Workplace Writing Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Workplace Writing is a course designed to equip students with the essential written communication skills needed in professional environments. The course explores various forms of workplace documents, including emails, memos, reports, proposals, and instructions, focusing on clarity, coherence, and audience awareness. Students will learn best practices for organizing information, addressing specific workplace contexts, and adhering to professional standards of grammar, tone, and style. Through practical assignments and real-world case studies, participants will develop the ability to produce effective, purposeful writing that meets the diverse needs of employers and colleagues in a range of industries.
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) Usually, your audience is more aware of your nervousness than you are.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) An effective graphic for an oral presentation has five characteristics. One is that it presents a clear, well-supported claim. What are two other characteristics mentioned in the chapter?
Answer: The other four characteristics are that the graphic is easy to see, easy to read, simple, and correct.
Q3) According to Chapter 15, where on a presentation slide should you place the claim you are making?
A) in the headline area at the top
B) in the body of the slide
C) in a graphic in the middle of the slide
D) in the middle of the footer area
Answer: A
Q4) 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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Chapter 1: Introduction to Technical Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) Chapter 1 lists eight measures of excellence in technical documents. For example, an excellent technical document is honest. What are three other measures of excellence?
Answer: The other seven measures of excellence are clarity, accuracy, comprehensiveness, accessibility, conciseness, professional appearance, and correctness.
Q2) Companies hiring technical professionals such as engineers, scientists, and programmers focus primarily on the technical abilities of the candidates they consider for employment.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Which two things must you understand clearly in order to communicate successfully?
A) your audience and your purpose
B) your proposal and your audience
C) your documentation and the eight measures of excellence
D) your software and your hardware
Answer: A
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4
Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Obligations
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the principle of the moral minimum, it is permissible for companies to passively reinforce patterns of discrimination in product information if the audience to which the product is being sold practices that discrimination.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Chapter 2 describes the work-made-for-hire concept. If you sign a work-made-for-hire agreement to write an environmental-assessment report for XYZ Corporation, who owns that report?
Answer: XYZ Corporation owns it.
Q3) Chapter 2 states that plagiarism is an ethical issue, not a legal issue. Why isn't plagiarism a legal issue?
Answer: Plagiarism occurs when a person takes credit for someone else's work. This in itself is not against the law. If an act of plagiarism violates copyright law, then legal action is possible.
Q4) The standard of utility is concerned with what?
Answer: The standard of utility is concerned with the positive and negative effects that an action or a policy has, will have, or might have on others.
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Page 5
Chapter 3: Writing Collaboratively
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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.
Q2) A project manager is using a word processor to review an electronic file of a document written by a team member, and she does not understand the meaning of a term used in the document. What should the project manager do?
A) Use the comment feature to ask "Will the reader understand this term?"
B) Delete the term using the revision feature.
C) Check the change bar for an explanation.
D) Use the highlighting feature to call the writer's attention to the term.
Answer: A
Q3) Chapter 3 offers six suggestions for participating in a videoconference. Which of these is NOT a suggestion from the chapter?
A) Practice using the videoconferencing system.
B) Dress as you would for a face-to-face meeting.
C) Arrange for technical support for all participants.
D) Speak louder than usual.
Answer: D
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6
Chapter 4: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
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Sample Questions
Q1) The following passage would be appropriate for a document aimed at a multicultural audience:
Two companies found themselves in the financial equivalent of sudden-death overtime. The first to raise the necessary capital would be the one to survive.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Interviews are great for learning from your audience but not for learning about your audience.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why should you use an audience profile sheet for a writing project?
A) It prompts you to ask questions about your target audience.
B) It helps you remember what you've learned about your target audience.
C) It helps you realize when you need to learn more about your target audience.
D) All responses are correct.
Q4) for what primary purpose do private companies use social-media data?
Q5) Chapter 4 lists three specific reasons a writer should analyze his or her audience during the planning phase. One is so that the document appeals to the audience's interests and needs. What are the other two reasons?
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Chapter 5: Researching Your Subject
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following tactics does Chapter 5 recommend for gathering information to use in a document?
A) triangulating your research methods
B) triangulating your research materials
C) recording your source notes only on a digital device
D) cross-referencing your citations
Q2) Primary research is the set of sources that you consult while you are in the document-planning stage.
A)True
B)False
Q3) "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
Q4) Government publications are not usually listed in indexes or by abstract services.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is the difference between secondary research and primary research?
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Chapter 6: Writing for Your Readers
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Sample Questions
Q1) To test a title, you should ask whether readers will be able to paraphrase it in a clear, meaningful sentence.
A)True
B)False
Q2) 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 6, 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
Q3) Classification is an organizational pattern in which a unit is divided into its components.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The only proper way to create a sentence list is by using bullets.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is a euphemism?
