Chapter 4 Achieving A Readable Style Exam Questions

Chapter 4: Achieving a Readable Style

Test Bank A

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 01

1) What does style refer to?

Page reference: “Achieving a Readable Style” (Chapter Title)

a. Your attention to an audience’s needs.

b. Your sense of fashion.

c. The clothes you wear to work.

*d. The way you express your ideas in a document, including how you write paragraphs, sentences, and the words and phrases you choose.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 02

2) What is a contributor to your readers’ disregarding your writing?

Page reference: “Achieving a Readable Style” (Chapter Title - Quick Tips)

a. It is not written in their language.

b. Poor or ineffective style.

c. When readers must keep rereading paragraphs and sentences that becomes distracting.

*d. Both b and c.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 03

3) What is one aspect of your reader you must consider in order to adjust your style to meet their needs?

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style”

a. The readers’ knowledge of the subject.

b. The readers’ expectations about the type of style that should be used.

c. The readers’ context of use.

*d. All of the above.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 04

4) What style problem exists in the following paragraph:

I began my Saturday by cooking a healthy breakfast. But first I got up, and got dressed, and walked the dog, and brushed my teeth. I made oatmeal and had blueberries. It was delicious. My dog liked the walk.

Page reference: “The Paragraph”

a. The sentences are not in a logical order.

b. The sentences are not consistently of the same length: some are long and some are short.

c. An average reader will not understand the adjective, “delicious,” and thus the writer must use a different term.

*d. Both a and b.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 05

5) What is a paragraph?

Page reference: “The Paragraph”

a. A group of words that are placed together to create meaning.

b. The punctuation you use in a sentence.

*c. A paragraph is a group of sentences that begins with a statement of the central idea, called the topic sentence, followed by supporting sentences in a logical order.

d. The distracting pop-ups that appear on the side of websites.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 06

6) Determining your readers’ knowledge level of the subject you are writing about helps you to select…

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style”

*a. The terminology and jargon you will use in the communication.

b. The type of paper you will print your communication on.

c. How you will deliver your communication.

d. The color font you will use.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 07

7) How can you achieve “squeaky clean prose?”

Page reference: “Squeaky Clean Prose”

a. Use words readers’ understand and are familiar with.

b. Write logical and concise paragraphs.

c. Use a variety of sentences of moderate length.

*d. All of the above.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 08

8) The company you work for produces many reports for clients. All reports are sent via a secure email as a PDF attachment, and the reports all have a cover letter introducing the purpose of the document and a title page with your company’s logo on it. You receive an email with a report. When you open it, the first page has the table of contents one it. You automatically know this report is not produced by your company. How do you know?

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style”

a. The report was in a PDF not a Word document like your company sends.

b. The table of contents was incorrect.

*c. The report does not appear to use the correct template used by your company, which includes a cover letter and title page.

d. The PDF report was not attached.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 09

9) One key to developing effective sentences is…

Page reference: “Keys to Building Effective Sentences”

a. Use passive voice so you do not seem too aggressive.

*b. Keep subjects and verbs close together.

c. Use a lot of adjectives.

d. Avoid using terms that your readers understand.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 10

10) One key to developing effective sentences is…

Page reference: “Keys to Building Effective Sentences”

a. Use passive voice so you do not seem too aggressive.

*b. Keep subjects and verbs close together.

c. Use a lot of adjectives.

d. Avoid using terms that your readers understand.

The rest of this test will be based on the following scenario: Elaine has always written papers. Now, as part of her first job, she has to plan documents. Her very first assignment is to design an in-house brochure on recycling. She realizes that the biggest difference between writing papers in school and planning documents in the workplace involves the audience. As part of her overall planning strategy she decides to write a brief online survey.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 11

11) Elaine’s first question is “Do you recycle at home?” She asks this question because it will answer one of the following questions:

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style”

*a. How familiar are her readers with the subject matter?

b. Will most of her readers be stationary of mobile?

c. What context of use will her readers be in?

d. What degree of recycling she should have readers aim for?

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 12

12) Elaine asks, “What source do you typically use the most to access information: Internet, Brochures, Letters in the mail?” Elaine asks this question because…

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style”

a. She wants to determine how long it will take here to write the document.

