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CCE QUESTION BANK -3 (75 QUESTIONS)

P.1.1 Which of the following is generally the MOST correct use of a project network diagram?

A. Showing the project schedule

B. Documenting task interdependencies
C. Defining project resources
D. Defining the project costs

P.1.2 The calculated duration for a project is 28.166. The standard deviation is 5.5. What
technique would you use to compute the probability of completing a project on a specific day?

A. PERT formula
B. Monte Carlo simulation
C. Probability analysis
D. Variance analysis

P.1.3 During planning you discover that the time needed to complete the project is longer than
the time available. What do you do?

A. Tell the customer that the required date cannot be met

B. Tell management that the required date cannot be met
C. Spend time determining what work can be done for the length of time available and
accomplish only that work
D. Determine options for crashing and/or fast tracking the project and present management with
your recommended option

P.1.4 In an activity-on-arrow diagram, the boxes represent:

A. Activities.
B. Tasks.
C. Task dependencies.
D. Arrrows.

P.1.5 A project manager has increased project costs by US $100,000, but completed the project
four weeks earlier than planned. What tool is BEST described here?

A. Resource leveling
B. Duration compression

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C. Crashing
D. Fast tracking

P.1.6 Dummy activities are NOT used on which type of network diagram?

A. CPM
B. Detailed
C. PDM
D. PERT

P.1.7 During the creation of a project plan, you want to find the critical path of the project.
Which of the following project management tools would you use to determine the critical path?

A. Work breakdown structure

B. Network diagram
C. Project control plan
D. Critical Resource Histograms

P.1.8 How many types of relationships between activities can be found on a precedence
diagram?

A. 4
B. 3
C. Multiple
D. 2

P.1.9 All of the following relate to controlling the schedule EXCEPT?

A. Value analysis.
B. Crashing
C. Mandatory
D. Slack

P.1.10 A project manager is involved in the ABC project. Time lines have slipped for project
ABC and he feels there could have been a mistake in the initial time estimate of this project. The
following are assumptions that he made when doing the initial schedule using the critical path
method (CPM). Which one is incorrect?

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A. He estimated each task with a single time estimate.

B. The CPM can have dummies.
C. The CPM uses only an activity-on-arrow (AOA) diagram.
D. The CPM helps to emphasize cost control and schedule flexibility.

P.1.11 During the planning phase, Task G was estimated to take five days. Task G is on the
critical path. On day two, it became clear that Task G would take 15 days, which will impact the
imposed project end date. The project team meets to perform root cause analysis to identify the
cause of the variance and to plan schedule recovery with activities performed later in the
schedule. What should be the output of this meeting?

A. Corrective action
B. WBS updates
C. Activity list updates
D. Schedule updates

P.1.12 Which of the following are GENERALLY illustrated better by bar charts than network
diagrams?

A. Logical relationships
B. Critical paths
C. Resource trade-off
D. Progress or status
P.1.13 You evaluate your critical path and determine the project will be completed two weeks
ahead of management's expected due date. What should you do?

A. Delay the project for two weeks

B. Prepare a list of risks that did not occur
C. Pull resources off the critical path to work on non-critical path tasks
D. Increase the scope that will enhance the project and consume two more weeks to complete

P.1.14 While evaluating the Gantt chart, the project manager determines that the project is
behind schedule. What should she do?

A. Obtain approval from the customer to slip the project

B. Report findings to management
C. Evaluate the alternatives with the team
D. Evaluate the alternatives with the customer

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P.1.15 If the optimistic estimate is one, the pessimistic estimate is nine, and the most likely
estimate is eight, what is the PERT estimate?

A. 9
B. 7
C. 8
D. 3

P.1.16 The project manager has a project that is three months behind but, surprisingly, markedly
under budget. She has decided to try to make up time, but wants to avoid rework. What should
she do?

A. Crash
B. Fast Track
C. Redefine the scope
D. Resource level

P.1.17 During schedule development, which of the following would BEST provide the basis for
the most likely activity duration estimate?

