Q&A Hero

Q: Which of the following statements regarding the U.S. government's action against monopolies in the late 1800s to early 1900s is false? A) The government passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, outlawing monopoly practices. B) The American Tobacco Company was one of the monopolies that broke up due to government action. C) The Clayton Antitrust Act was passed in 1914, prohibiting manufacturers to sell to dealers who agreed to reject the products of their rivals. D) Despite the Sherman Antitrust Act, Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company remained a monopoly. E) All of the statements are true.

Q: Describe one element of the physical environment in your favorite public place to hang out with friends (a restaurant, caf, pub, etc.), and what that aspect of the environment communicates to patrons.

Q: Competent communication through technological media like e-mail requires communicators to use clearer language than is usually required in face-to-face communication to make up for the nonverbal cues that are missing. A) True B) False

Q: The first antitrust law, enacted in 1890, was the ______ Act. A) Clayton Antitrust B) Sherman Antitrust C) Celler-Kefauver D) Federal Trade Commission E) None of the above options is correct.

Q: The transition to an information economy was characterized by ______. A) an increasingly centralized and permanent workforce B) intense product rivalry between one country and another C) an emphasis on mass rather than niche markets D) concentrated ownership in nearly every media sector E) the ever-increasing power of labor union movements

Q: When Kent, who lives in Illinois, visited his cousins in Los Angeles, he got a confused look when he asked them if they had any "pop." After a few seconds, his aunt said, "Oh, you want a soda!" Geography can account for linguistic differences like this. A) True B) False

Q: Speakers who use qualifiers, hedges, and disclaimers are usually perceived to be uncertain or hesitant and, therefore, less powerful. A) True B) False

Q: Which of the following is a characteristic of the shift from an industrial to an information economy? A) A change in focus from mass production to niche markets B) A movement from global to local markets C) A movement from office work to factory and industrialized production D) An emphasis on laborers rather than service workers E) All of the options are correct.

Q: "I feel like maybe this movie is too violent for us to see as a family." This statement includes a disclaimer. A) True B) False

Q: If the first half of the twentieth century was part of the Industrial Age, the shift away from manufacturing jobs starting in the 1950s led to a period often known as the ______. A) Monopolistic Age B) Information Age C) Cultural Imperialism Age D) MTV Age E) New Ice Age

Q: When a media business relies on indirect payments for most of its revenue, consumers tend to ______. A) become commodities to be "sold" to advertisers, who are the real clients B) become completely unimportant C) have the ability to communicate their preferences immediately D) have the power to determine the type of advertising used E) None of the above options is correct.

Q: When comparing men and women who have equal status, men tend to interrupt more often than women do. A) True B) False

Q: The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that men and women have different speech repertoires as a result of biological differences between the sexes. A) True B) False

Q: Media that rely primarily on direct payment to collect revenues include ______. A) movies B) online search engines C) over-the-air radio stations D) consumer magazines E) daily newspapers

Q: Medical jargon like "phlebotomy" is an example of high language. A) True B) False

Q: Using informal language within a conversation can create a comfortable and informal context. A) True B) False

Q: The use of politically correct language is unanimously accepted in the discipline of communication as a positive thing because it removes bias from language and helps people communicate more clearly. A) True B) False

Q: Jargon is an informal form of language that is known to most people in a particular culture at a particular time. A) True B) False

Q: When Tom's manager sat down to tell him he was fired from his job at the car wash, he said, "Tom, I'm going to have to let you go." This less offensive turn of phrase would be considered a euphemism. A) True B) False

Q: Which of the following best describeslimited competition? A) A single firm that dominates an industry B) A market that has many producers and sellers, but only a few products C) A few firms that dominate an industry D) Customers that pay directly for media goods, such as a cable TV or a magazine subscription E) A company that is limited in the way it can compete with its rivals, as in case of price fixing

Q: On their first date, Rebecca asked Andy what he did for a living. Andy responded vaguely, "Oh, I work in retail." Rebecca had to ask Andy "What types of stores?" and "What types of positions have you held?" in order to get him to provide any specific details. We would categorize Andy's initial highly abstract response as equivocation. A) True B) False

Q: Although lower abstractions ensure clarity, we sometimes use high abstractions to accomplish specific communication goals. A) True B) False

Q: The book publishing and motion picture industries are both examples of ______. A) monopolies B) oligopolies C) O & Os D) limited competition E) None of the above options is correct.

