Business Communication A Problem Solving Approach Kathryn Rentz 1e - Test Bank

True    False

True    False

“The project uses state-of-the-art technologies.”

True    False

“We take pride in our work.”

True    False

True    False

True    False

“A sizeable portion of our revenue comes from one product.”

True    False

True    False

True    False

True    False

True    False

“Jesse made a good impression on everyone he came in contact with during the interview.”

True    False

True    False

“The customer’s question was insightful, and I had trouble answering it.”

True    False

“Believing home prices would fall, people were asked not to invest in real estate.”

True    False

“Jake is good at creating and delivering presentations.”

True    False

True    False

True    False

True    False

“Alice’s grades have to be high; _____, she will not get the scholarship.”

“Thom spent most of his working remotely and rarely spoke to his co-workers; _____, they did not immediately recognize his voice when he chimed in his opinion at the meeting.”

1. “We will take the proposed alterations under advisement.”
2. “The requirements of the company supersede the aspirations of a solitary operative.”

1. “Our newest model is top of the line.”
2. “This communication solution will really future proof your business.”

TRUE

As words that are familiar to some people may be unfamiliar to others, you will need to decide which ones your readers will understand and use them.

FALSE

Although you should use familiar words, it is still okay to use more difficult words if they fit your purpose best and if your readers will easily understand them.

“The project uses state-of-the-art technologies.”

TRUE

In this sentence, “state-of-the-art” is a cliché. Use clichés sparingly and only in communication with people who will understand and appreciate them.

“We take pride in our work.”

FALSE

The sentence “We take pride in our work” does not contain slang.

TRUE

The use of specialized language can signal to other specialists that you are qualified to communicate on their level.

TRUE

If there is any question about whether readers will understand what initials stand for, you should spell out the words and follow them with the initials.

“A sizeable portion of our revenue comes from one product.”

TRUE

“Sizeable” is a vague, abstract word.

FALSE

The word “compliment,” not “complement,” refers to words of praise. “Complement” refers to something that completes.

TRUE

Overuse of the verb “to be” and passive voice will weaken your sentences.

TRUE

When the verb that describes the action in a sentence takes the form of a noun, it is a camouflaged verb.

TRUE

A cluttering phrase is a phrase that can be replaced by shorter wording without affecting the meaning of the sentence in which it appears.

“Jesse made a good impression on everyone he came in contact with during the interview.”

TRUE

Yes, the given sentence contains surplus words. It can be written as “Jesse made a good impression on everyone he met during the interview.”

FALSE

Redundancies are repetitions of ideas through the use of different words that mean the same thing, and they are usually unnecessary.

“The customer’s question was insightful, and I had trouble answering it.”

FALSE

This sentence uses coordination, which means that both ideas in the sentence are given equal importance.

“Believing home prices would fall, people were asked not to invest in real estate.”

TRUE

The opening phrase in this sentence is a dangling modifier, because whatever it is supposed to modify (the person or group that believed home prices would fall) is left out of the sentence.

“Jake is good at creating and delivering presentations.”

FALSE

This example does not have faulty parallelism because the “and” connects two –ing expressions. By doing so, this sentence successfully uses parallelism.

FALSE

Paragraphs should have unity, which means each paragraph should focus on only one topic.

FALSE

Not every paragraph must have a topic sentence. Some paragraphs, for example, introduce ideas, continue the point of the preceding paragraph, or present an assortment of facts that lead to no conclusion.

FALSE

There are many types of transitional devices. Three of the major ones are repeating key words and ideas, using pronouns, and using transitional words.

Wording defined as “communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it” is known as plain language.

The sentence “We are buying new computers this week” uses widely familiar words. To communicate clearly, you must use words that your readers are familiar with. As words that are familiar to some people may be unfamiliar to others, you will need to decide which ones your readers will understand.

To write clearly, avoid stiff, difficult words that do not communicate precisely or quickly.

It is true that business clichéscan sometimes increase your credibility with other business people and make you sound like “one of them.” These expressions can also add color to your language and quickly convey an idea. However, as they tend to be associated with popular concepts, they can become dated as tastes change. They can also be a barrier to understanding in cross-cultural communication.