A. Labor productivity rates published by a professional association

B. A consultant's estimate of the overall labor man-hours required
C. The initial estimate used to budget the project
D. The schedule for a similar project at the same facility completed two years earlier

P.1.18 What is the duration of a milestone?

A. Undefined
B. Shorter than the activity it represents
C. There is no duration.
D. Same length as the activity it represents

P.1.19 A project manager received executive orders to deliver the project two weeks earlier than
scheduled doing whatever it takes. He decided the least costly means would be to add resources
to critical path tasks in order to shorten the time of those tasks. In this case, the project manager
has:

A. Fast tracked the critical path part of project schedule.

B. Decomposed the critical path WBS.

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C. Leveled resources.
D. Crashed the critical path.

P.1.20 You are managing the project when you discover an estimated completion date will occur
after the desired date. What should you do FIRST?

A. Add resources to the project

B. Evaluate the possibility of doing more tasks in parallel
C. Negotiate for more time
D. Explain to the customer that the project cannot be done on time

P.1.21 Which of the following BEST describes comparing actual dates with planned dates?

A. Schedule definition
B. Resource leveling
C. Variance analysis
D. PERT

P.1.22 A project plan results in a project schedule that is too long. If the project network
diagram cannot change but you have extra personnel resources, what should you do?

A. Fast track the project

B. Level the resources
C. Crash the project
D. Perform a value analysis

P.1.23 After analyzing the status of your project, you determine that the earned value is lower
than the planned value. What should you expect as an outcome if this trend continues?

A. The actual cost will be lower than planned.

B. The estimate at completion will be lower than planned.
C. The project will finish behind schedule.
D. The project will finish below the original cost estimate.

P.1.24 The sponsor wants the project completed in 40 days. The CPI is 1.1, the project critical
path duration is 38 days with a standard deviation of two days. What is the maximum project
float?

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A. Zero days
B. Two days.
C. Four days
D. Six days

P.1.25 A project manager obtains weighted average duration estimates from the team to
calculate activity duration. Which type of mathematical analysis is he using?

A. Monte Carlo
B. GERT
C. CPM
D. PERT

P.1.26 A heuristic is BEST described as a:

A. Control tool.
B. Scheduling method.
C. Planning tool.
D. Rule of thumb.

P.1.27 A task needs more time and the project manager determines that there is enough reserve
to accommodate the change. Who needs to approve the change?

A. Management
B. Project manager
C. Team member
D. Functional manager

P.1.28 A functional manager wants to change a task estimate. The project manager analyzes the
change and determines that it will cause a delay in the entire project. Who should authorize the
change?

A. Management
B. Project manager
C. Team member
D. Functional manager

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P.1.29 You have a project with the following tasks: Task A takes 40 hours and can start after the
project starts. Task B takes 25 hours and should happen after the project starts. Task C must
happen after Task A and takes 35 hours. Task D must happen after Tasks B and C and takes 30
hours. Task E must take place after Task C and takes 10 hours. Task F takes place after Task E
and takes 22 hours. Which of the following is TRUE if Task B actually takes 37 hours?

A. The critical path is 67 hours.

B. The critical path changes to tasks B, D.
C. The critical path is A, C, E, F.
D. The critical path increases by 12 hours.

P.1.30 If project time and cost are not as important as the number of resources used each month,
which of the following is the BEST course of action?

A. Perform a Monte Carlo analysis

B. Fast track the project
C. Perform resource leveling
D. Analyze the life-cycle costs

P.1.31 A project deadline has been imposed for the end of the year. The project consists of two
tasks. Task A has a duration of two months and task B has a duration of three months. Tasks A
and B can be performed concurrently. The start date for the project is set for the beginning of
July. What is the total duration for the critical path?

A. Two months
B. Three months
C. Five months
D. Six months

P.1.32 A task has an early start of day 3, a late start of day 13, an early finish of day 9, and a late
finish of day 19. The task:

A. Is on the critical path.

B. Has a lag.
C. Is ahead of schedule.
D. Is not on the critical path.

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P.1.33 Which of the following is NOT correct about network diagrams?

A. A critical path can run over a dummy.

B. All the project interdependencies are shown.
C. Slack is the time a task can be delayed without delaying the project.
D. The path with the dummy is always the critical path.

