MS Powerpoint Questions and Answers

Answer: D

Correct answer: copy formatting from one object and apply it to another

The Format Painter copies the formatting of a selected object - fill, outline, effects, font, size, colour - and applies it to another, leaving the content untouched. Its behaviour is worth knowing precisely: a single click applies the formatting once and then switches the tool off, while a double-click locks it on so the formatting can be applied to several objects in turn until Escape is pressed. That detail saves a great deal of time and is frequently examined. Its keyboard equivalent is Ctrl + Shift + C to copy formatting and Ctrl + Shift + V to apply it. For consistency across a whole presentation the better tool is the Slide Master, which defines formatting centrally so that changing it updates every slide - whereas the Format Painter copies one instance at a time and creates no lasting link. The Animation Painter, on the Animations tab, does the same job for animation effects.

Answer: D

Correct answer: All of the above

A presentation can carry images in .jpg and .gif and sound in .wav, along with many other formats - all inserted as objects on a slide.

Answer: A

Correct answer: .wav files and .mid files

The two sound formats PowerPoint handles directly are .wav, which holds recorded audio, and .mid, which holds instructions for a synthesiser. The .gif and .jpg formats are images.

Answer: A

Correct answer: The visual effect when moving from one slide to the next

A transition is the visual effect used when moving from one slide to the next - fade, push, wipe, morph and so on. It is applied to a slide from the Transitions tab and governs how that slide arrives. The distinction from animation is the point most often examined and most often confused. A transition acts between slides; an animation acts on an object within a slide, controlling how it enters, is emphasised, moves or leaves. The two are on separate ribbon tabs for that reason. Transitions carry a duration and can be triggered by a click or automatically after a set time, and Apply To All gives the whole deck one setting - which is usually the right choice, since varied transitions look unsettled. The Morph transition is the notable modern addition: it animates smoothly between two slides containing the same objects in different positions, producing motion without any animation being set.

Answer: C

Correct answer: an object on a slide, controlling how it appears or moves

An animation is applied to an object on a slide - text, an image, a chart, a shape - and controls how it behaves while that slide is displayed. The four kinds are worth distinguishing. Entrance effects bring an object onto the slide; emphasis effects draw attention to one already present; exit effects remove it; and motion paths move it along a defined route. The Animation Pane lists every effect on the slide in order and is where sequence and timing are controlled: each effect can start On Click, With Previous or After Previous, and can be given a duration and a delay. Building a list one point at a time is the commonest use. The contrast with a transition is the point examined: a transition governs the move between slides, an animation governs an object within one. The Animation Painter copies a set of effects from one object to another.

Answer: C

Correct answer: A slide master and title master for a specific design template

Each design template carries a pair of masters: the slide master governing ordinary slides and the title master governing title slides. Applying a second template to part of a presentation adds a second pair.

Answer: D

Correct answer: a presentation design template

A design template sets the fonts, colours, background and layout for the whole presentation at once, so every slide follows the same appearance.

Answer: B

Correct answer: An item on the slide that performs an action when clicked

A trigger ties an animation to an object: the effect runs when that object is clicked, rather than in the ordinary sequence. That is how an interactive slide is built.

Answer: B

Correct answer: create diagrams such as processes, hierarchies and cycles from text

SmartArt converts a list of text into a formatted diagram - a process chain, an organisation chart, a cycle, a pyramid, a relationship or a matrix. It is inserted from the Insert tab. Its practical value is that the text and the graphic remain linked. Editing the text pane redraws the diagram, and adding an item reflows the whole layout automatically rather than requiring shapes to be moved by hand. A bulleted list already on a slide can be converted to SmartArt in one step from the Home tab. The layout can be changed after the content is entered, so the same points can be tried as a cycle and then as a process without retyping. It picks up the presentation’s theme colours automatically, which keeps it consistent with the rest of the deck. For anything more elaborate than the supplied layouts, a SmartArt graphic can be converted to ordinary shapes and edited freely - though the link to the text is then lost.

Answer: C

Correct answer: another slide, a file, or a web page

A hyperlink in PowerPoint, inserted with Ctrl + K, can point to a web page, an existing file, an email address, a new document, or another slide in the same presentation. That last option is what makes non-linear presentations possible. A menu slide with links to sections lets a speaker jump directly to whichever part the audience asks about, rather than clicking through everything in between - and Action Buttons, on the Shapes menu, provide ready-made back, forward and home controls for the same purpose. Links can be attached to text or to any object, including shapes and images. The Action settings, on the Insert tab, go further: they can trigger a link on mouse over rather than on click, run a program or play a sound. A practical caution: a link to a file uses a path that breaks if the presentation is moved to another machine, so anything essential should be embedded rather than linked.