Technical Writing Practice
Exam
Course Introduction
Technical Writing is a course designed to develop students' abilities to communicate complex information clearly and effectively to diverse audiences. Emphasizing clarity, precision, and structure, the course covers various forms of technical documents, such as manuals, reports, proposals, and instructions. Students learn the principles of audience analysis, document design, and the ethical responsibilities of technical communicators. Through hands-on assignments and collaborative projects, participants gain practical skills in researching, drafting, revising, and editing technical content, preparing them to meet the communication demands of professional and technical fields.
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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) Chapter 1 lists eight measures of excellence in technical communication. For example, excellent technical communication 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) Which statement best explains how the concept of company branding is related to technical communication?
A) Branding is concerned with making money, and employees are paid to help companies make money.
B) Branding is concerned with the image that a company presents to the world, and that image includes its documents.
C) Branding is largely concerned with color choices, so a document must contain the company's colors.
D) Branding is concerned with slogans, and you might have to write a slogan for your department.
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
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Q1) Which of these resources is likely to be available to employees of a company with a strong ethical culture?
A) a code of conduct or a code of ethics
B) a way to submit ethics concerns anonymously
C) an ethics office or an ombudsperson
D) All responses are correct.
Answer: D
Q2) 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.
Q3) Fair-use guidelines apply to graphics just as they do to words.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) When warning users about the dangers of products, writers should avoid using mandatory language such as must and shall.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Writing Technical Documents
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Q1) Chapter 3 lists four techniques for learning from others while revising documents. One technique is surveying, interviewing, or observing readers as they use the existing document. What is one other technique?
Answer: The other three techniques are interviewing subject-matter experts about a draft of the document, conducting focus groups to learn users' or prospective users' opinions about an existing or proposed document, and uploading the document to an online writing space and authorizing people to revise it.
Q2) 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
Q3) What are the two major ways to revise a document?
Answer: Studying the draft by yourself and seeking help from others
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5
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) Chapter 4 offers seven suggestions for communicating diplomatically. Which of these is a suggestion from the chapter?
A) Avoid qualifier statements such as "I think . . . ." or "It seems to me . . . ."
B) Use strong language-it is better to appear overbearing than to appear weak and indecisive.
C) Follow your emotions if someone opposes you.
D) Ask pertinent questions.
Q3) What two technologies make the collaborative writing process more efficient?
Q4) Which of these guidelines is NOT likely to help your team work effectively and efficiently?
A) Choose a team leader.
B) Establish procedures for resolving conflict productively.
C) Establish a work schedule.
D) Let team members assign themselves tasks.
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Chapter 5: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
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Q1) When working with a reader who is hostile to your subject or to your approach to the subject, you should first state your position, followed by your rationale for that position.
A)True
B)False
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 secondary- and tertiary-audience members 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) for what primary purpose do private companies use social-media data?
Q4) Why are LinkedIn profiles a particularly useful resource for learning about one's audience?
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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) Secondary research is the process of creating technical information yourself, as opposed to collecting information that other people have discovered or created.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which source is least likely to be valuable when you have a question about new trends in the semiconductor industry?
A) an encyclopedia
B) a journal article published this year
C) the blog of an analyst who covers the semiconductor industry
D) the website for a semiconductor magazine
Q4) A periodical index contains lists of journal and magazine articles classified according to title, subject, and author.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Organizing Your Information
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Q1) Of the options below, which is the most effective way to organize a discussion highlighting the most important events in your company's 31-year history?
A) partition
B) comparison and contrast
C) spatial
D) chronological
Q2) Which of the guidelines below should you follow when organizing information by the comparison-and-contrast pattern of development?
A) Choose either the whole-by-whole or the part-by-part pattern or some combination of the two. Then order the second-level items.
B) Once you've ordered the second-level items, arrange them spatially.
C) Evaluate each item according to the criteria you have established.
D) Consider using graphics to complement the text.
Q3) Signposts are especially useful for readers of passages written according to the spatial pattern of organization.
A)True
B)False
Q4) what is partition?
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9
Chapter 8: Communicating Persuasively
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Q1) Effective graphic design is an element of the tone of a document's argument.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which characteristic of an attractive professional persona has the writer of the following excerpt NOT shown?
As you probably already know, we have a problem with our current documentation. Users cannot easily locate the serial numbers necessary to complete the online registration step. The solution below will help us address this problem and eliminate the customer-support calls we get. It will also solve a few other problems. Last week, others suggested different solutions. However, I know they will not work. The best course of action is to prominently display the serial numbers at the start of the chapter labeled "Registering Your Product." Our users expect to find the numbers in this chapter.
