Deck 6: Revising Business Messages

Question 1

Which of the following sentences is free of opening fillers, redundancies, and excessive expressions?

A)There are several reasons that we should start using social media to communicate with customers.
B)Our company should start using social media to communicate with customers for several reasons.
C)Due to the fact that we need to improve communication with customers, our company should start using social media.
D)It is perfectly clear that our company should start using social media to communicate with customers.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The sentence In the event that you pass the CPA exam, please consider applying again could be made more effective by eliminating which of the following?

A)opening filler
B)redundancy
C)long lead-in
D)excessive expression

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The sentence Your attendance at Monday's marketing meeting is absolutely essential could be improved by eliminating which of the following?

A)redundancy
B)excessive expression
C)opening filler
D)empty word

Answer 3

A

Question 4

During Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process, Jamar is correcting his document's grammar, spelling, punctuation, format, and mechanics. What is Jamar doing?

A)proofreading
B)evaluating
C)editing
D)anticipating

Question 5

At this point in time, due to the fact that, feel free to, and is often the case are examples of which of the following?

A)redundancies
B)excessive expressions
C)long lead-ins
D)opening fillers

Question 6

Khalida is sending an e-mail message to a client. Before sending it, she wants to make sure that she has made her point in the fewest possible words. What is Khalida checking for?

A)conciseness
B)format
C)clarity
D)vigour

Question 7

Which of the following phrases is free of redundancies?

A)essential items
B)big in size
C)combined together
D)new beginning

Question 8

During Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process, Donalyn is analyzing her message to make sure it will achieve its purpose. What is Donalyn doing?

A)proofreading
B)evaluating
C)editing
D)anticipating

Question 9

Basic fundamentals, exactly identical, and repeat again are all examples of which of the following?

A)redundancies
B)excessive expressions
C)long lead-ins
D)opening fillers

Question 10

Justin is writing a proposal to submit to his company's board of directors. Which phase should he spend the most time in to make sure that his document is clear and correct?

A)prewriting
B)writing
C)revising
D)organizing

Question 11

Angela is writing a marketing report to submit to her supervisor. How should she spend her time to make sure that her document is clear and correct?

A)Spend the most time on prewriting.
B)Spend the most time on writing.
C)Spend the most time on revising.
D)Spend an equal amount of time in all three phases.

Question 12

Which of the following is true of concise business messages?

A)Concise messages are hard to understand.
B)Concise messages save reading time and money.
C)Concise messages are hard to read.
D)Concise business messages need long lead-ins.

Question 13

The sentence There are five new items that we will add to our menu next week could be made more concise by eliminating which of the following?

A)redundancy
B)excessive expression
C)opening filler
D)long lead-in

Question 14

Carla was promoted to a position that will require extensive writing. What is the best writing advice you can give her?

A)She should spend the most time analyzing the purpose and audience.
B)She should revise only for longer, more important documents.
C)It's possible to write a perfect first draft.
D)She should put her documents aside and return to them after a break before revising.

Question 15

Which of the following does the final phase of the 3-x-3 writing process focus on?

A)organizing
B)proofreading
C)researching
D)anticipating

Question 16

Which of the following statements best describes Phase 3 of the writing process?

A)A significant amount of a writer's time should be spent in this phase.
B)Expert writers can expect to get their documents correct on the first try.
C)Do not attempt to revise as you write; revision must always take place at the end.
D)The first version of a document is usually satisfactory for most business messages.

Question 17

To make your business messages more effective, which of the following is good advice?

A)Remove excessive expressions.
B)Use lengthy introductory words to sound friendly.
C)Use repetition to ensure reader understanding.
D)Include slang and colloquialisms.

Question 18

What is the first step of Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process?

A)evaluating your document to determine whether it achieves its purpose
B)deciding how to organize the message
C)composing the first draft
D)editing the message to improve conciseness

Question 19

A newly hired colleague has asked for your advice about revising e-mail messages, text messages, and tweets. What is the best advice you can give her?

A)In today's fast-paced digital age, you shouldn't take time to revise e-mail messages, text messages, or tweets because doing so reduces productivity.
B)People don't expect informal text messages and tweets to be perfect, so don't worry about revising them.
C)To avoid messages that waste time, create confusion, and reduce your credibility, take time to revise e-mail messages, text messages, and tweets.
D)Text messages and tweets are too informal to be used in a business environment.

Question 20

Which of the following best describes the sentence I am writing this e-mail message to let you know that we have received your application for the receptionist position?

A)It contains a redundancy.
B)It contains a long lead-in.
C)It contains empty words.
D)It is an example of good business writing.

Question 21

Blake has just written an e-mail message to his colleagues. Before sending it, he wants to make sure that his colleagues will immediately understand the message. What is Blake checking for?

A)conciseness
B)format
C)clarity
D)punctuation

Question 22

Which of the following sentences does not contain any trite business phrases?

A)We received your application for the management position.
B)As per your request, we are processing your application for the management position.
C)Every effort will be made to process your application for the management position shortly.
D)Thank you in advance for your interest in our management position.

