Typing and keyboard skills: applied practice: open practice pack: learner worksheet

1. typing-keyboard-applied-s01-q01

Source line: Invoice 4820-B, due 14/03, GBP 1,275.40. Which transcript reproduces it exactly?

1. Invoice 4820-B, due 14/03, GBP 1,275.04
2. Invoice 4820-8, due 14/03, GBP 1,275.40
3. Invoice 4820-B, due 14/03, GBP 1.275,40
4. Invoice 4820-B, due 14/03, GBP 1,275.40

Answer:

2. typing-keyboard-applied-s01-q02

Source: 'Please confirm receipt by 5pm on Thursday.' Transcript: 'Please confirm reciept by 5pm on Thursday.' What kind of error is this?

1. A missing word
2. A transposition: two adjacent letters typed in the wrong order
3. A capitalisation error
4. No error; both spellings are acceptable

Answer:

3. typing-keyboard-applied-s01-q03

Source: 'the committee's recommendation'. Transcript: 'the committees recommendation'. What has changed?

1. A letter has been dropped from 'committee'
2. Nothing meaningful; the apostrophe is optional here
3. A dropped apostrophe has turned a possessive singular into a plural
4. The capitalisation of the first word

Answer:

4. typing-keyboard-applied-s01-q04

What is the most reliable way to catch a transposed digit inside a long reference number?

1. Compare it against the source in small groups of digits, or use a field with a check digit that rejects an invalid number
2. Type it quickly, so there is less time to lose your place
3. Read the whole number through silently once
4. Type it a second time from memory and compare the two

Answer:

5. typing-keyboard-applied-s01-q05

Autocorrect has silently changed 'form' to 'from' in a document you typed. What is the lesson?

1. Rely on the spell-checker but read the underlined words carefully
2. Proofread the finished text yourself: a correctly spelled word in the wrong place is invisible to a spell-checker
3. Turn spell-checking off entirely
4. Retype the sentence from scratch

Answer:

6. typing-keyboard-applied-s02-q01

On a QWERTY keyboard, where does the left index finger rest in the touch-typing home position?

1. On D
2. On G
3. On F
4. On R

Answer:

7. typing-keyboard-applied-s02-q02

Why do the F and J keys carry small raised bars?

1. They let a touch typist find the home position by feel, without looking down
2. They mark the two most frequently used letters in English
3. They are an artefact of how keycaps are moulded
4. They mark the keys intended for the thumbs

Answer:

8. typing-keyboard-applied-s02-q03

Which set of habits best supports comfortable typing over a full working day?

1. Resting the wrists on the desk edge so the hands are supported while typing
2. Typing as fast as possible, so that total keyboard time is reduced
3. Using the softest keyboard available
4. Keeping wrists straight rather than bent, forearms roughly level, the screen near eye height, and taking short breaks regularly

Answer:

9. typing-keyboard-applied-s02-q04

Why is a numeric keypad usually faster than the number row for long columns of figures?

1. Its keys register more quickly than the main keyboard's
2. All ten digits and the common operators sit under one hand with almost no movement, and the 5 key carries a locating bump for touch entry
3. It bypasses autocorrect and formatting rules
4. It sits closer to the mouse

Answer:

10. typing-keyboard-applied-s02-q05

What is the strongest reason to learn keyboard shortcuts for the ten operations you repeat most often?

1. It gives a more professional impression to anyone watching
2. It reduces the number of typing errors you make
3. Shortcuts work identically across every application
4. Each use removes a hand-to-mouse round trip and a visual search, and that is where most of the time in repetitive work goes

Answer:

11. typing-keyboard-applied-s03-q01

On a handwritten form, one digit could plausibly be a 1 or a 7. The field is an account number.

1. Flag it for verification and record the uncertainty rather than choose between them
2. Enter 1, since it is the more common digit in handwriting
3. Enter 7, since a crossed stroke usually indicates a seven
4. Leave the field blank and move on

Answer:

12. typing-keyboard-applied-s03-q02

A date field requires the format DD/MM/YYYY. The source document reads '3 Feb 24'. What do you enter?

1. 3/2/24
2. 02/03/2024
3. 03/02/24
4. 03/02/2024

Answer:

13. typing-keyboard-applied-s03-q03

While transcribing, you find that the source document contains an obviously invalid postcode.

1. Correct it to the valid postcode you believe was intended
2. Transcribe it exactly as given and raise a query, because the job is fidelity to the source plus a flag
3. Leave the field empty
4. Substitute the nearest valid postcode to the address given

Answer:

14. typing-keyboard-applied-s03-q04

When does double-keying, two people entering the same data independently, earn its cost?

1. Always; accuracy is worth any amount of duplication
2. Never; it doubles the cost for a small accuracy gain
3. When an undetected error would be costly and no automatic validation can catch it
4. Only for numeric fields, where errors are hardest to see

Answer:

15. typing-keyboard-applied-s03-q05

Five hundred records must be entered by the end of the day. You are behind, and the verification step is what would have to go.

1. Keep the checking discipline and report that the batch will be short, because an error costs more downstream than the delay does
2. Drop the verification step for today so the batch is complete
3. Enter the straightforward records and estimate the difficult ones
4. Ask an untrained colleague to enter the remainder

Answer:

16. typing-keyboard-applied-s04-q01

A typing test reports 60 words per minute gross and 52 net. What is the difference?

1. The two figures were measured on different passages
2. Net applies a penalty for errors, so it is the figure that reflects usable output
3. Net is measured over a shorter interval than gross
4. Gross counts punctuation and net does not

Answer:

17. typing-keyboard-applied-s04-q02

In words-per-minute scoring, how is a 'word' defined?

1. Any group of letters between two spaces
2. An average English word, taken as 4.7 letters
3. A standard unit of five keystrokes, including spaces
4. Whatever the test's own dictionary counts as a word

Answer:

18. typing-keyboard-applied-s04-q03

You can type at 70 wpm with about four errors a minute, or at 55 wpm with essentially none. Which is more valuable for data-entry work?

1. 55 with no errors, because finding and correcting an error costs far more than the extra speed saved
2. 70, because speed is what is measured and reported
3. They are broadly equivalent once the error rate is corrected for
4. It depends only on where the employer sets its threshold

Answer:

19. typing-keyboard-applied-s04-q04

What is the most effective way to raise typing speed over a few weeks?

1. Type as fast as possible in every session and accept the errors
2. Practise only the most common words in the language
3. Move to a keyboard with a shorter key travel
4. Practise at a pace you can hold without looking down and without errors, drilling the specific sequences you get wrong; speed follows accuracy

Answer:

20. typing-keyboard-applied-s04-q05

Your speed drops sharply when the passage contains unfamiliar technical terms. What does that tell you?

1. Your general speed figure must have been overstated
2. The keyboard layout is not suited to your hands
3. It is expected: typing speed is largely learned sequences, so unfamiliar strings have to be practised specifically
4. You should type more slowly in general to keep speed consistent

Answer: