permeates product development. What does that mean?
A) Designers and managers know that if a product fails the usability test given right before product launch, they will not be paid.
B) Once a product is permanently on the market, you no longer need to test it.
C) Conduct testing on prototypes, then conduct evaluations on final drafts.
D) You conduct testing in all stages of a product's development, not only at the end.
Q2) During which phase of usability testing is it important to tabulate the information?
A) in the first phase, preparing
B) in the last phase, interpreting and reporting
C) in the middle phase, testing
D) after the final phase
Q3) Evaluation refers to having other people read your document or use your website and then communicate with you about its strengths and weaknesses.
A)True
B)False
Q4) what is a prototype?
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Chapter 14: Writing Correspondence
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Q1) The number following an enclosure notation at the bottom of a letter indicates the number of sheets of paper enclosed with the letter.
A)True
B)False
Q2) three elements are always found at the top of the second and subsequent pages of a memo. One is the page number. What are the other two?
A) the writer's contact information
B) the date of the memo
C) the attention line
D) the name of the recipient
Q3) Which of the following can be an unintended consequence of posting an informal social-media message?
A) trading multiple public insults after starting an online "flame war"
B) embarrassing the company
C) making a hasty, bold statement about your company that later turns out to be untrue
D) All responses are correct.
Q4) What does the notation "cc" stand for in a letter, memo, or email?
Q5) What is flaming?
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Chapter 15: Writing Job-Application Materials
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Q1) As you develop your professional brand online, you should include keywords that employers look for in your field.
A)True
B)False
Q2) doing a self-inventory is part of planning a job search.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In terms of how they are organized, what are the two major types of résumés discussed in the chapter?
Q4) What is most important to convey in the employment section of your résumé?
A) information about your successful accomplishments on the job
B) information about how to contact your previous managers
C) information about relevant courses you took during your academic career
D) information about the size of each company you have worked for
Q5) Why is it important to include keywords in your LinkedIn profile?
Q6) what should you do after interviewing for a job?
Q7) Chapter 15 lists four questions you should ask before posting an electronic résumé on an Internet job board. One question is "Who has access to your résumé?" What is one of the other questions?
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Writing Proposals
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Q1) Which of these is NOT a common deliverable for the end of a research project?
A) completion report
B) progress report
C) recommendation report
D) project report
Q2) Proposals have two kinds of deliverables. What are they?
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) Which of the following does the proposed program section of a proposal NOT customarily include?
A) an explanation of the work intended
B) references to appropriate research or scholarship
C) a justification of your claims
D) a budget
Q5) In the sample internal proposal presented at the end of Chapter 16, what are the authors proposing to do?
Page 18
Q6) What is the difference between formative evaluations and summative evaluations?
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Chapter 17: Writing Informational Reports
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Q1) What are the five basic formats for informational reports discussed in Chapter 17?
Q2) which of the following is NOT a typical informational report?
A) an incident report about the response of your company's security team to an unauthorized visitor on your property
B) a proposal to study why a piece of your company's machinery failed at a customer's site
C) a directive about where employees should park while a construction crew will be blocking some parking spaces
D) meeting minutes recording decisions reached during a committee meeting
Q3) A writer in the research division of Radworth Pharmaceutical, Inc. is preparing a monthly progress report on the development of a new drug. What is the best way to organize the body of the report?
A) by time
B) from most-important to least-important accomplishments
C) by task
D) based on the budget allocated for the project
Q4) what is the common goal of all informational reports?
Q5) what is the primary purpose of a field report?
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Chapter 18: Writing Recommendation Reports
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Q1) If your report presents multiple recommendations, how should you consider presenting them?
Q2) Which of the following questions would be answered in a feasibility report?
A) Which university has the most prestigious business school?
B) Which truck has more of the options we want, the Ford or the Chevrolet?
C) Is it ethical to pursue this course of action?
D) Is it practical to pursue this course of action?
Q3) In a decision matrix, which factor demonstrates a criterion's importance?
Q4) You are writing a recommendation report about how to improve the quality of your hotel's customer service. You believe that an online system called Star Service will make your hotel's customer service better. Employees log onto Star Service for 15 minutes every two weeks to watch videos and answer quiz questions. Where should you mention your recommendation to purchase access to Star Service?
A) in the executive summary
B) in an appendix
C) in the back matter
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q5) Into what two categories can criteria be classified?
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Chapter 19: Writing Lab Reports
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Q1) Why is it important to follow a standard pattern when writing a lab report?
A) The pattern is built into many available templates.
B) The pattern reserves acknowledgment for peer reviewers.
C) The pattern reflects the scientific method used by other scientists and engineers.
D) The pattern has major sections in alphabetical order.
Q2) In the context of a lab report, what does replicability mean?
Q3) Which of the procedures you performed should you mention in the "Materials and Methods" section of your report?
Q4) Which of the following is a characteristic of a descriptive abstract?
A) It contains a list of topics covered in the report.
B) It does not include the important results of the study.
C) It does not include the conclusions of the study.
D) All responses are correct.
Q5) which of these is NOT an element common to most lab reports?
A) task schedule
B) title
C) discussion
D) conclusion
Q6) Ideally, what will the title and abstract of a report help readers do?
Page 21
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Chapter 20: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
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Q1) Placing definitions directly in the text is a common practice. what are two other logical locations for definitions?
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) You are writing a manual for a deep fryer designed for home cooks. Which statement would be appropriately set off with Note as a signal word?
A) Corn balls will be very hot when removed from the oil.
B) The fry zone is very hot when the power is on. To avoid serious burns, do not touch the fry zone while it is heated.
C) The fry basket can hold 4-6 small doughnuts at a time.
D) Do not attempt to fix the deep fryer while it is connected to a power source.
Q4) In what way is the definition "Booting a computer is when you turn it on" flawed?
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Chapter 21: Making Oral Presentations
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Q1) Usually, your audience is more aware of your nervousness than you are.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In a question-and-answer session, what should you do if you are asked a question you do not understand?
Q3) Chapter 21 describes four types of oral presentations, including impromptu presentations. What are the other three?
A) contemporaneous presentations
B) extemporaneous presentations
C) scripted presentations
D) prescriptive presentations
E) memorized presentations
Q4) maintaining eye contact is one way to use your body effectively. What are other techniques are discussed in the chapter?
A) Use natural gestures.
B) Control the audience's attention.
C) Avoid blocking the audience's view of the screen.
D) All responses are correct.
E) None of the responses are correct.
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