Word Processing and Document Preparation
Word Processing and Document Preparation tests formatting, page layout, tables, mail merge, review tools, and export choices. Expect practical questions about doing something efficiently rather than pressing Space repeatedly.
Core rules
- Character formatting changes text (font, size, bold, colour); paragraph formatting changes alignment, spacing, indents, and bullets.
- Styles store formatting under a name. Heading styles feed the navigation pane and automatic table of contents.
- Page layout covers margins, orientation, paper size, columns, page breaks, and section breaks. A page break starts a new page; a section break can change headers or orientation mid-document.
- Headers/footers repeat on pages; page numbers are fields that update.
- Tables organise tabular data; use table tools rather than tabs.
- Track Changes records insertions/deletions/comments; Accept/Reject finalises.
- Mail merge combines a main document with a data source (spreadsheet/database) to produce personalised letters, labels, or envelopes.
- Export to PDF when layout must be fixed; keep an editable .docx copy.
Worked example
A school wants 120 personalised fee receipts. Create the main document with the fixed text, insert merge fields such as «StudentName» and «Amount», connect the spreadsheet data source, preview one record, then finish the merge. Reasoning: the main document supplies layout; the data source supplies variable values; merging creates one document per record. If fields show as plain text, the merge fields were typed manually instead of inserted.
Traps
Do not use repeated Enter presses to reach a new page; use a page break. Do not use spaces to align columns; use tabs or a table. Spell-check does not catch wrong-word errors. Saving as PDF too early prevents easy editing. Check that the data source header row matches field names.