Microsoft Office Specialist: PowerPoint Associate (Microsoft 365 Apps) — Practice Set 2

Question 1

You are working in Microsoft PowerPoint (Microsoft 365 Apps). A colleague sent back a copy of your presentation with edits made offline. You need to see exactly which slides and text changed and decide whether to accept or reject each change. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Review > Compare merges the reviewed copy into the original, adds a Revisions pane, and marks each changed slide or object so you can accept or reject individual changes, similar to Word's compare feature. Arrange All (B) only lets you view two files side by side manually with no change tracking. Slide Sorter (C) shows thumbnails but cannot detect per-object changes. Document Inspector (D) finds hidden metadata, not merge changes between two files.

Question 2

You need to prevent unauthorized colleagues from even opening a confidential presentation without a password, while still allowing authorized reviewers to fully edit it once opened. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Encrypt with Password requires the correct password before the file can even be opened, but once opened successfully, authorized users can edit it normally. Mark as Final (B) marks the file as complete and discourages edits, but anyone can click 'Edit Anyway' without any password. Always Open Read-Only (C) is only a recommendation that users can override with one click, and also requires no password. Adding a watermark (D) is a visual branding cue, not an access-control mechanism.

Question 3

You need to export the presentation as a video file for offline distribution, preserving any recorded slide timings and narration at 1080p (Full HD) quality. Which TWO settings should you configure in File > Export > Create a Video? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

The quality dropdown in the Create a Video pane lets you choose a resolution preset including Full HD (1080p) (A). Selecting 'Use Recorded Timings and Narrations' (B) ensures the exported video plays back exactly as recorded, including any audio narration. Exported videos are saved as .mp4/.wmv files, not .pptx (C). 'Loop continuously' (D) is a live slide-show setting, irrelevant to a rendered video export. Overriding with a fixed 'seconds per slide' value (E) would discard the recorded timings, the opposite of the stated requirement.

Question 4

You are converting an older 4:3 presentation to modern 16:9 widescreen format for a new template. Which command should you use, and what should you choose to avoid stretched or pixelated images?

Accepted Answer

When switching to a larger aspect ratio, PowerPoint prompts to Maximize (scale content up, which can stretch or pixelate images beyond their original resolution) or Ensure Fit (scale content down proportionally to fit inside the new canvas without distortion). Since avoiding distortion is the goal, Ensure Fit (B) is correct. Maximize (A) is the option that risks the distortion the question warns against. Changing only the theme (C) does not resize the slide canvas at all. Manually stretching placeholders (D) is slow and would distort images even further.

Question 5

You are preparing a self-running kiosk presentation that must advance automatically using the exact pace you practiced, without requiring any clicks. What is the correct sequence of steps?

Accepted Answer

Rehearse Timings records the exact time spent on each slide as you practice, and PowerPoint automatically stores these as per-slide 'After' transition timings when you save them. Configuring the show as 'Browsed at a kiosk' with 'Using timings, if present' makes the show advance automatically using those exact recorded, variable times with no clicks needed. A single fixed duration for every slide (B) does not reflect your rehearsed variable pace. Manually retyping the seconds (C) is unnecessary since Rehearse Timings already saves them automatically. Embedding a recorded video (D) produces a video file, not an interactive self-running slide show.

Question 6

You need to create a new slide that is nearly identical to slide 4, keeping all of its formatting and content so you can make a few small edits. What is the fastest way to do this?

Accepted Answer

Duplicate Slide instantly creates an exact copy of the selected slide, including all content and formatting, positioned immediately after it. Recreating the content manually (B) is slow and error-prone. Copying content into a differently laid-out slide (C) risks losing the original formatting. Slide Master (D) duplicates layout templates, not an actual populated content slide.