Question 23

Which of the following represents the best business writing?

A)Thank you in advance for considering my application for the finance position.
B)Enclosed are three samples of our fabric.
C)Do you know what her phone call was in reference to?
D)Pursuant to your request, we have added you to our mailing list.

Question 24

The sentence Every effort will be made to ship your package by the end of the day could be made more effective by eliminating which of the following?

A)trite business phrase
B)excessive expression
C)redundancy
D)opening filler

Question 25

Which of the following represents the best business writing?

A)This e-mail message is to inform you that the CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow.
B)The CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow.
C)You should be aware that the CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow.
D)The CEO will be visiting our branch tomorrow for a period of three hours.

Question 26

Mackenzie has written a marketing report for her boss. Before presenting it, she wants to make sure that the report does not contain expressions that have become exhausted by overuse. What is Mackenzie checking for?

A)conciseness
B)proper punctuation
C)buried verbs
D)clichés

Question 27

Which of the following sentences does not contain any clichés?

A)Understanding this new software is easier said than done.
B)If you study hard, you'll pass the CPA exam with flying colours.
C)Just do your best during your job interview.
D)The best business communicators are able to think outside of the box.

Question 28

You have just been given the job of writing tweets for your company and responding to customers' tweets using the Twitter microblogging service. What should you do?

A)You should not make your tweets concise; just get your message across.
B)You should include only main ideas and choose short descriptive words.
C)You should use conventional spelling, grammar, and punctuation in tweets.
D)You should omit the revising writing phase for such short messages.

Question 29

As per your request, enclosed please find, and thank you in advance are all examples of which of the following?

A)long lead-ins
B)redundancies
C)trite business phrases
D)professional business phrases

Question 30

Conduct a discussion of, give consideration to, and perform an analysis of are all examples of which of the following?

A)verbs that have been converted to nouns
B)long lead-ins
C)trite business phrases
D)redundancies

Question 31

Which of the following sentences sounds most conversational?

A)The undersigned is sincerely grateful for the kind assistance you provided last week.
B)Thanks for your help last week.
C)It is my sincere hope that it was not too much of an inconvenience for you to sacrifice your valuable time to assist a colleague last week.
D)My sincere gratitude is offered to you in exchange for the support you offered to me last week.

Question 32

Which of the following sentences avoids using any slang or buzzwords?

A)I can't believe that I totally bombed my presentation.
B)We need to do everything possible to stay ahead of our competition.
C)We hope to incentivize our employees to work hard to meet the project deadline.
D)I hope we don't get burned, but we really need this paradigm shift.

Question 33

Which of the following sentences avoids use of trite business phrases?

A)The application will be sent under separate cover.
B)Enclosed please find a coupon to use during your next visit.
C)We have received your loan application.
D)Please do not hesitate to call me if you have questions.

Question 34

What is the rule you should remember about slang and buzzword use?

A)If you want to sound professional, avoid using slangy expressions and buzzwords in your writing.
B)Buzzwords are informal words with arbitrary and extravagantly changed meanings that quickly go out of fashion.
C)Buzzwords are technical terms that are meant to express rather than impress.
D)Slang and buzzwords will help your writing sound hip and current.

Question 35

Which of the following is the best example of business writing?

A)It would be advantageous for you to enlighten your employees regarding the company's new social media policy.
B)Please tell your employees about the company's new social media policy.
C)You are hereby advised to inform your employees about the new social media policy that has been adopted by the company.
D)The individual referenced above must inform his or her subordinates in regard to the company's new social media policy.

Question 36

Which of the following best describes a trite business phrase such as please do not hesitate to?

A)It contains unnecessary redundancy.
B)It is a stale expression that other writers have used over the years.
C)It is unclear because it is too technical.
D)It sounds professional and businesslike.

Question 37

During the revising phase, what do you test for to make sure that your message will be immediately understood by the reader?

A)clarity
B)conciseness
C)mechanics
D)punctuation

Question 38

Which of the following is a goal of business writing?

A)to impress your reader
B)to keep your writing short and simple
C)to maintain a formal tone by using indirect, pompous language
D)to sound businesslike

Question 39

Which of the following is an example of an effective, businesslike expression?

A)pursuant to your request
B)in accordance with your wishes
C)with reference to
D)as you requested

Question 40

What should you do to make a business message clear?

A)Keep your message short and simple.
B)Use trite business phrases.
C)Include clichés, slang, and buzzwords in the message.
D)Show exuberance in your messages.

Question 41

Some experts recommend spending about half the total composition time editing, proofreading, and evaluating a document.

Question 42

Elijah is evaluating a report that he will be submitting to his supervisor. What should Elijah ask himself during the evaluation process?

A)Are the cover page and text in the correct format?
B)Have I spelled everyone's name correctly?
C)Does the report achieve my purpose?
D)Will my supervisor finally recognize my talent and promote me?

Question 43

Concise messages are easier to read and comprehend than wordy messages.

Question 44

Which of the following represents the best writing?

