MS Word: Ribbon, Shortcuts and Exam MCQs

The correct answer is B, 11. A new blank document in Microsoft Word 2016 opens in the Calibri font at a size of 11 points, and the same pair of defaults is used from Word 2007 through Word 2019. The setting can be seen in the Font group of the Home tab the moment a new document is created, and it can be altered for every future document through the Font dialog box by choosing the font and the size and then clicking Set As Default.

Option A, 10 points, is not the default of any Word version in common use. Option C, 12 points, is the size many offices and universities insist on for a printed report, and it was the default size of the older Times New Roman default in Word 2003, which is why it is the favourite distractor here. Option D, 14 points, is a heading size a user applies by hand and is never the default body size.

The correct answer is C, .docx. From Word 2007 onwards a document is saved by default in the Office Open XML format, whose extension is .docx. The format stores the document as compressed XML parts, which makes the file smaller and easier for a damaged file to be recovered from than the older binary format.

Option A, .doc, was the default extension up to Word 2003 and is still offered in the Save As list for users who must share a file with a very old version, but it is no longer the default. Option B, .txt, is a plain text file that keeps no formatting at all, no fonts, no tables and no pictures, so Word only produces it when the user asks for it. Option D, .dotx, is the extension of a Word template, the ready made pattern from which new documents are created, and not of an ordinary document.

The correct answer is D, Mailings. The Mailings tab holds Start Mail Merge, Select Recipients, Insert Merge Field, Preview Results and Finish and Merge, along with the Envelopes and Labels commands. A mail merge joins a main document, which carries the matter common to everyone, with a data source, which carries the list of names and addresses, and prints one personalised copy for each record.

Option A, the Insert tab, is used for pages, tables, pictures, links, headers, footers and symbols. Option B, the References tab, is used for a table of contents, footnotes, endnotes, captions, citations and an index. Option C, the Review tab, is used for the spelling and grammar check, the thesaurus, word count, comments and track changes. None of these three contains the merge commands.

The correct answer is A, Ctrl + J. Justified alignment stretches the spaces between the words of every full line so that the text touches both the left and the right margin and the paragraph looks like a rectangle. It is the alignment used in newspapers and in printed books, and the same command is available in the Paragraph group of the Home tab.

Option B, Ctrl + E, centres the paragraph, placing each line in the middle of the line width and leaving both margins ragged. Option C, Ctrl + L, aligns the paragraph to the left margin, which is the setting a new paragraph starts with. Option D, Ctrl + R, aligns the paragraph to the right margin, the alignment normally used for a date or an address block. Only justification straightens both margins at once.

The correct answer is B, F7. Pressing F7 opens the spelling and grammar checker, which moves through the document word by word, marks a word it does not find in its dictionary and offers a list of suggestions, with the choice of ignoring the word once, ignoring it everywhere or adding it to the dictionary. The same command sits in the Proofing group of the Review tab, and Shift+F7 opens the thesaurus instead.

Option A, F5, opens the Find and Replace dialog box at its Go To tab, which jumps to a page, section or line number. Option C, F9, updates a selected field, such as a page number or a table of contents entry. Option D, F12, opens the Save As dialog box, where the file name, the folder and the file format are chosen before saving.

The correct answer is A, Ctrl + Enter. A page break ends the current page at the position of the cursor and pushes everything after it to the top of the next page, so that a new chapter or a new heading always begins on a fresh page even if the matter above it is later edited. The same command is available as Page Break in the Pages group of the Insert tab and in the Breaks list of the Layout tab.

Option B, Shift + Enter, inserts a line break, which starts a new line inside the same paragraph and keeps the paragraph formatting unbroken. Option C, Alt + Enter, repeats the last action in Word and is not a break at all. Option D, Ctrl + Shift + P, opens the Font dialog box with the font size box selected, so it changes size and does not break a page.

The correct answer is C, References. The Table of Contents command is the first group of the References tab. Word builds the list automatically from the text to which heading styles such as Heading 1 and Heading 2 have been applied, and the entries and page numbers are refreshed with the Update Table button whenever the document changes.

Option A, the Insert tab, adds objects into the document, pictures, shapes, charts, tables, headers, footers and symbols, but not the contents list. Option B, the Design tab, controls the look of the whole document through themes, page colour, page borders and a watermark. Option D, the View tab, only changes how the document is displayed on screen, offering Read Mode, Print Layout, Web Layout, Outline and Draft views along with the ruler, zoom and split window.

The correct answer is B, Word 2007. The ribbon, a strip of tabs each divided into groups of related commands, was introduced across Microsoft Office in the 2007 release and took the place of the drop down menu bar and the floating toolbars used until then. Word 2007 also brought in the round Office Button at the top left corner and the new .docx file format.

Option A, Word 2003, is the last version that used the old menu bar with File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window and Help, and the standard and formatting toolbars. Option C, Word 2010, kept the ribbon but replaced the Office Button with the File tab and its Backstage view. Option D, Word 2013, added Read Mode and a Design tab, but the ribbon itself was already six years old by then.

The correct answer is A, Thesaurus. With the cursor on a word, Shift + F7 opens the thesaurus pane, which lists synonyms and, for many words, antonyms, and lets the chosen word be inserted in place of the original. It is grouped with the spelling checker in the Proofing group of the Review tab, where F7 alone starts the spelling and grammar check.

Option B, word count, is shown on the status bar and opened from the Review tab; its shortcut is Ctrl + Shift + G. Option C, print preview, now appears beside the print settings in the Backstage view and is reached with Ctrl + P. Option D, track changes, which records every insertion and deletion for a reviewer, is switched on with Ctrl + Shift + E. None of these three is tied to Shift + F7.

The correct answer is A, Ctrl + K. With a word or a phrase selected, Ctrl + K opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, where the selected text can be linked to a web address, to another file, to a place inside the same document such as a heading or a bookmark, or to an email address. The same command sits in the Links group of the Insert tab, and the linked text is then shown underlined and coloured.

Option B, Ctrl + M, increases the left indent of the paragraph by one tab stop, and Ctrl + Shift + M reduces it again. Option C, Ctrl + H, opens the Find and Replace dialog box at its Replace tab, used to change one word into another throughout the document. Option D, Ctrl + Z, undoes the last action carried out, and Ctrl + Y repeats or redoes it. None of these three creates a link.

The correct answer is A, Format Painter. The Format Painter is the paintbrush shaped button in the Clipboard group of the Home tab. Selecting formatted text and clicking it picks up the font, size, colour, style and paragraph settings, and the next selection made with the paintbrush pointer receives the same formatting; a double click keeps the tool switched on so that the formatting can be applied to several places one after another.

Option B, the Clipboard, is the holding area that stores the text or object that has been cut or copied, up to twenty four items in Office, but it carries the matter itself and not the formatting alone. Option C, Autocorrect, silently repairs common typing mistakes and capitalisation as the user types. Option D, mail merge, produces personalised letters from a data source and has nothing to do with copying formatting.

The correct answer is C, Ctrl + click. Holding the Ctrl key and clicking anywhere inside a sentence selects that whole sentence, from its first letter to the full stop that ends it, and the selected sentence can then be deleted, moved or formatted in one action. The selection shortcuts form a ladder: a double click selects a word, a Ctrl + click selects a sentence, a triple click selects the whole paragraph and Ctrl + A selects the entire document.

Option A, Alt with a click, does not select a sentence; Alt held down while dragging selects a rectangular block of text running down several lines. Option B, a single click, only places the insertion point at that spot and selects nothing at all. Option D, a double click, selects the single word under the pointer, which is the step below a sentence on the same ladder.