Deck 4: Constructing Clear Sentences and Paragraphs

Question 1

Constructing clear sentences and paragraphs involves adaptation to the intended readers.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The best way to give your message coherence is to arrange its information in a logical order.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Short sentences carry more emphasis than long, involved ones.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

This example illustrates faulty parallelism.
Jake likes fishing and reading books.

Question 5

The following sentence does not have redundant words.
Let me know your future plans.

Question 6

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

Question 7

The following sentence has a dangling/misplaced modifier.
At the age of five, our family bought a cat.

Question 8

To write economically, you should eliminate surplus words.

Question 9

Using short sentences in communication increases miscommunications.

Question 10

The following sentence contains a redundant word.
Please repeat again the question.

Question 11

When applied to paragraph structure, unity means that a paragraph sticks to a single topic or idea, with everything in the paragraph developing this topic or idea.

Question 12

Redundancies increase the effectiveness of business messages.

Question 13

The following sentence illustrates a roundabout construction. He was angry at everyone he came in contact with.

Question 14

It is mandatory for every paragraph in a business report to have a topic sentence.

Question 15

The following sentence has one independent clause and one dependent clause.
Since the question was tough, I had trouble answering.

Question 16

The overuse of short sentences results in a choppy, elementary-sounding effect.

Question 17

Writing effectively requires managing the emphasis in your sentences in such a way that your key points stand out.

Question 18

The following sentence has two independent clauses.
The author is best known for her novels, she is known for her poems too.

Question 19

One-line paragraphs are an especially appropriate means of emphasizing major points in business messages.

Question 20

A see-saw sentence is one that goes back and forth between two points.

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of a sentence in which one idea is subordinated to the other?

A) My wedding ring is worth a million dollars and I guard it with my life.
B) My wedding ring is worth a million dollars and I wear it rarely.
C) My wedding ring is worth a million dollars.
D) My wedding ring, which is worth a million dollars, is a guarded jewel.
E) My wedding ring is rarely worn by me.

Question 22

Which of the following sentences uses a cluttering phrase?

A) Can you arrange these boxes in the loft before they come back?
B) The reason Victor skipped meeting was because he had to go to the bank.
C) I will watch the game until you finish your report.
D) Can you fix this machine?
E) I had been staying at Mike's apartment before I moved in with my brother.

Question 23

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of cluttering phrases?

A) This campaign was conducted for the purpose of informing people about the product.
B) The president declared the budget for the project was in the neighborhood of $20 million.
C) It is annoying when someone does not listen to your cautions and makes mistakes.
D) During the present time, I shall complete these reports.
E) In view of the fact that this will be the last meeting for this quarter, the chairperson will announce the salary hikes for the employees.

Question 24

Which of the following sentences uses a cluttering phrase?

A) At that point in time when Bella was a student, she learnt the nuances of cooking.
B) Swimming and fishing are my favorite summer activities.
C) We were talking about favorite sport, when I mentioned that mine was basketball.
D) I outlined the report slowly and carefully.
E) How long have you been exercising in the gym?

Question 25

Which of the following is a concise sentence?

A) With regard to the parking problem, corrective action is being taken.
B) With reference to the parking problem, the administration is taking corrective action.
C) The administration is taking corrective action on the parking problem.
D) Concerning the parking problem, corrective action is being taken by the administration.
E) The administration is correcting the parking problem.

Question 26

Which of these sentences best meets the requirements of good business writing?

A) Lee's payment in January was in the amount of $300.
B) Lee paid $300 in January.
C) Lee's January payment was for $300.
D) Three hundred dollars was paid by Lee in January.
E) The $300 January payment was made by Lee.

Question 27

The more words and ideas there are in a sentence:

A) the greater the likelihood of misunderstanding.
B) the greater the clarity.
C) the lesser the chances of miscommunication.
D) the greater the readability of a message.
E) the lesser the chances of confusion.

Question 28

Which of the following statements is true about effective writing?

A) Multiple ideas should be included within a single sentence to keep your readers engaged.
B) The use of unfamiliar words helps in capturing the reader's interest and increases the effectiveness of a message.
C) In order to write effectively, the use of active voice should be avoided.
D) Complex sentence structures are required to convey the importance of a message.
E) Constructing clear sentences involves adaptation to the intended readers.

Question 29

In which of the following examples are two ideas best coordinated?

A) My father, who is a light sleeper, always wakes up at the break of dawn.
B) My father, who always wakes up at the break of dawn, is a light sleeper.
C) My father is a light sleeper and he always wakes up at the break of dawn.
D) My father, who does not sleep soundly, always wakes up at the break of dawn.
E) My father, who is a light sleeper, always wakes up before the break of dawn.

Question 30

To write economically, you should:

A) use passive voice instead active voice.
B) avoid active verbs.
C) use see-saw sentences.
D) use cluttering phrases.
E) eliminate surplus words.

Question 31

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of redundant words?

A) The customer returned back the phone stating trivial reasons.
B) We should plan in advance for the future.
C) At the present time, we are conducting two surveys.
D) I am interested in learning more about this procedure.
E) This chapter discusses the basic fundamentals of clear writing.

Question 32

Choose the sentence that avoids the use of cluttering phrases.

A) At the present time we are using the old model.
B) You will get your money in the near future.
C) The revised plan cut our production costs by 12 percent.
D) In the event that you fail, we will help you.
E) We made payment in the amount of $751.

Question 33

Which of the following will most likely enhance the readability of your message?

A) Using complex sentence structures
B) Using see-saw sentences
C) Using cluttering phrases
D) Using roundabout constructions
E) Using short sentences

Question 34

Identify the independent clause in the following sentence. I will stop reading when you go to sleep.

A) I will stop reading
B) when you
C) go to
D) when you go to sleep
E) to sleep

Question 35

Which of the following sentences uses a redundant word?

A) The old man kept talking about his past history.
B) We can finish the report now.
C) Please sign this check.
D) We must assemble here tomorrow.
E) This sheet is longer than that old one.

Question 36

Which of the following sentences best illustrates a roundabout construction?

A) The president is of the opinion that a recession is near.
B) The president believes a recession is near.
C) The president thinks a recession is near.
D) A recession is near, believes the president.
E) The president thinks a recession is coming.

Question 37

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of cluttering phrases?

A) This account was created for the purpose of contacting my brother.
B) We are talking about something in the neighborhood of $40 million for donations.
C) With reference to the article written yesterday, there was a huge outcry demanding its retraction.
D) They agreed to abide by the rules in accordance with the treaty.
E) Please fill up the forms and provide all relevant documents to help us speed the application process.

Question 38

A basic technique for shortening sentences is to:

A) avoid active verbs.
B) use cluttered phrases.
C) use the active voice instead of the passive voice.
D) use roundabout constructions.
E) use words economically.

Question 39

Identify the dependent clause in the following sentence. When the teacher yelled, the students came rushing to the class.

A) The students
B) When the teacher yelled
C) Came rushing to the class
D) The students came rushing to the class
E) The teacher

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true about sentence length?

A) The more words and ideas there are in a sentence, the lesser the likelihood of misunderstanding.
B) Business audiences prefer longer sentences because they provide more information.
C) Business audiences tend to prefer long, complex sentences instead of short ones.
D) Business audiences prefer longer sentences because they are more persuasive.
E) Moderately long sentences should be used to de-emphasize less important content.

Question 41

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of faulty parallelisms?

A) We must either reduce expenses or it will be essential to raise revenues.
B) The dress was old, stained and it was torn.
C) The kids should learn reading and to write.
D) The athletes are training regularly and work hard.
E) Examples of hobbies are reading, fishing and knitting.

Question 42

Identify the independent clause in the following sentence. Until she apologizes for her actions, I refuse to talk to her.

