1. COM/285 Final Exam
Answers are HERE!
1) Susan Rojas is applying for a position in the marketing department of a local
corporation. Although Greg Ellis is the director of this department, Susan has been
instructed to send her resume and other documents to Jeff Cohen, manager of the human
resources department. Jeff screens all applications before sending those of qualified
candidates on to appropriate department heads. Jeff is
A. the primary audience
B. a gatekeeper
C. a watchdog
D. an auxiliary audience
2) An oral message is preferable to a written one when you want to:
A. present many specific details
B. minimize undesirable emotions
C. resolve conflicts and build consensus
D. present extensive and complex data
3) A written business request is answered positively and promptly on the first try. This is
an example of a high level of
A. goodwill
B. image
C. clarity
D. effectiveness
4) For which of the following business messages would it be appropriate to approach the
subject indirectly by leading up to the main point rather than presenting it first?
A. You are e-mailing a copy of a sales report to a colleague who had asked for it
B. You are asking a subordinate to complete an entry that he had overlooked on his
expense report
C. You are complying with an information request sent to you by the county business
license department
D. You are letting your staff know that there will be significant downsizing in your department
in the upcoming year
5) A subordinate comes to you because he is upset with the way he is treated by coworkers.
A good first response would be to
A. Tell him to solve his own problems
B. Tell him about your problems with the same people
C. Acknowledge his feelings

2. D. Give him some advice on how to handle the situation
6) Which of the following would be the BEST way to refuse a customer's request?
A. "Though your warranty expired in June, as a Dave's Club Card customer you are eligible
for a 10% discount on all repairs."
B. "If it were up to me I'd repair your washing machine free since your warranty expired
just last month, but my boss won't allow it."
C. "Please understand that it is impossible for us to do free repairs for all customers."
D. "You claim that your washing machine is under warranty, but our records show that it
expired last month."
7) Crystal agreed to serve on a company’s advisory board and now has to contact them to
say she cannot attend a scheduled meeting where she was to be one of several key speakers.
What should she do?
A. Let the company know she cannot not attend and that they will have to make arrangements
for another speaker
B. Ask the company to cancel the meeting
C. Offer to send a knowledgeable colleague in her place
D. Resign from the advisory board before the meeting date
8) When you are writing subject lines for negative messages to peers and subordinates,
A. put the topic, but not your action on it, in the subject line.
B. put the topic, including your action on it, in the subject line
C. do not include the topic in the subject line
D. describe how the problem happened
9) Which of the following is a negative subject line?
A. “Reduction of Travel Benefits”
B. “Change in Personal Leave Policy”
C. “Improving On-Time Performance”
D. “Results of Customer Service Survey”
10) You are a technical writer in a large company who is working on a training manual to
help new users learn the company's computer system. Employees will use your manual in
training seminars taught by your company's trainers. The manual will also serve as an on-
the-job reference later. Both of the system analysts who designed the computer system and
the trainers will comment on your draft. The trainers would be classified as what kind of
audience for your manual?
A. Watchdog
B. Gatekeeper
C. Primary
D. Secondary
11) Which audience has political, social, or economic power; pays close attention to the
transaction between you and the primary audience; and may base future actions on its
evaluation of your message?

3. A. Auxiliary audience
B. Watchdog audience
C. Gatekeeper
D. Secondary audience
12) Which of the following groups would be considered an internal audience for a
company?
A. Managers in the company’s Human Resources Department
B. Stockholders who have invested in the company
C. State and local agencies that conduct annual health and safety inspections at the
company
D. Three large customers that represent 85% of the company’s annual sales
13) If you are speaking with someone who nods while you are speaking and then brings up
points of disagreement when you are finished, it is likely that your listener
A. nods for no reason at all
B. wants to mislead you
C. agreed with you until the last point you made in the argument
D. was nodding to show that he or she was listening, but was not necessarily agreeing
14) Which of the following audiences would receive an internal document?
A. Your best customers
B. The human resources director
C. The job candidate you wish to hire
D. The CPA who is auditing your company's books
15) Business communication practices in the United States place importance on the written
word, and this indicates that our culture
A. has low-context preferences
B. has high-context preferences
C. is polychromic
D. is monochromic
16) It can be helpful for managers working overseas to have a basic understanding of the
religion observed by workers in that company because
A. then the manager knows when to buy gifts for his or her employees
B. a superior should always seem knowledgeable to his or her employee
C. an ordinary business day in the United States may be a holiday in another country
D. most international companies insist that managers adopt all the customs of the host
country
17) The informational dimension of group interaction looks at
A. who will do what
B. the problem, data, and possible solutions
C. promoting friendliness
D. establishing group loyalty

4. 18) The interpersonal dimension of group interaction focuses on:
A. content
B. method
C. process
D. people
19) Positive roles and actions of individuals that help the group achieve its task goals
include
A. recognizing the contributions of members
B. disagreeing with everything that is proposed
C. restating major points, pulling ideas together, and summarizing decisions
D. showing group members that they have been heard and that their ideas are being taken
seriously
20) Which of the following will help make your business writing easy to read?
A. business jargon
B. parallel structure
C. wordiness
D. consistent sentence length for all sentences
21) Which of the following sentences that begin a letter is appropriate for contemporary
business communication?
A. “Enclosed please find the application forms you requested.”
B. “Pursuant to you request, we are forwarding you the application forms you requested.”
C. “Here are the application forms you requested.”
D. “Your application forms have been enclosed herewith.”
22) Lauren has confirmed flight information, printed directions from the Internet, and
spoken with the human resources department to clarify specific details. She will include
this information in a letter to a job candidate she is inviting for an interview. What part of
the writing process does this activity represent?
A. Writing
B. Gathering
C. Revising
D. Editing
23) Ben chooses a pattern of organization before he begins a letter. What part of the
writing process does this activity represent?
A. Planning
B. Getting feedback
C. Brainstorming
D. Editing

5. 24) A sales brochure includes photos and clipart that is strategically placed within the
marketing piece. This is an example of which level of communications professor Charles
Kostelnick’s levels of communication design?
A. Intra
B. Inter
C. Extra
D. Supra
25) Which of the following would be the BEST place to put your most important visual in a
newsletter?
A. In the center of the page to indicate that the image is central to the newsletter
B. In the bottom left of the page to emphasize material that appears in the top half
C. Parallel to two or more smaller visuals to create balance
D. In the top left of the page because the top is a position of emphasis
26) Which of the following would be considered illegal if done by an employer?
A. Monitor employee’s telephone calls
B. Monitor employee’s internet activities done on company time
C. Monitor communications using company-issued devices such as cell phones
D. Prohibiting an employee from blogging about the company via his or her own computer at
home
27) In a bad-news message to subordinates, why is it a good idea to ask readers to suggest
solutions to the problem?
A. So you will have someone to share the blame with if you are unable to solve the problem
B. So your subordinates will not blame you for the problem
C. To stall for time, so you can think of a solution on your own
D. Because workers who help make a decision are more likely to accept the consequences
28) In a bad-news message to a superior, you should describe what led to the problem
A. so your superior can see that the problem is not your fault
B. to show that the problem is really your boss's fault because you have not been given
adequate resources
C. so he or she will have adequate information to determine if the solution you are going to
propose is appropriate
D. to pad the message so it does not upset the superior too much
29) You must explain to a group of employees the different pension funds they can now
choose. You expect the group to have many questions because many of them will be retiring
within 10 years and want to maximize their retirement income. You should probably
A. send them each a written package of material and ask them to call if they have questions
B. give an oral presentation with lots of visuals
C. send them a package of self-explanatory written material and cover different material at
the presentation

6. D. give them written material to look at ahead of time and go over that material as part of
your presentation
30) Which of the following purposes of an oral presentation is specific in its purpose?
A. “This presentation will cover budget issues.”
B. “This presentation will show that some departments are not managing their budgets
properly.”
C. “This presentation will explain how to forecast materials needs, estimate costs, and prepare
a comprehensive cost budget.”
D. “This presentation will explain the budgeting process since it is so important to the
success of the company.”