P.1.34 What is the BEST method of estimating the time for a task that has never been done by
your company before?

A. CPM
B. PERT
C. Monte Carlo analysis
D. Activity definition

P.1.35 According to your project network diagram, the critical path for the project is six weeks.
One week into the project, the project sponsor informs you that the executive steering committee
has moved the project's finish date to two weeks sooner than your published finish date.
Assuming you are on schedule, what is the project slack?

A. Two weeks
B. Four weeks
C. Minus four weeks
D. Minus two weeks

P.1.36 All of the following are inputs to schedule development EXCEPT?

A. Vacation schedules
B. Need for delay between ordering equipment and installing it
C. Establish interdepencies between activities
D. Planned start and finish dates for each activity

P.1.37 Free slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the:

A. Project.
B. Completion date required by the customer.
C. Early start of its successor.
D. Project completion date.

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P.1.38 A task has an early start of day three, a late start of day 13, an early finish of day nine, and
a late finish of day 19. What is the duration of this task?

A. 3
B. 6
C. 7
D. 10

P.1.39 A project has three critical paths. How does this affect the project?

A. It makes it easier to manage.

B. It increases the project risk.
C. It requires more people.
D. It makes it more expensive.

P.1.40 Which of the following is the BEST tool for showing the team the project schedule status
during project execution?

A. Milestone chart
B. Gantt chart
C. Work breakdown structure
D. Network diagram

P.1.41 You are a project manager for a new product development project that has four levels in
the work breakdown structure, and has been sequenced using the arrow diagramming technique.
The activity duration estimates have been received. What time management activity would you
do NEXT?

A. Create an activity list

B. Update the work breakdown structure
C. Collect historical records
D. Duration compression

P.1.42 During project execution, the forecast remaining hours begin to exceed planned remaining
hours. Consequently, the project takes on a negative variance. Which analysis method is the
project manager likely to use as a measurement tool to validate this information?

A. EV-PV
B. EV/AC

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C. EV/PV
D. EV-AC

P.1.43 The slack of a task is determined by:

A. Performing a Monte Carlo analysis.

B. Waiting time between tasks.
C. Lag.
D. The amount of time a task can be delayed before it delays the critical path.

P.1.44 A project has seven activities: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. A, B, and D can start anytime. A
takes three weeks, B takes five weeks, and D takes 11 weeks. A and B must be completed before
C can start. C takes six weeks. B, C, and D must be completed before E can start. E takes two
weeks. F can start as soon as C is completed and requires four weeks. E must be completed
before G can start. G takes three weeks. F and G must be completed for the project to be
completed. What activities have slack available?

A. Activity A has two weeks slack, and activity F has one week.
B. Activity F has one week slack.
C. There is no slack available in the project.
D. Activity A has eight weeks slack.

P.1.45 To control the schedule, a project manager is re-analyzing the project to predict project
duration. She does this by analyzing the sequence of activities with the least amount of
scheduling flexibility. What technique is she using?

A. Critical path
B. Flow chart
C. Precedence diagramming
D. Work breakdown structure

P.1.46 What is the BEST report to use when reporting to senior management?

A. Gantt chart
B. Milestone chart
C. Project plan
D. Network diagram

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P.1.47 Which of the following BEST describes the primary use of project management software?

A. Managing a project
B. Creating and controlling a schedule
C. Creating a complete project plan
D. Creating a work breakdown structure

P.1.48 A team member from research and development tells you that her work is too creative to
provide you with a fixed single estimate for the task. You both decide to use the average time
the task has taken for past projects to predict the future. This is an example of which of the
following?

A. Parametric estimating
B. PERT
C. CPM
D. Monte Carlo

P.1.49 A project manager for a small construction company has a project that was budgeted for
US $130,000 over a six week period. According to her schedule, the project should have cost
US $60,000 to date. However, it has cost US $90,000 to date. The project is also behind
schedule, because the original estimates were not accurate. Who has the primarily responsibility
to solve this problem?