A) cooperativeness
B) moderation
C) fair-mindedness
D) modesty
Q3) Give an example of an informational constraint that you might confront in completing a project.
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Chapter 9: Emphasizing Important Information
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Q1) 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
Q2) Which of these examples shows the most effective transition from the first sentence to the second?
A) New screening techniques are being developed to combat computer viruses. They are the subject of a new research effort at Big State University.
B) New screening techniques are being developed to combat computer viruses. These techniques are the subject of a new research effort at Big State University.
C) New screening techniques are being developed to combat computer viruses. A new research effort at Big State University is focused on fighting computer viruses.
D) New screening techniques are being developed to combat computer viruses. Nevertheless, they are the subject of a new research effort at Big State University.
Q3) Identify two coherence devices discussed in Chapter 9.
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11
Chapter 10: Writing Correct and Effective Sentences
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Q1) New and important information should come at the beginning of a sentence, where readers will be sure to notice it.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How should you punctuate a restrictive modifier?
A) Use commas to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
B) Use dashes to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
C) Add no extra punctuation.
D) Precede it with a comma and the word which.
Q3) What is a euphemism?
Q4) What is the past perfect tense used to describe?
Q5) Identify one of the four strategies listed in Chapter 10 for avoiding ambiguous pronoun references.
Q6) Chapter 10 describes several techniques for avoiding sexist language. One technique is to include a disclaimer such as following: "The use of the pronoun he does not in any way suggest a male bias."
A)True
B)False
Q7) Which type of modifier lacks an antecedent?
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Chapter 11: Designing Print and Online Documents
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Q1) A technical writer is designing a manual to be used by technicians repairing stereo systems. Repair technicians will be seated at workbenches with bright lighting overhead. They will need both hands to work on the equipment while reading manual instructions. Which of the following design decisions is inappropriate?
A) using perfect binding
B) choosing a size of 6 x 9 inches for the manual
C) printing on nonglare, tinted paper
D) making the manual as concise as possible
Q2) what can you do to make a website easy to navigate?
A) Use "Back to top" links on long pages.
B) Include a site map.
C) Use a table of contents at the top of long pages.
D) All responses are correct.
E) None of the responses are correct.
Q3) Chapter 11 lists three kinds of physical impairments that may prevent someone from fully using your site. One is hearing impairment. What is another?
Q4) What is the difference between a serif typeface and a sans-serif typeface?
Q5) What is the design term for a straight line on a page or screen?
Q6) margins serve four main purposes within a document. Identify two.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Creating Graphics
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Q1) graphics are important in technical communication because they can help you communicate information that is difficult to communicate in words. What is another reason graphics are important?
Q2) why do you need to cite the source of a graphic?
A) It is part of your ethical responsibilities.
B) It is necessary for papers submitted to industry conventions and conferences.
C) It increases the prestige of your bibliography.
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q3) If a graphic is on the Internet, you may assume that you are free to republish it.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A screen shot is a graphic showing what appears on a computer monitor. A)True B)False
Q5) To achieve the most effective contrast between colors, pair dark and light shades of a deep color together.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Why is it important to either begin graph axes at zero or mark them clearly?
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Chapter 13: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Web Sites
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Q1) Proofreading is the process of looking again at your draft to see if your initial assumptions about your audience, purpose, and subject still pertain, then making any necessary changes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) You are a technical writer for an electrical contractor. You have finished writing a draft of the procedures to be used by your company's electricians when installing gas dryers and water heaters. You have just learned that your county has updated the code that gives the allowable length of the gas-input pipe used for dryers and water heaters. What is the name of the process you will engage in when you look at your document to determine how to change it in light of the revised code?
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a technique for conducting usability evaluations?
A) surveying or interviewing users
B) conducting focus groups
C) crafting a persona of a subject-matter expert
D) using a commercial usability service
Q4) Usability refers to five aspects of a person's use of an item. What are two of these factors?
Q5) What is an SME?
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Chapter 14: Writing Correspondence
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Q1) When it appears in a letter, memo, or email, what does the symbol "c" stand for?
A) confidential
B) contract
C) copy
D) correspondence
Q2) What is flaming?
Q3) Why is it important to communicate honestly, no matter what type of document you create?
A) To be ethical you must be honest and avoid misleading people.
B) Dishonest communication can lead customers to take their business elsewhere.
C) Honesty projects a "you attitude" toward your reader.
D) All responses are correct.
Q4) Which of the following is NOT a means of adhering to netiquette guidelines?
A) Avoid dispensing harsh criticism.
B) Take a friendly, casual tone.
C) Keep messages brief.
D) Avoid forwarding a message to online forums without obtaining the writer's permission.