Q: Media owners encourage public debates about the structure and ownership of mass media because they consider such discussion to be in their best interests. A) True B) False

Q: The U.S. mainstream news media have done little in recent years to sustain a public debate. A) True B) False

Q: On the abstraction ladder discussed in the text, the word "fork" would be more abstract than the word "utensil." A) True B) False

Q: News organizations owned by large media conglomerates have been significantly increasing the number of reporters assigned to cover international issues, especially following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A) True B) False

Q: When Joe's professor says he will have to give a presentation in class, Joe feels his heart start to race and his palms begin to sweat. Joe probably reacts this way because his denotative meaning for the word "presentation" is unpleasant. A) True B) False

Q: American culture dominates global markets partly because it is appealing and partly for economic reasons. A) True B) False

Q: Every word has both a denotative and connotative meaning. A) True B) False

Q: Pragmatics refers to the meanings words have for people. A) True B) False

Q: One concern about the creation of a global village is cultural disconnection. A) True B) False

Q: The global spread of media software and electronic hardware has made it easier for political leaders to secretly suppress dissident groups. A) True B) False

Q: When someone says a disagreement is related to semantics, he or she is suggesting that the root of the problem is disagreement about the meaning the words have to the people involved. A) True B) False

Q: Most citizens of developed countries have a wide range of media products available to them, but have little say in which media are created and circulated. A) True B) False

Q: The imagining functional competency refers to our ability to use language to play as well as our ability to think ahead and anticipate what someone else might say. A) True B) False

Q: The communication competency of expressing feeling emphasizes that emotions are deeply personal and that there are no real standards of appropriateness or effectiveness for how we express feelings. A) True B) False

Q: Competent communicators adjust their language to each person, group, or context they encounter. A) True B) False

Q: Asking questions is a way of using language to accomplish the functional competency of informing. A) True B) False

Q: Grammar includes rules about how words should be pronounced as well as how they should be placed in sentences. A) True B) False

Q: Although grammar is important in written communication, the transactional nature of oral communication means that using correct grammar is not required to communicate effectively. A) True B) False

Q: The cognitive language you use about someone or something else affects your experiences with them. A) True B) False

Q: Unlike with other codes, there is a natural and universal connection between language symbols and the things they represent. A) True B) False

Q: Vocal elements like pauses and changes in volume or pitch are all part of verbal communication. A) True B) False

Q: Give an example of a tag question.

Q: Former CBS broadcast chief William Paley once argued that anyone who attacked the commercial broadcast system was attacking democracy itself. A) True B) False

Q: Imagine that you are a woman who is being hit on by a man you do not find attractive. Provide an example of a resistance message that adheres to the feminine preferences discussed in the text.

Q: Apple is now the largest e-commerce site in the world. A) True B) False

Q: What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

Q: Disney now owns the rights to theStar Wars movies. A) True B) False

Q: The success of Snow White,Fantasia, and Pinocchio propelled the Disney Company to major studio status. A) True B) False

Q: Provide an example each of a context in which high language would be appropriate and a context in which low language would be an appropriate choice.

Q: Define the process of code switching.

Q: What do we mean when we say that competent communicators use language that meets a standard of civility, and how does that differ from rude or profane language?

Q: Synergy typically refers to the promotion and sale of different versions of a media product across the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate. A) True B) False

Q: The term synergy describes the dynamic creative energy of media corporations such as Disney. A) True B) False

Q: Because of the rise of specialization, people under eighteen and women over thirty-five have more cable television shows targeted at them. A) True B) False

Q: Define and provide an example of politically correct language.

Q: What is the difference between hatespeech and hurtful language?

Q: The global economy has reduced prices to the point where most low paid workers in Third World factories can afford the stereos and TV sets they help manufacture. A) True B) False

Q: What is an example of jargon that you use at work or that you have encountered when communicating with a professional in some field?

Q: From 2009 to 2012, most U.S. postrecession growth has been among middle-class Americans. A) True B) False

Q: The era of downsizing coincided with an increase in workers who belong to labor unions. A) True B) False

Q: Contrast the difference between slang and jargon.

Q: Provide an example of a euphemism.

Q: Because today's flexible economy demands fast product development, smaller media companies have an advantage over their larger competitors. A) True B) False

Q: Briefly describe the meaning of the abstraction ladder. What is the difference between words at the top of the ladder as compared to the ones on the lower rungs?

Q: Most media companies spread out their holdings among various types of mass media rather than trying to control one medium, to avoid monopoly charges. A) True B) False

Q: Disney owns the television network ABC. A) True B) False

Q: Define the difference between denotative and connotative meaning.

Q: In your own words, what is the difference between semantics and pragmatics?

Q: The deregulation movement returned media economics to nineteenth-century principles. A) True B) False

Q: Provide a brief example to illustrate how we use the ritualizing function of language.

Q: Grammar is made up of ____________ that dictate how words should be pronounced and ___________ that dictate the placement of words in sentences.

Q: Government controls over business were drastically weakened during the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981"1989). A) True B) False

Q: The government trend toward deregulation was actually begun during the Carter years. A) True B) False

Q: The theory that holds that the words a culture uses (or doesn't use) influence the thinking of people from that culture is A) linguistic anthropology. B) high-context culture. C) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. D) political correctness.

Q: What term refers to a form of accommodation in which a communicator changes his or her regular language and slang to fit into a particular group? A) political correctness B) hedging C) qualifying D) code switching

Q: The movement toward business deregulation started during the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981"1989). A) True B) False

Q: The purpose of the 1950 Celler-Kefauver Act was to limit corporate mergers and joint ventures that reduced competition. A) True B) False