Question 1 of 40

Being persuasive __________.

A. is rarely required in your daily life

B. involves understanding why your audience may resist your ideas

C. means tricking your audience into doing what you want

D. is very unethical, and in some situations may even be illegal

Question 2 of 40

You need to send a persuasive message to a co-worker, but you want to receive the feedback immediately. Under these circumstances, which of the following would be the best medium for your message?

A. an email

B. an instant message

C. a phone call

D. a memo

Question 3 of 40

If you phrase bad news __________, your audience is more likely to understand your message.

A. by sugarcoating it

B. in clear terms

C. through implication

D. using subtle hints

Question 4 of 40

Angelina has to reject an employee’s request for time off, and is trying to determine the best medium in which to deliver this message. She is also thinking about what the employee’s reaction will be, and if there is anything she can say to soften the bad news. Angelina is engaged in which stage of the ACE process?

A. analyzing

B. addressing

C. composing

D. critiquing

Question 5 of 40

In the analyzing phase of creating a message, you think about the purpose, desired outcome, and business result of your message. Which of the following best articulates the purpose of your message?

A. to suggest the possibility of implementing a flex-time schedule in your office

B. to describe to your boss how your life would change with a flex-time schedule

C. to tell your boss how much your friend likes having a flex-time schedule

D. to improve employee productivity and job satisfaction by giving workers more balanced lives

Question 6 of 40

If you communicate bad news ineffectively, you risk __________.

A. getting immediate feedback

B. losing customers, clients, or employees

C. having the news accepted as final

D. being blamed for the incident that led to the news

Question 7 of 40

One of the four goals of delivering bad news is to __________.

A. state the news clearly, yet sensitively

B. protect the audience’s self-esteem by only hinting at the news

C. offend your audience if necessary to get the message across

D. gloss over the facts that may cause legal complications

Question 8 of 40

Galaxy Foods, a large manufacturer of snack products, learns that some of the items it labels as “nut-free” may actually have been contaminated by tree nuts. A press release expressing this news needs to be drafted, and the PR department decides to use the indirect organizational plan. This plan __________. ?

A. is a good idea under the circumstances, as it will soften the impact of the bad news

B. is a strategic and forward-thinking move to preserve the positive image of the company

C. is inappropriate, as it runs the risk of obscuring the bad news that could endanger people’s health

D. is not the best decision, as it will immediately alert the audience to the seriousness of the bad news

Question 9 of 40

Which of the following statements would be best to include in a letter turning down someone who applied for a job?

A. We are sorry to inform you that your credentials were not as impressive as those of the other candidates who applied for the position.

B. We think that you are talented, but feel the position would best be filled by a younger, more vibrant candidate.

C. Unfortunately, we were more impressed by the other candidates.

D. After much consideration, we have offered the position to another candidate.

Question 10 of 40

A manufacturing company realizes that one of its products has a serious defect and wants to quickly disseminate this news to the public. Which of the following would be an appropriate way to accomplish this?

A. website

B. memo

C. telephone

D. letter

Question 11 of 40

During lunch with a friend, she tells you that her office recently implemented flex-time hours. It has been a positive change at her workplace, and you think that it would be great to have flex-timing at your office as well. You decide to approach your boss about this possibility. Which of the following would be best to include in an email to your boss suggesting the idea?

A. I think a flex-time schedule would be good for me.

B. Flex-time would give me more free time.

C. I bet everyone would love having a more flexible schedule instead of the typical 9-5 work schedule.

D. In other offices, the flex-time schedule has increased productivity and decreased turnover.

Question 12 of 40

Your boss is in a hurry to leave, so she quickly delegates an assignment to you. She needs you to communicate some bad news to a number of people at different geographic locations. Though she wants the message to spread instantaneously, she wants to give the audience time to carefully consider a response. It’s also a priority for her that the message doesn’t come across as impersonal or evasive. After she has left, you realize that she didn’t specify which medium she wants you to use for the message. Taking her considerations into account, you determine that a(n. __________ would be an appropriate medium to use. ?