Clichéscatch on because they represent popular concepts, but with overuse, they begin to sound like a replacement for thinking. Plus, they run the risk of sounding out of date, and they can create problems in cross-cultural communication.

The sentence “They decided to schedule the meeting at an earlier date” does not contain slang or clichés. At any given time in any society, some slang words and clichés are in vogue. In the United States, for example, you might currently hear “for real” (or, “for real?”), “no worries,” and “all over it” (in control), while other such expressions—”no way,” “get out,” and “bodacious”—now sound dated. Business clichés come and go as well. “State of the art,” “cutting edge,” and “world class” have given way to “moving forward,” “thought leaders,” and “best practices.”

The sentence “It is advisable to invest in an annuity” uses technical words. “Annuity” has a clear meaning to someone in insurance. The use of specialized language can signal to other specialists that you are qualified to communicate on their level.

If there is a chance that your readers may be unfamiliar with initials or an acronym, you should spell out the words on the first use and follow them with the initials. It may also be necessary to define initials and acronyms for readers.

Concrete words stand for things that people can see, feel, taste, smell, or count. The word “book” fits these criteria.

The sentence “Whitney only sold 20 percent of her quota last quarter” uses concrete words. While abstract words are vague, concrete words stand for things the reader can see, feel, taste, smell, or count.

The sentence “A significant portion of the time, she is able to close the deal without a hitch” uses the most abstract wording of these options. Abstract words are vague, and it is difficult to visualize what these words stand for.

The sentence “Please meet me in the boardroom at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow” uses specific words. Closely related to concrete wording is being specific. Even if you are talking about something intangible, you can still make your wording as precise as possible.

Words may have many connotations, which are their social or emotional associations.

All of the words in “The management’s decision had a far-reaching effect” are used correctly.

The sentence “How much farther is the conference room from here?” uses the word “farther” correctly. The word “farther” is used to express geographic distance, whereas the word “further” is used to indicate “more, in addition.”

The sentence “He knew the names of all of his employees from heart” contains an incorrect expression. The correct phrasing is “He knew the names of all of his employees by heart.”

The sentence “He was reprimanded for speaking out of turn” uses the idiom “out of turn” correctly.

The sentence “She presented her proposal to the committee yesterday” is in active voice. It uses a “who + did what + to whom” structure.

When a verb is camouflaged, the verb describing the action in a sentence takes the form of a noun.

The sentence “The company had little choice but to make the merger with the competition” camouflages the verb “merge.” When a verb is camouflaged, the verb describing the action in a sentence takes the form of a noun.

Business audiences tend to prefer simple, efficient sentences over long, complex ones.

Cluttering phrases are phrases that can be replaced by shorter wordings without affecting the meaning of the sentences where they appear.

The sentence “The reason why Marcy missed the meeting was because she was sick” uses the cluttering phrase “the reason why.” This phrase could be deleted without altering the meaning of the sentence.

The sentence “Please fill out the forms and provide all relevant documents to speed up the application process” avoids the use of cluttering phrases. Cluttering phrases are phrases that can be replaced by shorter wording without altering the meaning of the sentences here they appear.

Surplus words add nothing to sentence meaning, and can often simply be eliminated.

The sentence “Every week, my boss requires us to attend weekly forecast meetings” contains unnecessary repetition. It could be rewritten as “My boss requires us to attend weekly forecast meetings” with no loss of meaning.

The sentence “Her lie about her former coworker was a false assertion” uses both the words “lie” and “false assertion” which illustrates the use of redundant words. Such repetitions are rarely needed in a sentence.

The sentence “I would like to learn more about your project” avoids the use of excess words.

A main clause expresses the central, or main, point of a sentence.

When you coordinate ideas, you emphasize that they are equal in importance by joining them with “and,” “but,” “or,” “so,” or “yet” (the coordinate conjunctions), or by setting them up as equals in a list.

In the sentence “Marcus is a hard worker, and he always turns in thoroughly researched projects,” each main idea is given equal emphasis by using the coordinate conjunction “and.”

The sentence “Although the company invested large amounts of money in research and development, it did not see an increase in quarterly profits” features a subordinate clause that beings with “Although.” When you subordinate an idea, you treat it as less important than the main idea by putting it into in a modifying clause or phrase.