Question 7

Your 40-slide presentation covers three topics: Introduction, Financials, and Roadmap. You need to organize the Slide Panel so each topic can be collapsed and navigated easily while editing. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Add Section creates a named, collapsible group of slides visible in both the Slide Panel and Slide Sorter view. Right-clicking a section header lets you rename it, and clicking its collapse arrow hides that group for faster navigation. Separator slides (B) add visible content but do not create a collapsible organizational group. Different themes (C) visually distinguish slides but do not add navigation structure. Manual spacing in Slide Sorter (D) is not a persistent, named organizational feature.

Question 8

You need to add the slide number and today's date, updating automatically every time the file is opened, to the footer of every slide. Which TWO settings should you configure in Insert > Header & Footer? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

Checking 'Slide number' (A) adds the automatically incrementing slide number field to the footer. Selecting 'Date and time' > 'Update automatically' (B) inserts a date field that refreshes to the current date every time the file is opened, satisfying the auto-updating requirement. 'Fixed' (C) freezes the date at whatever value was typed, so it never updates. Leaving Footer blank (D) adds no custom text and does not address the number or date requirement. 'Don't show on title slide' (E) is a valid, real option but is unrelated to adding the number and date themselves.

Question 9

You need to quickly draft the text-only content (titles and bullet points) for a 15-slide presentation before worrying about design or images. Which view is most efficient for this task?

Accepted Answer

Outline View shows only the text content (titles and bullet levels) in a simple text-editor style. Pressing Enter after a title creates a new slide, and pressing Tab demotes text into a bullet under the current slide's placeholder, enabling very fast text-only drafting. Normal view (B) requires navigating each slide's placeholders individually, which is slower. Slide Sorter thumbnails (C) are too small to type directly into. Notes Page view (D) edits speaker notes, not the visible slide content.

Question 10

You have 50 vacation photos in a folder and need to quickly build a new presentation with one photo per slide, each captioned with its filename, and all photos displayed with a simple frame border. What is the most efficient way to create this?

Accepted Answer

Insert > Photo Album opens a wizard that builds an entire new presentation from a folder or list of images, one image per slide, with options for automatic filename captions and frame shapes or styles — matching every stated requirement in a single step. Manually inserting each photo and caption (B) is extremely slow across 50 slides. Insert > Pictures does not automatically split multiple images across separate new slides with captions and frames (C); it places them all onto the current slide. Design Ideas (D) can suggest layouts for images already placed on one slide, but it does not split them into 50 slides with filename captions.

Question 11

You need to add a stylized heading to a slide using one of PowerPoint's built-in text styles that automatically applies a colored fill, outline, and shadow effect. Which feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Insert > WordArt opens a gallery of preformatted text styles that instantly apply a combination of fill color, outline, and effects such as shadow or reflection to the typed text in one click. Manually applying each effect separately (B) can achieve a similar look but takes far more effort. Text Effects (C) formats existing selected text and is not itself an insertion gallery for a preset stylized heading. A banner shape (D) creates a shape containing a text label, not a stylized WordArt heading.

Question 12

You have drawn a rectangle and a circle that overlap, and you need to create a single new shape consisting of only the area where the two shapes intersect. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

Merge Shapes > Intersect keeps only the area shared by both selected shapes and discards everything else, producing a single new shape from that overlap. Union (B) combines both shapes into one outline covering their full combined area. Combine (C) keeps everything except the overlapping area, effectively cutting a hole where they overlap. Group (D) simply bundles the two shapes as one selectable unit without merging their outlines at all.

Question 13

You have a basic pentagon shape and need to convert one of its straight edges into a curved edge for a custom logo design. Which TWO actions should you perform? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

'Edit Points' (A) switches the shape into a mode where each vertex and segment can be individually manipulated. Once in Edit Points mode, dragging the black square point handles (B) reshapes specific segments, including turning a straight line into a curve using each point's curve handles. Dashes (C) only change the line's dash pattern, not its curvature. Bevel (D) is a 3D-style edge effect unrelated to point-level editing. The yellow adjustment handle (E) tweaks a shape's built-in geometry, such as a rounded rectangle's corner radius, not custom point-level curve editing.

Question 14

You have inserted a photo that appears slightly washed out and needs increased color saturation and a warmer color tone before it is placed on a title slide. Which tool should you use?

Accepted Answer

The Picture Format > Color dropdown provides separate galleries for Color Saturation (controlling vividness) and Color Tone (controlling warm/cool color temperature), directly addressing both stated requirements. Artistic Effects like Glass (B) apply stylized filters rather than targeted saturation or tone corrections. Sharpen/Soften (C) affects focus clarity, not color. Compress Pictures (D) reduces file size and resolution and has no effect on color.

Question 15

You need to insert a simple line-art icon of a lightbulb onto a slide and change its color to match your blue theme. Where do you insert the icon, and how do you recolor it?

Accepted Answer

Insert > Icons opens a categorized gallery of scalable vector icons, including common symbols like a lightbulb. Once inserted, icons behave as editable vector graphics, and Graphics Format > Graphics Fill lets you recolor them to match a theme color directly. Artistic Effects (B) applies photo-style filters and is not the direct way to recolor a vector icon. Drawing a custom shape (C) is unnecessary and time-consuming when a built-in icon already exists. SmartArt (D) is intended for diagrams, not the insertion of a single standalone icon.

Question 16

A rectangle shape contains a single line of text that currently sits at the top of the shape with default left margins. You need the text to be vertically and horizontally centered within the shape, with reduced internal margins so the text sits closer to the shape's edges. Which settings should you configure?

Accepted Answer

Format Shape > Text Options > Text Box pane provides a 'Vertical alignment' setting (choose Middle) and internal margin fields (Left/Right/Top/Bottom) controlling the padding between text and the shape's edges. Combined with Home > Paragraph > Center for horizontal text alignment, this achieves both centering and tighter margins. Option B only sets horizontal paragraph alignment and an unrelated aspect-ratio lock, leaving vertical alignment and margins unchanged. Align Center/Align Middle in Shape Format > Align (C) centers the shape itself relative to the slide or other objects, not the text inside it. Creating a separate text box (D) is unnecessary and duplicates content rather than adjusting the existing shape's text settings.

Question 17

You have inserted a table and want to quickly apply a professional-looking color scheme with banded rows, without manually shading each cell. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

The Table Design tab's Table Styles gallery offers preformatted styles, many including banded rows and header shading, applied to the entire table in one click. Manually shading each row (B) is slow and error-prone. Format Painter (C) copies a limited set of formatting attributes and is not intended for whole-table style transfer. Format Background (D) changes the slide's background, not the table's appearance.

Question 18

You inserted a chart as a Clustered Column chart, but after reviewing the data you decide a Line chart would better show the trend over time. How do you change the chart type without recreating the chart from scratch?

Accepted Answer

Chart Design > Change Chart Type opens a dialog listing all chart categories; selecting Line and a subtype converts the existing chart, keeping its underlying data, to the new chart type. Deleting and recreating the chart (B) discards existing formatting and forces re-entering data unnecessarily. Shape Style (C) applies visual shape formatting, not a change of chart type. 'Reset to Match Style' (D) reverts formatting to the theme default and does not change the chart type at all.

Question 19

You created a SmartArt graphic using the default blue coloring and a flat 2D style. You need to change it to an orange color scheme with a more dimensional, glossy appearance. Which TWO actions should you take on the SmartArt Design tab? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

'Change Colors' (A) opens a gallery of color themes, including orange-based variations, that recolor the entire graphic at once. The SmartArt Styles gallery (B) includes 3D and glossy preset styles that add dimensional effects to all shapes in the graphic simultaneously. Reset Graphic (C) discards custom formatting and reverts to the original default, the opposite of the goal. Convert to Text (D) removes the SmartArt entirely, turning it into a plain bulleted list. Add Shape (E) inserts another node into the diagram; it does not change color or visual style.