A. Project manager
B. Senior management
C. Project sponsor / Owner
D. Project Management Consultant

P.1.50 You are looking at the standard reports that the project office has supplied, and you see
network diagrams and Gantt charts. Under what circumstances would you want to use a network
diagram instead of a Gantt chart?

A. To track progress or to report to the team

B. To create a work breakdown structure
C. To show interdependencies between tasks
D. To report to senior management

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P.1.51 Which estimating method uses one time estimate for each task?

A. PERT
B. CPM
C. Monte Carlo
D. Control charts

P.1.52 A task has an early start of day three, a late start of day 13, an early finish of day nine, and
a late finish of day 19. What is the task's float?

A. 10
B. 6
C. 3
D. Can not be determined

P.1.53 You are a project manager for a small construction project. Your project was budgeted
for US $72,000 over a six-week period. As of today, you've spent US $22,000 of your budget to
complete work that you originally expected to cost US $24,000. According to your schedule,
you should have spent US $30,000 by this point. Based on these circumstances, your project
could be BEST described as:

A. Ahead of schedule.
B. Behind schedule.
C. On schedule.
D. Having not enough information provided.

P.1.54 Which of the following is correct concerning a change control system?

A. It should include a method for controlling schedule

B. It is better if it focuses on cost
C. It is better if it concentrates on risk
D. It should be created during the execution phase

P.1.55 A project has seven activities: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Activities A, B, and D can start
anytime. A takes three weeks, B takes five weeks, and D takes 11 weeks. A and B must be
completed before C can start. C requires six weeks to complete. B, C, and D must be completed
before E can start. E requires two weeks. F takes four weeks and can start as soon as C is
completed. E must be completed before G starts. G requires three weeks. F and G must be
completed for the project to be completed. What is the critical path?

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A. A, C, F
B. B, C, E and G
C. D, E and G
D. Both B, C, E, G and D, E, G.

P.1.56 If the optimistic estimate for a task is 12 days and the pessimistic estimate is 18 days,
what is the standard deviation of the task?

A. 1
B. 1.3
C. 6
D. 3

P.1.57 Which of the following is true of activity duration estimating?

A. Estimates should always include some indication of the range of possible results.
B. It is more expensive.
C. Historical data is too old to use in estimating.
D. Critical paths help create original task estimates

P.1.58 You have a project with four tasks as follows: Task 1 can start immediately and has an
estimated duration of one. Task 2 can start after task 1 is completed and has an estimated
duration of four. Task 3 can start after Task 2 is completed and has an estimated duration of
five. Task 4 can start after Task 1 is completed and must be completed when Task 3 is
completed. The estimate for Task 4 is ten. What is the shortest amount of time in which the
project can be completed?

A. 10
B. 9
C. 18
D. 11

P.1.59 Which of the following does NOT need to be done if there is a major delay on a non-
critical path activity?

A. Investigate the delay

B. Reevaluate which path is critical
C. Change the project schedule
D. Review slack time for the task

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P.1.60 If the optimistic estimate for a task is 12 days and the pessimistic estimate is 18 days,
what is the most likely estimate?

A. 15 days
B. 13 days
C. 16 days
D. Unknown, the most likely estimate is a separate estimate

P.1.61 The sponsor of the project you are managing asks you to compress the duration of the
project. Which of the following is correct?

A. Crashing always shortens the time line but often increases risk.
B. Fast tracking often results in rework, and crashing often results in increased cost.
C. Crashing is only a viable alternative if earned value analysis indicates that the project is
ahead of schedule and under budget.
D. Fast tracking will result in less parallel tasks than crashing the project.

P.1.62 The relationships in an activity-on-arrow diagram are:

A. Finish to start.
B. Finish to finish.
C. Finish to start, start to finish, finish to finish, or start to start.
D. Start to start or start to finish.

P.1.63 Lag means?

A. The amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the project
B. The amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the early start date of its
successor
C. Waiting time
D. The product of a forward and backward pass

P.1.64 If your project will require redesign after completion of testing, which of the following
diagramming techniques would you use?

A. GERT
B. PERT
C. CPM
D. ADM

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P.1.65 What does "resource leveling" mean in project management?