*b. She wants to determine what type of style or medium of communication her audience expects and will use the most.

c. She wants to determine what color paper to use.

d. The question was formulated to weed out inattentive or dishonest answers.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 13

13) Elaine asks, “Do you recycle Polyethylene Terephthalate plastics?” Why is this an ineffective, poorly written question?

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style”

*a. Elaine’s audience may not be familiar with the term, “Polyethylene Terephthalate,” which is the complex term for the most common form of recyclable plastic identified with a, “1,” on the bottom; thus, she her audience may not understand the term and not be able to answer correctly or honestly.

b. Elaine is using the exact scientific term.

c. Elaine is distracting her audience with pompous language.

d. It is written clearly; it isn’t a bad question.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 14

14) Elaine asks, “Do you recycle Polyethylene Terephthalate plastics?” Why is this an ineffective, poorly written question?

Page reference: “Word Choice”

*a. Elaine’s audience may not be familiar with the term, “Polyethylene Terephthalate,” which is the complex term for the most common form of recyclable plastic identified with a, “1,” on the bottom; thus, she her audience may not understand the term and not be able to answer correctly or honestly.

b. Elaine is using the exact scientific term.

c. Elaine is distracting her audience with pompous language.

d. It is written clearly; it isn’t a bad question.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 15

15) Elaine asks, “Do you recycle Polyethylene Terephthalate plastics?” What words could she use that her audience would be more familiar with and improve the clarity of the question? (Hint: Polyethylene Terephthalate is the most common form of recyclable plastic and indicated on plastics with a “1.”)

Page reference: “Basic Principles of Effective Style” and “Word Choice”

a. Do you recycle common plastics, like water and soda bottles?

b. Do you recycle plastic bottles, like water and soda bottles that have a number 1 on the bottom?

c. Do you recycle plastics that have a number 1 on the bottom?

*d. All of the above are more effective and clear than Elaine’s question.

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 01

1) Chapter 4 describes five key principles for writing effective sentences. Select two of these guidelines and compare and contrast the difference between good and bad writing.

Page reference: “Keys to Building Effective Sentences”: “Characteristics of Bad and Good Writing”

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 02

2) For each of the following words, provide a shorter, simpler word that would be more appropriate when writing for clarity.

utilize

anticipate

cooperate

indicate

prohibit

Page reference: “Word Choice”

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 03

3) For each of the following statements, revise them for clarity.

I will be using my phone to make a phone call to you on May 1st and if you have any questions, at that time, you can ask me.

The company that I am applying to just recently not long ago hired my friend so I think a I have a pretty good chance of getting hired because he might be able to put in a “good word for me.”

You know, it has been told that the company is trying to reduce waste so you must comply with the new rule that you have to recycle all your water bottles.

Page reference: “Word Choice”

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 01

1) Part of your role as a content writer for an engineering firm requires you to review and proofread co-workers’ communications prior to being published on your corporate website. A co-worker in the marketing department wrote a few paragraphs about a new device that was going to be released soon and asked you to review it prior to it being released to the public. He wrote:

We are excited to launch the new digital wireless sensor that knows your needs before you do. This sensor measures medical data and transfers it to your medical provider at another location via telecommunication technology. Although no human testing has been done as of yet, that we know of, we know this will be a huge step for the medical community in being able to bring healthcare to patients around the country. Also, it is suppose to be pretty easy to use, we believe, because it there are only three steps to take to hook it up to your body and send the medical data to your provider. Remember the date of June 21, that is the date it is coming out.

Re-write the paragraph for clarity and with attention to a target audience of an older demographic. Next, writer a brief response to your co-worker about the changes you made and why. You can include references from Chapter 4 to support your argument and defend your decisions.

Page reference: “The Paragraph,” “Basic Principles of Effective Style,” and, “Keys to Building Effective Sentences”

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 4 Question 02

2) Chapter 4 describes reasons to adjust style to the needs of your readers. Name these reasons and explain how they affect style. You may want to use a concrete example to help express why the four reasons are important considerations when planning a communication.

Page reference: “The Paragraph,” “Basic Principles of Effective Style,” and, “Keys to Building Effective Sentences”