A) I refuse to talk to her
B) Until she apologizes
C) For her actions
D) Until she
E) Apologizes for her actions

Question 43

Which of the following is true about topic sentences?

A) The most common paragraph arrangement begins with the topic sentence.
B) The most common paragraph arrangement ends with the topic sentence.
C) The most common paragraph arrangement has the topic sentence within the paragraph.
D) The topic sentence supplies the story for the paragraph.
E) The topic sentences build around and support the main sentence.

Question 44

Which of the following sentences has a dangling/misplaced modifier?

A) Denver served pie to his guests on paper plates.
B) We have compiled a list of likely prospects.
C) Haven't we been here before?
D) Our house is old, and we plan to sell it soon to the highest bidder.
E) Joe told the children a funny story before they went to bed.

Question 45

Which of the following is true about sentence unity?

A) Using prepositions to hold unrelated ideas together in a sentence is the most efficient way of maintaining sentence unity.
B) Excessive detail often causes violation of unity in sentence.
C) You can give unity to sentences that contain unrelated ideas by putting the ideas in one single sentence.
D) You can give unity to sentences that contain unrelated ideas by coordinating the ideas.
E) You can give unity to sentences that contain unrelated ideas by avoiding subordination of the clauses involved.

Question 46

Which of the following sentences violates the unity of the given paragraph? The old woman was hungry. She asked her granddaughter to cook. The granddaughter is an artist. The granddaughter was reluctant to cook. After much persuasion, she agreed to cook for her grandmother.

A) The old woman was hungry.
B) She asked her granddaughter to cook.
C) The granddaughter is an artist.
D) The granddaughter was reluctant to cook.
E) After much persuasion, she agreed to cook for her grandmother.

Question 47

Which of the following sentences is an example of mixed construction?

A) Students should choose their majors after carefully considering their areas of interest.
B) The team and the cheerleaders are on the field.
C) The customer is allowed to return the product but you are allowed to do so only within the warranty period.
D) John and his wife Jane visit us regularly.
E) Everyone in the class bought tickets for the show.

Question 48

Violations of unity in sentence constructions are usually caused by:

A) unrelated ideas.
B) the use of active verbs.
C) the use of active voice.
D) elimination of two-word verbs.
E) elimination of cluttering phrases.

Question 49

Which of the following is true about paragraph design?

A) Paragraphs should be longer than ten sentences for messages.
B) The topic sentence expresses the main idea of a paragraph.
C) One-line paragraphs fail to emphasize major points in business messages.
D) The most common paragraph arrangement begins with the supporting material followed by the topic sentence.
E) A one-line paragraph is not at all enough for a goodwill closing comment or an attention-grabbing opening.

Question 50

Which of the following sentences illustrates faulty parallelism?

A) He likes to read and sleep.
B) She spends her time knitting sweaters and selling them at the farmer's market.
C) They spent the day visiting the shops and walked on the beach.
D) She wrote the report slowly and carefully.
E) The farm grooms horses for competing in races.

Question 51

Which of the following sentences illustrates faulty parallelism?

A) The package was wrapped with care and with precision.
B) The package was wrapped carefully and with precision.
C) The package was wrapped precisely and beautifully.
D) The package was wrapped carefully and beautifully.
E) The package was wrapped carefully and precisely.

Question 52

Which of the following sentences is an example of mixed construction?

A) I learned Spanish while my friend tried to learn Chinese.
B) Alex was busy preparing for his exams, so his wife went shopping alone.
C) The children are busy studying because they have a test tomorrow.
D) The teacher graded the test and students were given the scores.
E) After the test, the students went to watch a movie.

Question 53

Which of the following sentences is an example of incomplete construction?

A) I had studied hard for the test; however, I failed.
B) The children were noisy and ran around the house creating a mess.
C) She bought a shirt and a watch.
D) He walked confidently to address the congregation.
E) She was so happy with the party we gave her.

Question 54

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of a dangling/misplaced modifier?

A) We saw several trees looking out our window.
B) The four women talked quietly in the corner eating breakfast.
C) Jenny will not come to the movies with us.
D) Racing across the road, the bus was reached before the door closed.
E) Jake nearly watched twenty movies this month.

Question 55

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of dangling/misplaced modifiers?

A) Did you see a guy enter the shop with a hat?
B) Samantha played a song on the audience to her guitar.
C) Victor sat on the floor with a broken arm.
D) The girl went to the toy store with her parents.
E) The wedding ring was reported stolen by the police officer.

Question 56

Which of the following is true about managing emphasis in a sentence?

A) Short sentences carry lesser emphasis than long, involved ones.
B) Beginnings and endings of business messages are particularly good places for using long sentences to emphasize your content.
C) A long closing should be used in business messages to ensure that the reader is left with an important final thought.
D) If a sentence contains two ideas that are equally important, both the ideas should be joined with "and" to place equal emphasis.
E) If a sentence contains two ideas that are equally important, one idea should be subordinated to the other.

Question 57

Which of the following sentences has a dangling/misplaced modifier?

A) I was asked to follow the treatment for two weeks.
B) We saw a fence behind the building made of wood.
C) I went to the hardware store to buy the nail gun.
D) The students were strictly asked to be present at the event.
E) We had plans to go to the mall until Sheba fell ill and had to be taken to the hospital.

Question 58

Which of the following sentences is an example of incomplete construction?

A) As far as time management, he is a master of multitasking.
B) Majority of the jury voted against the defendant.
C) A number of students were absent for the test.
D) The committee is meeting today to decide on salary hike for the employees.
E) Neither of them likes to cook.

Question 59

Which of the following sentences avoids the use of faulty parallelisms?

A) The children wanted to visit the museum and to eat ice creams.
B) The children liked visiting the museum and to eat ice creams.
C) The children liked to visit the museum and eating ice creams.
D) The children liked visiting the museum, eating ice creams and to ride on the horses.
E) The children liked to visit the museum, eating ice creams and to ride on the horses.

Question 60

Identify the dependent clause in the following sentence. When he comes back, we are planning to celebrate his birthday.

A) When he comes back
B) We are planning to celebrate his birthday
C) to celebrate
D) comes back
E) to celebrate

Question 61

Choose the transitional word that best fits the following sentence. Alice's grades have to be high; _____ she will not get the scholarship.

A) otherwise
B) however
C) moreover
D) therefore
E) likewise

Question 62

Define coherence in terms of message readability.

Question 63

Mention the two main reasons for the violations of unity in sentence constructions.

Question 64

The various techniques that are needed to tie the information together in a paragraph are known as _____ devices.

A) roundabout
B) transitional
C) stringy
D) see-saw
E) surplus

Question 65

Mention a basic technique for shortening sentences.

Question 66

What is a topic sentence?

Question 67

List two ways of avoiding uneconomical wording in your business messages.

Question 68

Which of the following transitional words will most efficiently increase the cohesiveness of the given information? The book is very interesting. It provides detailed descriptions of the buildings.

A) Moreover
B) Instead
C) Therefore
D) On the other hand
E) However

Question 69

Mention the three major transitional devices which make paragraphs coherent.

Question 70

Mention three ways by which you can give unity to sentences that contain unrelated ideas.

Question 71

Choose the transitional word that best fits the following sentence. The people at the reunion had not seen each other for ten years. _____, they did not recognize each other immediately.

A) Otherwise
B) However
C) Moreover
D) Therefore
E) Likewise

Question 72

Which of the following transitional words will most efficiently increase the cohesiveness of the given information? The author was not happy with his publishers. He showed up at the book-signing event.

A) Moreover
B) Therefore
C) Instead
D) However
E) Indeed

Question 73

Suggest two ways of managing emphasis in sentences.

Question 74

In the context of the placement of the topic sentence, which is the most commonly used paragraph arrangement in business communication?

Question 75

Explain the role of adaptation in writing clear sentences.

Question 76

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