MS Word Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: Reverses the last action; Ctrl + Z

Undo reverses the most recent action, and its shortcut is Ctrl + Z. Pressing it repeatedly steps back through a history of actions, and the arrow beside the Undo button on the Quick Access Toolbar shows that list so several steps can be undone at once. Its counterpart is Redo, Ctrl + Y, which restores an action that has just been undone. A subtlety worth knowing: when there is nothing to redo, Ctrl + Y performs Repeat instead, applying the last action again elsewhere - which is a fast way to apply the same formatting to several places. F4 does the same. Undo has limits. It does not reverse saving, and once a document is closed the history is lost. Ctrl + X cuts the selection to the clipboard, which is a different operation and is itself undoable.

Answer: C

Correct answer: shift

Clicking marks one end of the selection and Shift-clicking marks the other, selecting everything between. Ctrl-clicking would begin a second, separate selection instead.

Answer: B

Correct answer: .docx

The default extension is .docx, introduced with Word 2007. The x marks it as XML-based: the file is in fact a compressed archive containing XML parts describing the text, formatting and embedded objects. That structure has real advantages over the older binary .doc. Files are smaller because the archive is compressed, damaged files are more often recoverable because the parts are separate, and the format is an open standard rather than a proprietary one. Related extensions follow the same pattern: .dotx for a template, .docm for a macro-enabled document, and .dotm for a macro-enabled template. The separation of macro-enabled formats is a security measure - a plain .docx cannot carry macros at all. .txt is plain text with no formatting, and .rtf is Rich Text Format, an older interchange format readable by almost any word processor.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Subdual

An AutoCorrect entry replaces its name as soon as it is typed, so the name must be something no one would ever write on purpose. Subdual is that; Regret is a word in ordinary use and would be replaced every time it appeared.

Answer: A

Correct answer: unassigned

A shortcut assigned to a symbol should use a combination that does nothing else, since assigning one already in use takes the key away from its existing command. Keys on the numeric pad and font membership have no bearing on it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: at the bottom of the page on which its reference occurs

A footnote appears at the foot of the page carrying its reference mark; an endnote appears at the end of the document or section. That is the whole distinction between the two, and both are inserted from the References tab. Word manages them automatically. The reference marks are numbered in sequence, and inserting a new note part way through renumbers everything after it. If the text moves to another page, its footnote follows. The shortcuts are Alt + Ctrl + F for a footnote and Alt + Ctrl + D for an endnote, and the two can be converted into each other from the Footnote and Endnote dialogue. That dialogue also controls the numbering format, whether numbering restarts on each page or section, and the separator line above the notes. Double-clicking a reference mark jumps to the note, and double-clicking the note jumps back - the quickest way to move between them.

Answer: C

Correct answer: mail merge

Mail merge combines a standard document with a list of names and addresses to produce one personalised copy for each record. The standard document supplies the wording and the data source the variable parts.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Moves the cursor one word left

Ctrl with a horizontal arrow moves by word rather than by character, so Ctrl + Left goes to the start of the previous word.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Thirteen on A4 in portrait

The Columns command offers presets for one, two and three columns plus Left and Right, and the More Columns dialogue allows a number to be typed. The maximum is limited by page width rather than by a fixed figure: each column must be at least half an inch wide, which on A4 in portrait works out at about thirteen. A landscape page allows more. Column layout is a section property, so a two-column block inside a one-column document requires Continuous section breaks above and below it. Selecting the text before applying columns inserts them automatically. Text flows down the first column and then to the top of the next. A column break, Ctrl + Shift + Enter, forces the flow to the next column early. The dialogue also controls the spacing between columns and whether a vertical line is drawn between them.

Answer: B

Correct answer: periodically saves a temporary copy so work can be recovered after a crash

AutoRecover writes a temporary copy of open documents at intervals - ten minutes by default - so that if Word or the machine crashes, the work can be recovered when Word next starts. The interval is set in File, Options, Save. It is important to understand what it is not. It does not save the document: the file on disk is untouched until Ctrl + S is pressed, and the AutoRecover copy is discarded when a document is closed normally. It is a crash safety net, not a substitute for saving. The related setting, Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving, preserves that copy for a time and makes it reachable through Recover Unsaved Documents at the foot of the Open pane. AutoSave is a different and newer feature: for files stored on OneDrive or SharePoint it writes changes continuously to the real file, with version history available.