Q5) What does the notation "cc" stand for in a letter, memo, or email?
Q6) Provide an example of a letter cliché.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Writing Job-Application Materials
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Q1) doing a self-inventory is part of planning a job search.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In terms of how they are organized, what are the two major types of résumés discussed in the chapter?
Q3) what are the four main steps in planning a job search?
Q4) The best way to find keywords for your résumé is to study the job titles for jobs you like.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If you write your own résumé instead of paying someone else to do it, you will be more likely to adapt the résumé to different situations.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Chapter 15 lists four ways to look for a job. One is through a job board on the Internet. Name two of the other ways to look for a job.
Q7) what should you do after interviewing for a job?
Q8) what does it mean to be a passive applicant?
Q9) Why is it important to include keywords in your LinkedIn profile?
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Chapter 16: Writing Proposals
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Q1) In the sample internal proposal presented at the end of Chapter 16, what are the authors proposing to do?
Q2) A solicited proposal is one that you send to a customer who has not requested it.
A)True
B)False
Q3) some readers might not consider a proposal if it does not provide an effective summary.
A)True
B)False
Q4) ABC Electronics wants someone to install a top-of-the-line burglar-alarm system for its two buildings, a system that not only sounds an alarm but also simultaneously notifies authorities and the company president. Video surveillance of the premises should also be a capability of the security system. In order to obtain price quotes, what should ABC Electronics write?
A) an unsolicited proposal
B) an internal proposal
C) an external proposal
D) a request for proposals
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Chapter 17: Writing Informational Reports
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Q1) What are two questions to consider when you address an informational report to people from other cultures?
A) How will your readers react to your choice of application?
B) How many years of English classes have your readers had?
C) How will your readers react to your writing style?
D) All responses are correct.
E) None of the responses are correct.
Q2) Why is it important to be honest in an informational report when you have to share bad news?
A) Failure to be honest in the short term could lead to more problems in the long term.
B) Being honest is the ethical thing to do.
C) Sponsors or supervisors of a project have a right to know what is going on.
D) All responses are correct.
Q3) A directive is an informational document, not a persuasive one.
A)True
B)False
Q4) what are the two organizational patterns frequently used in progress reports?
Q5) what does an incident report describe?
Q6) what is the common goal of all informational reports?
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Writing Recommendation Reports
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Q1) The essential questions answered in the introduction of a recommendation report are similar to those answered when introducing what other kind of document?
A) a proposal
B) an incident report
C) meeting minutes
D) a job-application letter
Q2) In a decision matrix, which factor demonstrates a criterion's importance?
Q3) What is the purpose of providing back matter in a report?
A) to provide information that elaborates on details in the body of the report
B) to help readers know where to go for additional information
C) to give readers answers to questions that the body of the report does not cover
D) All responses are correct.
Q4) a report does not need a letter of transmittal if the writer and the reader work in the same organization.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What fundamental question does the recommendations section of a recommendation report answer?
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Chapter 19: Writing Lab Reports
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Q1) Your methods should be detailed enough that another researcher could perform the same experiment using the same materials and methods. What term describes this goal?
A) iteration
B) redundancy
C) redaction
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q2) A written lab report is the primary evidence on which your audience will judge your credibility and skills as a researcher.
A)True
B)False
Q3) 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.
Q4) The discussion portion of a lab report is also called an analysis.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
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Q1) Which of the following best describes the definition "A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that has a conjunctive function between two clauses"?
A) This is a simple, but effective, sentence definition.
B) This is a circular definition.
C) This sentence definition describes its item with clear distinguishing characteristics.
D) This is a stipulative definition.
Q2) What are the three types of descriptions discussed in Chapter 20?
Q3) an effective process description fully describes which of the following?
A) a glossary
B) substeps
C) subplots
D) frames of reference
Q4) Which of the following is the most effective title for a set of instructions on bicycle repair?
A) Caliper Brake Shoe Yaw Angle Adjustment
B) Adjusting the Yaw Angle of Caliper Brake Shoes
C) Fixing Caliper Brake Shoes
D) How-to Adjusting Brake Shoes Yaw Angle
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Chapter 21: Making Oral Presentations
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Q1) it is better to plan ahead to say something funny or witty than to do so spontaneously.
A)True
B)False
Q2) 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
Q3) Which of the following statements signals a transition?
A) My name is Susan Tratz, and I represent the Bureau of Environmental Quality.
B) In this presentation, I will discuss the causes of political gridlock as well as three potential solutions.
C) Now that we have discussed the symptoms of the disease, I would like to discuss its probable causes.
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q4) an effective 20-minute presentation could take 13 hours to prepare.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In an oral presentation, what is an advance organizer?
Page 23
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