Workplace Writing
Exam Answer Key
Course Introduction
Workplace Writing focuses on developing the practical communication skills needed to succeed in professional environments. The course emphasizes clear, concise, and effective written communication for various workplace contexts, such as emails, memos, reports, proposals, and instructions. Students learn to tailor their writing for specific audiences, use appropriate formats and professional tone, and incorporate feedback to refine their work. By engaging in real-world scenarios and collaborative projects, participants gain the tools necessary to communicate ideas persuasively and efficiently within organizational settings.
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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) most technical communication has six characteristics. One characteristic is that technical communication helps readers solve problems. Which of the following is another characteristic of technical communication?
A) Technical communication reflects an organization's goals and culture.
B) Technical communication uses technical vocabulary as often as possible.
C) Technical communication strives to both entertain and educate readers.
D) Technical communication is most often aimed at a general audience rather than at a particular audience.
Answer: A
Q2) What is a technical communicator?
Answer: A technical communicator (or technical writer) is a person whose main job is to produce applications such as manuals, reports, and websites.
Q3) Technical communication involves knowing where to find trustworthy information. A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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3
Chapter 2: Understanding Ethical and Legal Considerations
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Q1) Contract law affects technical communication because technical documents sometimes contain warranty statements.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) In one state, West County and East County share a border. The state capital is in East County. Many residents of West County (almost half of all adults in the county) commute to East County for work. East County has high levels of air pollution, and residents there must get their car exhaust systems tested every two years. Although West County has less air pollution than East, the pollution levels in West are rising. The state Department of Environmental Regulation orders that residents of West County must now get their car exhaust systems tested every two years as well. What moral standard best explains this decision by the Department of Environmental Regulation?
A) care
B) utility
C) rights
D) clarity
Answer: B
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Writing Technical Documents
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Q1) Which word best describes the process of writing technical documents?
A) linear
B) nonlinear
C) static
D) fixed
Answer: B
Q2) Chapter 3 describes the writing process as a series of stages. One stage is drafting. What are the other stages discussed in Chapter 3?
Answer: The other stages are planning, revising, editing, and proofreading.
Q3) You manage a software development group with team members in North America, South America, and Asia. Your boss wants you to write a status report about your group's activities. You need key team members to contribute to the report, but doing so is challenging when team members are in so many different time zones. Which writing tool is likely to benefit you most on this project?
A) a preformatted document template
B) a cloud-based, multi-author word processor
C) a set of document styles
D) a microblogging platform
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Writing Collaboratively
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Questions
Q1) A team of writers is just beginning a new documentation project. The client for the team's last project complained that the completed document kept switching from active to passive voice and that the design of the headings was not visually consistent. Which of the following is the team's best approach to avoiding such problems on the current project?
A) Discuss cultural differences.
B) Create a style sheet.
C) Create a document template.
D) Establish clear work procedures.
Q2) In what way does collaboration allow an organization to grow?
Q3) Videoconferencing allows two or more people in separate locations to see and hear each other simultaneously. What other two activities does videoconferencing allow participants to perform?
Q4) Companies sometimes use virtual worlds, such as Second Life, to conduct meetings and conferences.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Chapter 4 discusses three features of word-processing software that are particularly useful in collaboration. Name one feature.
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Chapter 5: Analyzing Your Audience and Purpose
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Q1) You work for a semiconductor manufacturer. You are writing a quarterly report on the activities within your section of the company. One of the people who will read your report is Lila Waltman, divisional vice president. You search online for information about her. Which piece of information is most likely to help you as you write the report?
A) Lila is an active member of the local chapter of IEEE, a professional society for the electronics industry.
B) Lila is an active member of the local chapter of her university's alumni association.
C) Lila is an active member of the community board for a local animal shelter.
D) Lila is an active member of a distance-running group.
Q2) Chapter 5 describes three categories of audience. What are they?
Q3) Why are graphics especially useful when communicating with people from other cultures?
Q4) 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.
Q5) how do public agencies use social-media data?
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Chapter 6: Researching Your Subject
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Q1) Chapter 6 suggests that you do three things when concluding an interview. What is one of them?
Q2) Which of these resources is NOT likely to appear in a library's online database?
A) proceedings from an annual academic conference
B) posts from a blog
C) articles from a magazine
D) articles from a national newspaper
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) "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
Q5) Print is a typical medium for publishing information. However, Chapter 6 identifies three other media. List them.
Q6) What kind of information is found in a periodical index?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Organizing Your Information
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Q1) Which organizational pattern is least susceptible to a writer's attempts to mislead readers?
A) comparison and contrast
B) cause and effect
C) more important to less important
D) spatial
Q2) Which organizational pattern works best when readers want to get to key information as soon as possible?
Q3) Which of the following tactics will help your readers see and follow your organizational pattern?