A. newsletter

B. email

C. letter

D. blog post

Question 13 of 40

In persuasive situations, you will increase your chances of getting a positive response by __________ the analyzing phase of the ACE communication process.

A. devoting less time to

B. changing the order of

C. omitting

D. spending more time on

Question 14 of 40

Before __________ a bad-news message, __________ the situation by asking yourself several questions that might help you develop content and choose the best medium. ?

A. analyzing; evaluate

B. analyzing; compose

C. composing; encode

D. composing; analyze

Question 15 of 40

In the ACE communication process, __________ involves thinking strategically about your purpose, desired outcome, business needs, audience and stakeholder needs, content needs, and medium choices.

A. analyzing

B. adjusting

C. composing

D. creating

Question 16 of 40

Which of the following medium options is recommended both for targeting a personal appeal to an individual and for communicating with large audiences?

A. email

B. memo

C. telephone

D. group meeting

Question 17 of 40

Which of the following statements about buffers is true?

A. A buffer is a closing statement that comes after bad news.

B. A buffer tends to worsen the adverse impact of bad news.

C. A buffer should obscure the fact that bad news may be coming later in the message.

D. A buffer can provide positive information that builds goodwill.

Question 18 of 40

Which of the following options is most likely to be used for reaching potential audiences you can’t yet identify?

A. group meeting

B. email

C. telephone

D. blog

Question 19 of 40

In which of the following situations should the indirect organizational method be avoided?

A. in a message telling an employee that his approved vacation must be rescheduled due to an emergency in the office that will require his presence

B. in a message informing a customer that her faulty product cannot be replaced due to a shortage of stock

C. in a message informing a client that, due to an unexpected personal situation, a company will not be able to meet a deadline

D. in a message communicating the recall of a particular model of car seat because of a defective latch

Question 20 of 40

For which of the following reasons would making a telephone call be preferable to sending an email?

A. It allows you to reach large audiences.

B. It allows you to include additional arguments that may help your persuasive appeal.

C. It gives your audience time to consider your appeal before carefully responding.

D. It allows for immediate feedback so you can alter your appeal instantly, if necessary.

Part 2 of 2 – Lesson 5 Questions 37.5/ 50.0 Points

Question 21 of 40

Which of the following statements is true of primary sources?

A. Primary sources provide raw data.

B. Primary sources exclude surveys and interviews.

C. Primary sources include Wikipedia and various encyclopedias.

D. Primary sources are only qualitative.

Question 22 of 40

You are working on your first research project at a new job; you discuss your work with a colleague who has been at the company for five years. She tells you that one of your sources will not be highly regarded by the professional audience to whom you will be presenting, and advises you to omit it. Which of the following sources is she most likely referring to?

A. The New York Times

B. The Wall Street Journal

C. U.S. Department of Labor data

D. Wikipedia

Question 23 of 40

When doing background research on your topic, the question “What else exists that serves similar purposes?” is about the topic’s __________.

A. category

B. history

C. popularity

D. context

Question 24 of 40

Using the search string “cake recipe” – “egg” in a search engine would yield results __________.

A. about either eggs or cake recipes, but not both

B. of cake recipes that mention eggs

C. about both cake recipes and eggs

D. of cake recipes that do not mention eggs

Question 25 of 40

You enter the phrase flex-time schedule into Google and get about 313,000 results. Trying your search again, this time with quotation marks around the phrase, __________.

A. will not lead to an exact match

B. will likely dramatically increase the number of results

C. will result in a list of resources which include that exact match

D. will yield results that include any of those three words anywhere on the page

Question 26 of 40

Considering whether any web links are broken is a part of evaluating the source’s __________.

A. accuracy

B. authorship

C. age

D. clarity

Question 27 of 40

As you prepare to analyze a research question and topic, which of the following would be your best first move?

A. considering whether there are options other than outsourcing the work

B. asking entry-level employees how they feel about doing these tasks

C. calling a few outsourcing service providers to get quotes from them

D. finding out whether any of your competitors outsource this kind of work

Question 28 of 40

At your company, a number of routine office tasks are loosely shared among entry-level employees, who perform these duties in addition to their specific job descriptions. This often results in tasks being done late, poorly, or not at all. You suggest to your boss that outsourcing this work might be a good idea. He is interested, so he asks you to research and recommend a service provider. In this case, which of the following is the best example of a primary source?

A. the website of an outsourcing service provider that you are considering

B. a Wikipedia article about the popularity of outsourcing

C. a journal article about the impact of outsourcing on a company’s bottom line

D. a research report discussing the effects of outsourcing on the overall economy

Question 29 of 40

Which of the following aspects of determining what information you need is being targeted while doing background research to broaden your understanding of your topic’s history, context, structure, and categories?

A. analyzing the research question and topic

B. identifying audience concerns and needs

C. establishing the scope of the research

D. defining research activities

Question 30 of 40

For which of the following question types are the responses most likely to vary?

A. yes/no

B. open-ended

C. Likert (agreement. scale

D. rating scale

E. open-ended

Question 31 of 40

In your research you consult Thomson One Banker, IBIS World, and Yahoo Finance. This means that you are using __________ to conduct your search.

A. an online bookstore

B. online business research tools

C. general search engines

D. an online publication index

Question 32 of 40

At your company, a number of routine office tasks are loosely shared among entry-level employees, who perform these duties in addition to their specific job descriptions. This often results in tasks being done late, poorly, or not at all. You suggest to your boss that outsourcing this work might be a good idea. He is interested, so he asks you to research and recommend a service provider. Which of the following best articulates the research question you have been asked to explore?

A. Is it fair to make entry-level employees do this additional work?

B. How can we train the entry-level employees so that they can perform these tasks in a more efficient manner?

C. Which outsourcing service provider would be the best for us?

D. Is outsourcing the best solution to our problem?

Question 33 of 40

Which of the following questions is recommended for use in assessing the accuracy of a source?

A. How current is the information?

B. Do others frequently cite the source?

C. If the source is a website, does it identify the author?

D. Is the source protected by a copyright?

Question 34 of 40

Which of the following assignments would require you to conduct research and share the results?

A. investigating why product sales are low

B. implementing a new code developed by your colleague

C. adding results you have just received to your report

D. organizing a marketing team meeting

Question 35 of 40

Which of the following questions is recommended for evaluating the authorship of a source?

A. Do other sources agree with this information?

B. Is the source published or sponsored by a reputable organization?

C. Does the author acknowledge and respond to opposing points of view?

D. How current is the information?

Question 36 of 40

When it comes to research, __________.

A. students should be discouraged from using books, as they are less credible than online sources

B. students often shun online information sources in favor of books

C. the drawback with online content is that it cannot be updated regularly

D. books are valuable resources, as they are often professionally written, reviewed, and edited

Question 37 of 40

When you type into a basic search engine like Google, Bing, or Yahoo, the sites that appear at the top or on the side of the results page are usually __________.

A. those that are most frequently accessed

B. those that have paid a fee to be featured in the results

C. those that most closely match your search terms

D. those that are least relevant to your search

Question 38 of 40

Which of the following do you need to avoid in order to be an efficient researcher?

A. evaluating your sources for credibility

B. using a library or bookseller to find relevant books

C. using only Google searches to find information

D. following leads found in good sources

Question 39 of 40

Mandy is conducting a survey; her primary goal is to make sure that survey participants actually respond, but it is not possible for her to personally meet her participants as they are all geographically dispersed. Which survey medium would be best for Mandy to use?

A. mail surveys

B. web surveys

C. telephone surveys

D. email surveys

Question 40 of 40

When you are using a search engine, the main body of the results page is most likely to begin with sites __________.

A. that are least relevant to your search

B. that are being accessed by other users at that very moment

C. that are accessed least frequently

D. that are frequently accessed or that most closely match your search terms