A)Dominique conducted an investigation of the company's financial statements.
B)Elena reported her findings.
C)Please give consideration to my proposal.
D)The general manager made the assumption that Alex had contacted the customer.

Question 45

Which of the following is free of wordy or trite phrases?

A)It is my personal opinion that we cannot create a reduction in our inventory unless we lower prices.
B)You may be assured that every effort will be made to ship your order by October 1.
C)Management has been unable to reach a conclusion regarding contract negotiations with the union.
D)Although Chinese is the language spoken by the largest number of native speakers in the world, English is considered the language of international business.

Question 46

Which of the following sentences avoids using a verb that has been converted into a noun?

A)The task force made a recommendation to start a wellness program.
B)Our supervisor made a decision to eliminate overtime.
C)The jury concluded that the defendant was guilty.
D)The accountant will perform an analysis of the quarter's financial statements.

Question 47

Alexis must proofread a complex business document. What is the best advice you can give her?

A)Proofread the document on your computer screen to save paper.
B)Be prepared to find errors.
C)Read the document just once to save time.
D)Proofread the document just before you submit it.

Question 48

When proofreading a document, which of the following should you be concerned with?

A)spelling, grammar, and punctuation
B)main message ideas
C)wordiness and redundancy
D)trite expressions

Question 49

Microblogging messages can avoid using conventional spelling, grammar, or punctuation.

Question 50

Which of the following sentences avoids using buried verbs?

A)The health care industry has great dependence upon highly trained staff.
B)The task force reached a conclusion that the company should go public.
C)In some parts of the world, business is not conducted over meals.
D)We have made plans to create a reduction in our operating expenses.

Question 51

Which of the following sentences best controls exuberance?

A)We totally understand that you really didn't mean to actually come across that way during the interview.
B)Our customers are extremely pleased with our really excellent customer service.
C)We are happy to learn that your banquet room is available on December 15.
D)We definitely think that the company could actually reduce turnover by offering new benefits.

Question 52

The following sentence contains a redundancy: After studying the basic fundamentals of the provisions, I have decided to vote for the contract.

Question 53

Which of the following sentences best demonstrates clarity?

A)Every effort should be made to notify each and every employee without delay of next week's gathering.
B)First and foremost, it is imperative that all employees be notified of next week's assembly.
C)It is the duty of all supervisors to inform their subordinates of next week's congregation.
D)Please let your employees know about next Friday's meeting.

Question 54

There are, there is, and it is are examples of unnecessary opening fillers.

Question 55

What is the best way to evaluate your finished written message?

A)Determine the readability level.
B)Run it through a grammar/style checker program.
C)Receive feedback.
D)Pay a professional to proofread it for you.

Question 56

The first step of Phase 3 of the 3-x-3 writing process is evaluating the document.

Question 57

In the sentence It is absolutely essential that you turn your expense claim in by Friday, the expression absolutely essential is redundant.

Question 58

Most experts who have had a lot of practice can prepare a perfect document on the first try.

Question 59

Expressions such as due to the fact that and in the near future can help your business documents sound more professional.

Question 60

The sentence This e-mail message is to inform you that your employment application has been received is an example of effective business writing.

Question 61

If you want to sound professional, avoid using slang such as bombed and getting burned and buzzwords such as deep dive and leveraging in your business writing.

Question 62

____________________ involves correcting a document's grammar, spelling, punctuation, format, and mechanics.

Question 63

The following sentence contains a verb that has been converted to a noun: Sierra performed an analysis of the quarterly sales figures.

Question 64

Expressions such as basic fundamentals and necessary prerequisite that repeat meaning and include unnecessary words are ____________________.

Question 65

Encourage the receiver to respond to your message to evaluate its success.

Question 66

The third phase of the 3-x-3 writing process includes editing, proofreading, and ____________________.

Question 67

To add exuberance to your business documents, freely use words such as totally, definitely, extremely, and actually.

Question 68

Routine documents and complex documents are proofread using the same method.

Question 69

____________________ expressions such as at this point in time and due to the fact that are wordy phrases that may be better expressed in single words.

Question 70

To sound professional and businesslike, you should try to use common expressions such as easier said than done, last but not least, and think outside the box.

Question 71

Sentence beginnings such as there is, there are, and it is are examples of opening ____________________.

Question 72

A useful technique for proofreading important documents that must be perfect is to read the message aloud.

Question 73

Introductory words such as This is to inform you that and I am sending this e-mail message to let you know that are examples of long ____________________.

Question 74

____________________ is the process of analyzing whether your message achieves its purpose.

Question 75

It is safer and better to proofread on your computer screen than to proofread from a printed copy because you will catch more errors this way and will be able to correct them immediately.

Question 76

One way to achieve clarity is to use passive-voice sentences in your messages.

Question 77

Use phrases such as please do not hesitate to and thank you in advance to make your writing sound businesslike.

Question 78

The primary goal of business writing is to impress your reader.

Question 79

Today's advanced spell-checkers are capable of identifying all spelling errors.

Question 80

The following is an example of effective business writing: As per your request, further instructions will be sent to you under separate cover.