A) using section headings conservatively
B) using section headings liberally
C) using section headings subtly
D) using section headings infrequently
Q4) Why do writers sometimes place less-important information at the beginning of documents addressed to readers outside of their own organization?
Q5) long, complex arguments can most often be organized according to one pattern. A)True B)False
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Chapter 8: Communicating Persuasively
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Q1) A post hoc argument claims that because A preceded B, A must have caused B.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Chapter 8 lists four characteristics that can help you establish an effective professional persona. One is cooperativeness. Which of the following characteristics are also listed in the chapter?
A) fair-mindedness
B) punctuality
C) moderation
D) self-control
E) modesty
Q3) Give an example of an informational constraint that you might confront in completing a project.
Q4) People who write proposals are the only technical writers who need to be concerned with persuasion.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What type of argument restates the main point without presenting any evidence to support it?
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Chapter 9: Emphasizing Important Information
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Q1) Therefore, furthermore, consequently, and next are all examples of what category of words?
Q2) long headings can confuse and distract readers; therefore, you should strive to write short headings of no more than three or four words.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Where should you place a transitional word or phrase?
Q4) Identify two coherence devices discussed in Chapter 9.
Q5) To test a title, you should ask whether readers will be able to paraphrase it in a clear, meaningful sentence.
A)True
B)False
Q6) A local bank uses this slogan in its advertising: "Integrity. Experience. Trust. Local." What about this slogan violates readers' expectations?
A) The items in the list are not parallel.
B) The list does not follow the general-to-specific pattern.
C) The hierarchy of the list is confusing.
D) None of the responses are correct.
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Chapter 10: Writing Correct and Effective Sentences
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Q1) What is Simplified English?
A) It is a way to teach English to elementary-school children.
B) It is writing that has been dumbed down.
C) It is a set of about 1,000 English words used for writing technical manuals in certain industries.
D) It is English written in sentences with five or fewer words.
Q2) A euphemism is a bit of shoptalk, a word or phrase that has a precise meaning to members of a particular group, organization, profession, or occupation but may have little meaning for people outside that group.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is a run-on sentence?
A) The adventurer walked for days and days, for weeks on end, for what seemed like an eternity; he found himself in a state of perpetual exhaustion.
B) He is a little bit sour, she is a little bit sweet, and I am a little bit stale.
C) I left the room when he yelled at me.
D) Vote for Pedro he will represent you well.
Q4) What is a euphemism?
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Designing Print and Online Documents
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Q1) 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
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) 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.
Q4) What is queuing?
Q5) Which of the following is a potential drawback of using a multicolumn design?
A) It shortens the length of lines of text, making them harder to read.
B) It might increase the amount of space between a picture and the text describing it.
C) It might lead to more words on a page than a single-column design.
D) It might differ from the design the audience expects to see.
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Chapter 12: Creating Graphics
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Q1) Chapter 12 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
Q2) Why is it important to either begin graph axes at zero or mark them clearly?
Q3) A screen shot is a graphic showing what appears on a computer monitor.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Chapter 12 discusses five characteristics that make a graphic clear and understandable. One characteristic is that the graphic meets readers' format expectations.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which type of graphic does NOT use metaphor to convey information?
A) flowchart
B) photograph
C) diagram
D) organization chart
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Web Sites
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Q1) Usability testing is the process of performing experiments to determine that a product functions at a minimally acceptable level before the manufacturer devotes time, money, and other resources to creating documentation for the product.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Reviewing a document or website is the same thing as testing it.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Usability refers to five aspects of a person's use of an item. What are two of these factors?
Q4) You are a technical writer for a company that makes electrical control devices such as thermostats. You have just finished writing a draft of a document to be used by electricians who install your company's devices and by homeowners who purchase them. Now your supervisor has decided that the company should publish one document for electricians and a separate one for homeowners. 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 decision to make two separate documents?
Q5) what is a prototype?
Q6) What is an SME?
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Chapter 14: Writing Correspondence
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Q1) In a bad-news adjustment letter, there is no sense trying to salvage goodwill; the reader is so angry that he or she will never do business with you again.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Clichés make your writing shorter and more efficient.
B) Clichés are a good way to write with the "you attitude."
C) Clichés give your writing a stilted tone.
D) Clichés give your writing a contemporary touch.
Q3) What does it mean to "link generously" when posting to a microblog at work?
A) Post links to websites and articles that are relevant to a subject you are discussing online.
B) Post links to as many online articles about your company as possible.
C) Post links for opportunities to give to charities.
D) Post links to a competitor's website after each link to your own company's information.
Q4) Chapter 14 offers several guidelines for writing inquiry letters. One is to explain who you are and why you are writing. What is another guideline?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Writing Job-Application Materials
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Q1) 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?
A) How will you know if an employer requests your résumé?
B) Will the formatting of your résumé remain unchanged once the résumé is converted to an electronic file?
C) Will a prospective employer have to pay a fee to retrieve your résumé?
D) How secure are the servers where your résumé is stored?
E) None of the responses are correct.
Q2) Any picture of yourself that you display on your LinkedIn profile or your portfolio must be taken by a professional.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why is it important to include keywords in your LinkedIn profile?
Q4) what are the four main steps in planning a job search?
Q5) What are the four parts of the body of a job-application letter?
Q6) Chapter 15 lists six guidelines for building the foundation of your professional brand. One is to research what others have done. Name two other guidelines.
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Chapter 16: Writing Proposals
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Q1) What are indirect costs?
Q2) which of these is NOT a useful guideline for creating a proposal for an audience in a different culture?
A) Budget time for translation.
B) Understand that what makes an argument persuasive can differ from one culture to another.
C) Focus on costs.
D) Ask if the prospective customer will do a read-through.
Q3) In which situation might you present your proposal as a memo?
A) when your proposal is lengthy-more than 10 pages
B) when your audience is external
C) when your audience is internal
D) None of the responses are correct.
Q4) The proposed program section of a proposal contains an itemization of the costs associated with the project you are proposing.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What do the initials IFB stand for?
Q6) What is the difference between formative evaluations and summative evaluations?
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Writing Informational Reports
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Q1) Whether you have good news or bad news to share, it is important to keep a professional, measured tone in an informational report.
A)True
B)False
Q2) what are the two organizational patterns frequently used in progress reports?
Q3) Which of these is NOT an important question to answer when writing an incident report?
A) What happened?
B) Whose camera recorded the incident?
C) Why did the incident happen?
D) What should be done in response to this incident?
Q4) 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
Q5) Identify three of the issues you should be sure to address in a field report?
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Chapter 18: Writing Recommendation Reports
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Q1) The air-conditioning system of Marcus Department Store has not been adequately cooling the store's first-floor office pod. At this point, the problem is not serious because three large shade trees overhang this portion of the building and ceiling fans provide air circulation. Although slumping sales prohibit any large expenditures at this time, the store's owner still wants to find out the reasons for the cooling failure. Consequently, his staff should conduct a study that would provide which of the following?
A) a proposal
B) an informational report
C) a recommendation report
D) an incident report
Q2) The back matter section of a recommendation report serves two primary purposes. Identify one.
Q3) the results section of a recommendation report answers the question "What did you see?"
A)True
B)False
Q4) In a decision matrix, which factor demonstrates a criterion's importance?
Q5) What fundamental question does the results section of a recommendation report answer?
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Chapter 19: Writing Lab Reports
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Q1) A descriptive abstract states the topics covered in the lab report but doesn't present important results or conclusions.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Ideally, what will the title and abstract of a report help readers do?
Q3) Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the lack of an acknowledgments section in the sample lab report in Chapter 19?
A) The writer of the report is unethical.
B) The work in the lab took so long that the writer ran out of time to include acknowledgments.
C) The writer of the report did not receive funding or extraordinary assistance to complete this report as part of a class assignment.
D) None of the options is correct.
Q4) What does prepublication permit an author to do and what is it designed to take advantage of?
Q5) How familiar should you assume your audience will be with the particulars of your experiment?
Q6) In the context of a lab report, what does replicability mean?
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Chapter 20: Writing Definitions, Descriptions, and Instructions
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Q1) The introduction to a set of instructions should answer six questions, one of which is "Why should the reader carry out this task?" what is one other question?
Q2) there is no absolute distinction between a set of instructions and a manual.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the function of a conventions section?
Q4) What technique is used to clarify the term inflammable in the definition "An inflammable substance is not a substance that cannot catch fire. To the contrary, an inflammable substance catches fire quite easily"?
Q5) H&G Garden Supplies is revising its instruction booklet for assembling and installing its redwood garden arbor. The set contains two 6-foot trellises, two planter boxes, and a pair of adjustable arches. Which of the following should you NOT include in the back matter of the instruction booklet?
A) a troubleshooting guide
B) instructions on how to order replacement parts
C) warranty information
D) safety information
Q6) What are the three types of descriptions discussed in Chapter 20?
Page 22
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Chapter 21: Making Oral Presentations
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Q1) Which of the following forms of delivery is the best one to use if a presenter must clearly communicate precise safety data?
A) impromptu
B) extemporaneous
C) scripted
D) memorized
Q2) A presenter is preparing to deliver a presentation at an annual conference. Over 200 people are expected to attend this presentation. Which of the following is the least effective technique for making a lasting impression on the audience?
A) Open with a joke.
B) Focus on the audience's interests.
C) Describe the topic in human terms.
D) Use specific numbers, dollars, or percentages.
Q3) In a question-and-answer session, what should you do if you are asked a question you do not understand?
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?
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