Learn Technical Writing – Technical Writing Exercise – Words in Context

As Daniel Boone, a famous American senator, once said, “You’re not lost as long as you know where you are.” The same can be said of tech writers. We frequently deal with unfamiliar subjects from architecture to zoology, but if we’re generally familiar with the vocabulary of a field, we can usually work our way through the material. A term that’s unfamiliar by itself is often understandable if we see it in context.

This week, though, we’re flipping that. We’ll give you the context and groups of related terms, with one term that doesn’t belong there. We’ve included a wide variety of subjects because that’s what tech writers write about. Your job is to pick out the one term that doesn’t belong in the group.

Which of these terms is not related to:

1. mailing envelopes long form, self-sealing, window, clasp

2. data storage byte, bite, bit, octet

3. software testing regression, load, parallel, integration, functional

4. mortgage loans fixed, flexible, sub-prime, deferred

5. bread roll shapes parker house, brioche, crescent, Kaiser,

6. training tests multiple choice, hypothesis, true & false, essay

7. medical test procedures appendectomy, oscilloscope, upper GI, biopsy

8. intellectual property trademark, copyright, restraint, patent

9. beer ale, pilsner, lager, port

10. British standard auto body parts boot, vest, bonnet, wing,

11. American after-market auto body parts ground effects, spoiler, fifth wheel, air dam,

12. vacation locations Isle of Capri, Grosse Isle, Aegean Isles, Isles of Langerhan

13. small meals tiffin, snack, nosh, chug

14. Muslim sects Sunni, Shi’a, Sephardic, Sufi

15. legal opinions concurring, dissenting, tribunal, majority

Answers

1. mailing envelopes long form, self-sealing, window, clasp

2. data storage byte, bite, bit, octet

3. software testing regression, load, parallel, integration, functional

4. mortgage loans fixed, flexible, sub-prime, deferred

5. bread roll shapes parker house, brioche, crescent, Kaiser,

6. training tests multiple choice, hypothesis, true & false, essay,

7. medical test procedure appendectomy, oscilloscope, upper GI, biopsy

8. intellectual property trademark, copyright, restraint, patent

9. beer ale, pilsner, lager, port

10. British standard auto body parts boot, vest, bonnet, wing,

11. merican after-market auto body parts ground effects, spoiler, fifth wheel, air dam

12. vacation locations Isle of Capri, Grosse Isle, Aegean Isles, Isles of Langerhan

13. small meals tiffin, snack, nosh, chug

14. Muslim sects Sunni, Shi’a, Sephardic, Sufi

15. legal opinions concurring, dissenting, tribunal, majority