Rusen - IC3

Ciprian Adrian Rusen

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ISBN: 978-1-118-99173-2 (ebk.)
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Ciprian Adrian Rusen is a recognized Windows Consumer Expert Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP). He has published several books about Windows and Microsoft Office, and he's also a very active tech blogger at http://www.7tutorials.com.

On his website you can find many tutorials about Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10. He and his team of editors also publish how-to guides about other Microsoft products like Windows Phone and Xbox One. If you would like to keep up to date with the latest Microsoft consumer products, you should subscribe to his blog.

Welcome to the IC3 Internet and Computing Core Certification Key Applications Study Guide for the IC3 Digital Literacy Certification. The purpose of this book is to help you prepare for the Key Applications certification exam, which covers four major types of applications: word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database software. You will learn the common features of these types of applications, how to perform all kinds of tasks (opening and saving files, formatting them, printing them, and so on), and how to collaborate with others to create all kinds of business documents and files.

The book contains all of the information you need to pass the Key Applications exam. It also includes notes and warnings from the author to help reduce issues you may be experiencing in your own environment. By studying for and passing this exam, you will gain insight that will make you more valuable in your current position and will make you more likely to be recognized.

In the remainder of this section we will look at some of the facts about the exam, give some commonsense tips for taking the exam, and review the process for registering for the exam.

Individuals seeking IC3 certification are required to take and pass all three IC3 exams: Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications, and Living Online. Here are some facts about them:

• The IC3 exams are administered by Certiport and are taken at Certiport Authorized Testing Centers.
• The exams are based on Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010.
• There are 45 multiple-choice questions for each exam.
• There is a time limit of 50 minutes for each exam.
• Each exam has a maximum score of 1000.
• The minimum passing score could range from 620 in difficult tests to 720 on easier tests.
• There is a short survey before the exam begins (taking the survey does not use any of the available 50 minutes).
• If you do not pass the exam, you can retake it as many times as you want, but you must wait 24 hours before taking the exam a second time. If you do not pass the exam again, a two-day waiting period will be imposed for each subsequent exam retake.

Here are some general tips for improving the odds of passing your certification exam:

• Read each question carefully. Although the test is not written to be confusing there are times when the obvious choice is not the correct choice.
• Make sure you answer each question. Any unanswered questions are considered wrong, so you are better off making an educated guess than leaving a question unanswered.
• For any questions where you are unsure of the correct answer, use a process of elimination to remove any obviously incorrect answers first. Once you have eliminated the obviously incorrect answers, make an educated guess from the remaining answers.
• If you are unsure about a question, select the answer you think is most likely to be correct, mark it for review, and come back to it at a later time.