MS Word Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: Enter Key

Enter ends the current paragraph and begins a new one, which is why paragraph spacing appears between them. Shift + Enter breaks the line without ending the paragraph.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Different page layout, orientation or headers in different parts of a document

A section break divides a document into parts that can each have their own page setup - different margins, orientation, paper size, column layout, headers, footers and page numbering. A page break merely starts a new page and changes nothing else. The classic use is a report in which one page carrying a wide table must be landscape while the rest is portrait: that requires a section break before and after it. There are four kinds. Next Page starts the new section on a new page; Continuous starts it on the same page, which is how a two-column block is placed inside a one-column document; Even Page and Odd Page start it on the next page of that parity, as chapters in a printed book do. The detail that causes most trouble is that a new section begins linked to the previous one for headers and footers. Link to Previous must be switched off before they can differ.

Answer: A

Correct answer: show the differences between two versions of a document

Compare, on the Review tab, takes two versions of a document and produces a third showing every difference as a tracked change, so an original and a revised copy can be reconciled even when Track Changes was never switched on. It is often called a legal blackline for that reason, and it is the standard way to find out what someone actually altered in a returned file. The result opens with the two source documents shown alongside the comparison and a list of revisions, and the changes can then be accepted or rejected in the usual way. Its companion is Combine, on the same menu, which merges the tracked changes of several reviewers into one document while keeping each reviewer’s marks distinct - the tool for consolidating comments from a group. Neither alters the source files. The distinction between the two - Compare for versions, Combine for reviewers - is the point most often examined.

Answer: A

Correct answer: produce many personalised documents from one template and a data source

Mail Merge combines a main document - a letter, label sheet or envelope containing merge fields - with a data source such as a Word table, an Excel worksheet or an Outlook contact list, producing one personalised copy per record. The process has three parts: writing the main document, connecting the data source and inserting the fields, then previewing and completing the merge. Fields such as «FirstName» are replaced by the value from each record in turn. It is more capable than simple substitution. Rules allow conditional text - an If…Then…Else field can vary the wording by record - and recipients can be filtered or sorted before merging. The third option describes an entirely different feature, Combine or Compare, used to reconcile two versions of the same document. Mail Merge is most often used for form letters, mailing labels, envelopes and certificates.

Answer: A

Correct answer: switch

A field code may carry optional instructions called switches, introduced by a backslash, which modify how the result is formatted - the date format, the number format, the case of the text.

Answer: D

Correct answer: It places faint text or an image behind the content of every page

A watermark is faint text or an image placed behind the body text, repeating on every page. It is applied from the Design tab, and Word supplies presets such as CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT and URGENT, with custom text or a picture also possible. Its purpose is to mark the status of a document without interfering with reading it - and to make an unauthorised photocopy identifiable. Technically it lives in the header layer, which is why it repeats automatically and why it can only be edited by opening the header area. That also means a document divided into sections can carry a different watermark in each, or none. It is a visual mark, not a security feature: the second option describes Encrypt with Password, and Restrict Editing is a further protection. Anyone who can open a watermarked file can remove the watermark. The third option describes Page Borders, on the same tab.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Auto Correct

AutoCorrect replaces a misspelling as soon as the word is completed, so the error never survives in the document. The spelling checker finds errors after the fact; AutoText inserts stored blocks of text.

Answer: B

Correct answer: AutoCorrect

AutoCorrect replaces text as you type according to a list of entries - changing teh to the, capitalising the first letter of a sentence, and correcting two initial capitals. Its list is editable, and that is what makes it more than a spelling aid: an entry can be added to expand an abbreviation into a long phrase, so typing a short code produces a full address or a standard clause. The distractors are separate features. AutoFormat applies formatting automatically - turning a typed hyphen list into a bulleted list, or converting straight quotes into curly ones. AutoText, now part of Quick Parts, stores reusable blocks of content to be inserted on demand. AutoSave preserves the document at intervals so that work is not lost. AutoCorrect should not be confused with the spelling checker, which flags errors with a wavy underline and waits for the user to act rather than changing anything itself.

Answer: D

Correct answer: It applies the Normal style to the selected paragraph

Ctrl + Shift + N applies the Normal style, stripping paragraph-level formatting back to the document default. It is the fastest way to undo a tangle of manual formatting. Its companion is Ctrl + Spacebar, which removes character formatting - bold, italic, colour, size - while leaving the paragraph style intact. Between them the two clear almost any formatting problem. The heading shortcuts belong with them: Ctrl + Alt + 1, 2 and 3 apply Heading 1, 2 and 3, which is much faster than choosing from the Styles gallery and matters because those styles drive the table of contents and the Navigation pane. Ctrl + N, without Shift, creates a new document - which is the second option and the usual confusion. Note that Normal here is a paragraph style, distinct from the Normal.dotm template that supplies the defaults for every new document.

Answer: D

Correct answer: increase the font size of the selected text

Ctrl + Shift + > increases the font size of the selection, stepping through the sizes in the font-size list. Its counterpart, Ctrl + Shift + <, decreases it. The arrows point the way the size moves, which makes the pair easy to remember. A related pair, Ctrl + ] and Ctrl + [, changes the size by exactly one point at a time, which is finer control for adjusting a heading. Both are useful when a document must be made to fit a fixed number of pages. The other formatting shortcuts belong with them: Ctrl + B, Ctrl + I and Ctrl + U for bold, italic and underline; Ctrl + Shift + A for all capitals; Ctrl + Shift + K for small capitals; and Ctrl + Spacebar to strip character formatting entirely. Note that none of these alters the underlying text, so it remains searchable however it is formatted.