Question 20

You have inserted a 5-minute video clip but only need the segment from 1:15 to 2:45 to play during the presentation. You also want to keep the original video file untouched outside of PowerPoint. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Trim Video, on the Video Tools Playback tab, lets you set in-presentation Start Time and End Time markers so only that segment plays during the slide show; this only affects playback within PowerPoint and does not modify the original source file on disk. Editing the video externally (B) is unnecessarily complex and does create/modify a separate file. Fade In/Fade Out (C) controls the audio/video fade at the edges of playback, not which segment plays. Bookmarks (D) mark points for navigation or triggering actions; they do not delete or trim content.

Question 21

You need background music to start automatically on slide 1, continue playing quietly through all subsequent slides, loop until the end of the presentation, and not show a distracting audio icon during the show. Which single option applies all of these settings at once?

Accepted Answer

'Play in Background' is a one-click preset on the Audio Tools Playback tab that automatically applies Start: Automatically, Play Across Slides, Loop until Stopped, and Hide During Show together, matching all the stated requirements. Setting only Start to Automatic (B) does not enable looping, cross-slide playback, or icon hiding. Manually configuring each setting (C) can reach the same end state but requires far more effort than the single preset button. Inserting the audio on every slide with 'On Click' (D) requires manual clicks and does not create seamless continuous background playback.

Question 22

You have applied the Fade transition to a slide, but it currently plays too quickly, at 0.5 seconds. You need to slow it down to 2 seconds. Where do you make this change?

Accepted Answer

The Duration field on the Transitions tab controls exactly how long the transition effect itself takes to play; setting it to 2.00 slows the Fade effect to two seconds. The Animations tab's Timing delay (B) controls object animation delay, not the slide transition speed. Transition Sound (C) only adds or changes an audio clip, not the visual timing. Set Up Slide Show (D) controls overall show behavior such as looping and narration, not the duration of individual transitions.

Question 23

A slide has three animated objects that currently play in this order: image, then title, then bullet list. You need the title to animate first, followed by the image, then the bullet list. Which TWO actions accomplish this reordering using the Animation Pane? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

Opening the Animation Pane (A) is required to view and select individual animation entries in their current play order. Selecting the title's entry and using 'Move Earlier'/the up-arrow control (B) shifts it above the image in the sequence, achieving exactly the requested order without touching the other animations. Deleting and reapplying all three animations (C) can also work but is far less efficient than reordering the existing entries. Dragging the object on the slide (D) changes its visual position, not its place in the animation sequence. Changing only the Start trigger (E) affects whether it starts automatically or on click, not its position relative to the other animations.

Question 24

A logo image appears on a slide from the start with no entrance animation. You need it to animate by shrinking and disappearing just before the slide ends. Which category of animation should you apply, and from where?

Accepted Answer

Exit animations (shown in red in the Animation gallery) control how an object leaves or disappears from the slide, and 'Shrink and Turn' is a specific Exit effect that shrinks the object while it exits. Entrance animations (green) control how an object first appears, which is irrelevant since the logo is already visible. Emphasis animations (yellow) draw attention to an object that remains on the slide, such as pulsing, but do not make it disappear. A Motion Path (D) moves the object along a path but does not, by itself, include a shrink-and-disappear exit effect, making the dedicated Exit category the more precise match.

Question 25

A slide has a chime sound-effect animation and a text box entrance animation. You need the chime to play automatically at the exact same moment the text box begins its entrance animation, with no click required and no gap between them. How should you configure the Start settings for both animations in the Animation Pane?

Accepted Answer

Setting both the text box entrance animation and the chime sound to Start: 'With Previous' at the same position in the Animation Pane sequence makes them begin simultaneously and automatically, with no click and no gap, exactly matching the requirement. Option A requires a manual click for the text box and delays the chime until after another animation finishes. Option C delays the text box until after a previous animation and requires a manual click for the chime, giving unreliable timing. Option D depends entirely on the presenter's manual click timing during a live show, which is not a reliable way to guarantee the exact same moment.

MO-310 — Microsoft Office Specialist: PowerPoint Associate (Microsoft 365 Apps)