Chap 3 (P2)

Which of the following sentences is most effective in de-emphasizing the bad news?

• Although cash refunds are not offered, you can exchange resalable merchandise.

• Although you can exchange returned merchandise, cash refunds are not available.

• Because we only exchange merchandise, it is impossible for you to receive a cash refund.

• Because of our exchange policy, you may not receive a cash refund.

Although most business writing should be in the active voice, passive voice is useful to _______.

• stress the performer of the action

• be more concise

• make the message more direct

• de-emphasize negative news

Which of the following uses only active voice in a complete sentence?

• The company's rigid return policy was criticized by a few unhappy customers.

• Because a few unhappy customers criticized the company's rigid return policy.

• Managers were told about the unhappy customers who criticized the company's rigid return policy.

• A few unhappy customers criticized the company's rigid return policy.

When should passive voice be used in business writing?

• When you want to de-emphasize the action or the recipient of the action

• When you want to emphasize the bad news

• When you want to conceal the doer of the action

• Never

The use of similar structures to express similar ideas is known as ________ construction.

• parallel

• grammatical

• mechanical

• dependent

Which of the following uses parallel structure?

• Our new paralegal must be smart, efficient, and have flexibility.

• The accident shattered her pelvis, dislocated her foot, and her spinal column was broken in three places.

• Big business demands superior forecasting, reporting, and analyzing.

• A good financial planner must be certified, competent, and must possess ethical standards.

A(n) ________ modifier occurs when the word or phrase it describes is not close in the sentence enough to be clear.

• parallel

• misplaced

• distant

• run-on

To avoid dangling modifiers, you can ask which of the following questions after writing an introductory phrase?

• Why?

• Who or What?

• When?

• How many?

The sentence that expresses a paragraph's main idea is called the _______.

• blueprint

• preview

• supporting content

• topic sentence

How many main ideas should be developed in a paragraph?

• Two

• Three to five

• One

• As many as needed to convey effective meaning