Short sentences generally carry more emphasis than long ones.

The ideas in a sentence must have a reason for being together and clearly convey one overall point. If they don’t, you should separate them. If you believe they do go together, you should make clear how they’re related. Placing unrelated ideas in a sentence is the most obvious violation of unity.

A mixed construction results when a writer mixes two different types of sentences together.

The sentence “Because my boss refuses to negotiate with clients resulted in us losing the deal” illogically mixes two sentences into one.

Incomplete constructions are sentences that signal to the reader early in the sentence that they will contain a certain type of content, but then fail to fulfill the reader’s expectations.

The sentence “As far as budgeting, Vinny can be relied on to save the company money” is an incomplete construction. “As far as budgeting” is an incomplete phrase that could be fixed by changing it to “As far a budgeting goes.”

The sentence “Noticing Stan was still out to lunch, Nori was asked to answer the phones” has a dangling modifier. The opening phrase indicates that someone noticed Stan was out, but the rest of the sentence never specifies who that person is.

Readers expect the same kinds of content in a sentence to be worded in the same way. Faulty parallelism violates this logical expectation. Note that if you format your series as a bulleted list, you still need to keep the items parallel.

Paragraphs in business documents tend to be on the short side. In particular, concluding paragraphs are often just one or two sentences long.

Every paragraph should have unity, meaning that all parts of the paragraph should work to develop the same idea or point.

While not every paragraph in a business document must have a topic sentence, it is best to use them whenever possible.

Most paragraphs in business documents begin with a topic sentence.

Like well-made sentences, well-made paragraphs move the reader logically and smoothly from point to point. They clearly indicate how the different bits of information are related to each other in terms of logic and the writer’s apparent purpose.

Various techniques are needed to tie the information together in a paragraph. These techniques are known as transitional devices. The three major transitional devices are repetition of key words and ideas, use of pronouns, and the use of transitional words.

“Alice’s grades have to be high; _____, she will not get the scholarship.”

Transitional words bridge thoughts by indicating the nature of the connection between what has been said and what will be said next. In this example, the transitional word “otherwise” best fits the sentence.

“Thom spent most of his working remotely and rarely spoke to his co-workers; _____, they did not immediately recognize his voice when he chimed in his opinion at the meeting.”

Transitional words bridge thoughts by indicating the nature of the connection between what has been said and what will be said next. In this example, the transitional word “therefore” best fits the sentence.

1. “We will take the proposed alterations under advisement.”
2. “The requirements of the company supersede the aspirations of a solitary operative.”

Students’ answers will vary. One way of rewriting these sentences is as follows:

1. “We will consider the proposed changes.”
2. “The company’s needs are more important than one employee’s wishes.”

Answers will vary. An example response may mention using short, familiar words and avoiding clichés, slang, and stiff, more difficult words that do not communicate quickly or precisely.

1. “Our newest model is top of the line.”
2. “This communication solution will really future proof your business.”

Students’ answers will vary. One way of rewriting these sentences is as follows:

1. “Our newest model is of really high quality.”
2. “This communication solution will help you adapt as the market and your situation change.”

Answers should note that concrete words stand for things readers can see, feel, taste, smell, or count, while abstract words are vague. Examples of each word type will vary.

Answers should explain that a cluttering phrase is an often-used uneconomical wording that can be replaced by shorter wording without affecting the meaning of the sentence. Examples will vary, but may include the following:

“At the present time” can be changed to “now.”

“For the purpose of” can be changed to “for.”

“In very few cases” can be changed to “rarely.”

“In the meantime” can be changed to “meanwhile.”

A topic sentence expresses the main idea of a paragraph, and the remaining sentences build around and support it. In a sense, the topic sentence serves as a headline for the paragraph, and all the other sentences supply the story.

The following are the three major transitional devices that make paragraphs coherent:

1. Repetition of key words and ideas
2. Use of pronouns
3. Use of transitional words

Answers should note that a says/does chart is intended to help you be mindful of the purpose each paragraph in a document plays in advancing it’s overall communication strategy. They should further note that they are created by charting what each paragraph in a document is about and what role it plays there.