A. Shortening the time it takes to complete the project

B. Making the most efficient use of the available resources
C. Hiring contractors to fill in during 'peak' times on the project schedule
D. Reducing the project costs

P.1.66 Management has informed you that the resources for your project will be cut.
Management wants to know how long the project will take if nine resources per month are
committed to your project. What is this activity called?

A. Crashing
B. Floating
C. Leveling
D. Fast tracking

P.1.67 GERT is a method of:

A. Sequencing.
B. Definition.
C. Duration estimating.
D. Analysis.

P.1.68 All of the following are used in estimating EXCEPT?

A. Work breakdown structure

B. Team
C. Network diagram
D. Scope verification

P.1.69 A detailed project schedule can be created only after creating the:

A. Project budget.
B. Work breakdown structure.
C. Project plan.
D. All of the above

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P.1.70 Total slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed without delaying the:

A. Project.
B. Completion date required by the customer.
C. Early start of its successor.
D. Project completion date.

P.1.71 A design must be completed before manufacturing can begin. What kind of dependency
is this?

A. Independent dependency
B. External dependency
C. Mandatory dependency
D. Discretionary dependency

P.1.72 A team member tells the project manager that their task will be delayed four weeks. The
project manager investigates and determines that the delay will affect the project's completion
date. Who should approve the change?

A. Management
B. Project manager
C. Team member
D. Functional manager

P.1.73 The estimate for a task is O = 3 days, P = 7 days, M = 4 days. What is the standard
deviation for this task?

A. 5/6 of a day
B. 2/3 of a day
C. 1 1/2 days
D. 5 2/3 days

P.1.74 You have a project with the following tasks: Task 1 can start immediately and has an
estimated duration of four. Task 2 can start after Task 1 is completed and has an estimated
duration of eight. Task 3 can start after Task 2 is completed and has an estimated duration of
five. Task 4 can start after Task 1 is completed and has an estimated duration of eight. Task 5
has an estimated duration of three and must take place concurrently with Task 3. It can start
after Tasks 4 and 2. What is the duration of the critical path of this project?

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A. 15 days
B. 18 days
C. 17 days
D. 12 days

P.1.75 An activity-on-node diagram is different from an activity-on-arrow diagram because an

activity-on-node diagram:

A. Can use PERT.

B. Has four relationships among tasks
C. Has only finish-to-finish relationships.
D. May use dummy activities.

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Answers
P.1.1. – B
P.1.2. - B
P.1.3. - D
P.1.4. - C
P.1.5. - B
P.1.6. - C
P.1.7. - B
P.1.8. - A
P.1.9. - A
P.1.10. – C
P.1.11. – A
P.1.12. – D
P.1.13. – B
P.1.14. – C
P.1.15. – B
P.1.16. – A
P.1.17. – D
P.1.18. – C
P.1.19. – D
P.1.20. – B
P.1.21. – C
P.1.22. – C
P.1.23. – C
P.1.24. – C
P.1.25. – D
P.1.26. – D
P.1.27. – B
P.1.28. – A
P.1.29. – C
P.1.30. – C
P.1.31. – D
P.1.32. – D
P.1.33. – D
P.1.34. –B
P.1.35. –D
P.1.36. –D
P.1.37. –C
P.1.38. –C

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P.1.39. –B
P.1.40. –B
P.1.41. –D
P.1.42. –A
P.1.43. –D
P.1.44. –A
P.1.45. –A
P.1.46. –B
P.1.47. –B
P.1.48. –A
P.1.49. –A
P.1.50. –C
P.1.51. –B
P.1.52. –A
P.1.53. –B
P.1.54. –A
P.1.55. –D
P.1.56. –A
P.1.57. –A
P.1.58. –D
P.1.59. –C
P.1.60. –D
P.1.61. –B
P.1.62. –A
P.1.63. –C
P.1.64. –A
P.1.65. –B
P.1.66. –C
P.1.67. –A
P.1.68. –D
P.1.69. –B
P.1.70. –D
P.1.71. –C
P.1.72. –A
P.1.73. –B
P.1.74. –C
P.1.75. –B

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