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Chapter 7: Designing Print and Online Documents
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Sample Questions
Q1) Chunking is the practice of using visual patterns to distinguish types of information so that readers can decide what they want to read.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Helvetica Regular, Helvetica Light, Helvetica Italic, and Helvetica Bold all belong to what group?
A) a typeface
B) a type family
C) a type case
D) a type setting
Q3) In designing an overall document as opposed to individual pages, you need to consider paper size and grade, bindings, and accessing aids.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is the difference between a serif typeface and a sans-serif typeface?
Q5) margins serve four main purposes within a document. Identify two.
Q6) What is queuing?
Q7) What is chunking?
Q8) In typography, what is leading?
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Chapter 8: Creating Graphics
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Sample Questions
Q1) If a graphic is on the Internet, you may assume that you are free to republish it.
A)True
B)False
Q2) 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.
Q3) Chapter 8 identifies four stages in the process of creating graphics. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the chapter?
A) trademarking
B) planning
C) revising
D) producing
Q4) Chapter 8 suggests that you consider four factors when planning a graphic. One is audience. Name two other factors you should consider.
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11
Chapter 9: Writing Correspondence
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Sample Questions
Q1) One disadvantage of correspondence clichés is that they can be hard to understand.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is flaming?
Q3) If you are writing a letter using company stationery, which piece of information is most likely to be provided so that you do not have to type it?
A) the date
B) the inside address
C) the return address
D) the attention line
Q4) it is inappropriate to use headings in memos.
A)True
B)False
Q5) When it appears in a letter, memo, or email, what does the symbol c stand for?
A) confidential
B) contract
C) copy
D) correspondence
Q6) what is one reason to avoid using clichés in correspondence?
Page 12
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Chapter 10: Writing Job-Application Materials
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Sample Questions
Q1) At 23, Becky has just received her B.S. in horticulture from a state college. She has been interested in flowers and gardening since grade school. While in high school, she won several state-fair ribbons for her flowers, which she grew in her spare time while working part-time at a fast-food restaurant and going to school. She continued working at the restaurant while in college. What advice would you give Becky as she prepares her résumé for a full-time position as a horticulturist for the local county extension service?
A) Write a skills résumé.
B) Write a chronological résumé.
C) Write either style of résumé, but leave out the employment section.
D) Write either style of résumé, but add to the professional information section a detailed paragraph describing in professional terms her love of flowers.
Q2) If the information on your résumé comes to just over one page, you should eliminate or condense some material to make it fit onto one page.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why is it important to include keywords in your LinkedIn profile?
Q4) When should you use enclosure notation on a job-application letter?
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Chapter 11: Writing Proposals
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Sample Questions
Q1) which of these is NOT a subject of a goods and services proposal?
A) offering to provide 150 computers to a state agency
B) offering to install new landscaping around a government building
C) asking for resources to study how a new pesticide affects lettuce and cabbage crops
D) asking for a contract to provide cleaning and janitorial services to a government building for one year
Q2) proposals are usually written by a single writer.
A)True
B)False
Q3) both internal proposals and external proposals are arguments that an organization needs to do something.
A)True
B)False
Q4) 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
Q5) What is the difference between formative evaluations and summative evaluations?
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Chapter 12: Writing Informational Reports
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Sample Questions
Q1) what are the two organizational patterns frequently used in progress reports?
Q2) Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A) Progress reports are similar to, but not identical to, status reports.
B) Correctly written meeting minutes record everything that occurs at the meeting.
C) Field reports may conclude with suggestions for future action.
D) Incident reports are appropriate for describing accidents that occur in the workplace.
Q3) When you are recording meeting minutes and an argument arises, you should record both the argument and its outcome in order to ensure comprehensiveness.
A)True
B)False
Q4) what is the primary purpose of a field report?
Q5) It is appropriate to use a defensive tone in an informational report if something has not happened according to plan.
A)True
B)False
Q6) what is the primary purpose of a directive?
Q7) what does an incident report describe?
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Chapter 13: Writing Recommendation Reports
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a decision matrix, which factor demonstrates a criterion's importance?
Q2) The introduction to a recommendation report should never mention your recommendations; only the recommendations section should inform the reader of your recommendations.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to Chapter 13, which of the following is NOT an acceptable way to present your conclusions in a recommendation report?
A) Rank all of the options.
B) Refer the reader to an appendix.
C) Present a compound conclusion.
D) Classify the options as either acceptable or unacceptable.
Q4) According to Chapter 13, the conclusions section of a typical recommendation report provides a summary of the report.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If your report presents multiple recommendations, how should you consider presenting them?
Q6) Into what two categories can criteria be classified?
Page 16
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Chapter 14: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) 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.
Q3) Step-by-step instructions should be written in the imperative mood.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How long should an instructional video be?
Page 17
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