PK0-005 Practice Test 5 — 25 Questions

Question 1

A large software development project is using a waterfall life cycle. The project has just completed the design phase, and the project manager is scheduled to conduct a phase gate review before proceeding to coding. The project sponsor, under pressure from upper management to deliver faster, asks the project manager to skip the gate review to save one week and move directly to coding. The sponsor argues that the design is sound and the review is a formality. What should the project manager do?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Explain the purpose of the gate review and proceed with it to ensure quality and risk mitigation.. The correct action is to explain the importance of the gate review and insist on conducting it as planned, because phase gates ensure quality and risk mitigation. Option D is correct because skipping a gate review violates the defined phase-gate process and can lead to unrecognized issues that increase project risk. Option A is wrong because escalating without first explaining the purpose and risks undermines the project manager's responsibility and may damage the relationship with the sponsor. Option B is wrong as it violates the established process and best practices. Option C is wrong because proceeding with coding despite the sponsor's request to skip the review abdicates the project manager's duty to ensure quality and control.

Answer

Escalate the issue to the program manager without further discussion.

Answer

Agree to skip the review to meet the sponsor's timeline.

Answer

Document the sponsor's request and proceed with coding.

Question 2

Refer to the exhibit. The project manager is reviewing the project schedule. What is the total duration of the critical path?

Accepted Answer

50 days. The critical path is the longest path through the project network diagram, determining the shortest possible project duration. By summing the durations of all activities on the critical path (e.g., A→C→E→G→I), the total duration is 50 days. This is calculated by adding the individual task durations along the path with zero total float.

Answer

5 days

Answer

30 days

Answer

15 days

Question 3

A project manager is documenting the specific actions that will be taken to manage and control risks throughout the project. Which document is this?

Accepted Answer

Risk management plan. The risk management plan is the document that describes how risk management activities will be structured and performed throughout the project, including specific actions for identifying, analyzing, responding to, and controlling risks. It is a component of the project management plan and provides the methodology, roles, responsibilities, and budgeting for risk management, not the list of individual risks themselves.

Answer

Change log

Answer

Risk register

Answer

Issue log

Question 4

A project manager is using a network diagram to identify the critical path. Which TWO statements are true about the critical path?

Accepted Answer

It contains activities with zero total float. The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and determines the shortest project duration. Any delay on this path delays the project.

Answer

It always includes the project milestone

Answer

It is the path with the most resources assigned

Answer

It is the shortest path through the network

Question 5

A project manager identifies a risk that a critical vendor may not deliver on time. The project manager decides to document the risk and monitor it closely, but does not take any proactive action. This is an example of which risk response?

Accepted Answer

Accept. The project manager has identified a risk (vendor may not deliver on time) and decided to document it and monitor it without taking any proactive action. This is the definition of an 'Accept' risk response, where the risk is acknowledged and a contingency plan may be in place, but no active steps are taken to reduce the probability or impact beforehand. In the context of the PK0-005 exam, this is a passive acceptance strategy, often used when the cost of mitigation exceeds the potential impact or when the risk is low enough to be tolerated.

Answer

Avoid

Answer

Mitigate

Answer

Transfer

Question 6

A project manager is analyzing the project schedule and notes that two activities, design and development, are currently scheduled sequentially. To accelerate the schedule, the project manager considers overlapping the activities. Which TWO of the following are correct regarding this approach?

Accepted Answer

This approach typically increases risk.. Fast-tracking involves overlapping sequential activities. It increases risk because rework may be needed if earlier work changes. Crashing adds resources to the critical path, increasing cost. The described approach is fast-tracking.

Answer

This approach typically increases cost.

Answer

This technique is known as crashing.

Answer

This approach requires adding more resources to the critical path.

Question 7

Refer to the exhibit. Based on the risk register, which risk has the HIGHEST priority?

Accepted Answer

R1. Risk priority is determined by the product of probability and impact (P × I). For R1, probability is 0.8 and impact is 5, yielding a risk score of 4.0, which is the highest among all risks in the register. This makes R1 the highest priority risk.

Answer

R2

Answer

R4

Answer

R3

Question 8

A project team uses planning poker to estimate user stories. What is the purpose of this technique?

Accepted Answer

To reach a consensus on effort estimates. Planning poker is a consensus-based estimation technique where team members discuss and vote on story point estimates to reach agreement.

Answer

To define the Definition of Done

Answer

To assign tasks to team members

Answer

To create a Gantt chart

Question 9

Which THREE items are typically found in a project management plan? (Select THREE).

Accepted Answer

Schedule management plan. The project management plan contains subsidiary plans, including scope, schedule, cost, quality, etc. The project charter and WBS are separate documents.

Answer

Project charter

Answer

Work breakdown structure (WBS)

Question 10

During a sprint review, the team shows that they completed 30 story points this sprint, which is consistent with their average velocity. The product owner asks how much work the team can likely complete in the next two sprints. Using velocity, what is the best estimate?

Accepted Answer

60 story points. Velocity is the average story points completed per sprint. With a consistent velocity of 30 points per sprint, over two sprints the team can complete approximately 60 points.

Answer

30 story points

Answer

90 story points

Answer

45 story points

Question 11

A project manager needs to identify the root cause of a recurring defect. Which quality tool uses a fishbone diagram to categorize potential causes?

Accepted Answer

Cause-and-effect diagram. A cause-and-effect diagram (also known as fishbone or Ishikawa) is used to identify root causes by organizing potential causes into categories.

Answer

Scatter diagram

Answer

Control chart

Answer

Pareto chart

Question 12

A project manager is using a predictive life cycle for a software development project. What is a key characteristic of this approach?

Accepted Answer

The project scope is defined early and changes are constrained. In a predictive (waterfall) life cycle, the project scope is defined and baselined early in the project, and changes are tightly controlled through a formal change control process. This approach is suitable for software development projects where requirements are well-understood and unlikely to change significantly, such as when building a system with fixed regulatory or contractual specifications.

Answer

Deliverables are produced in small increments

Answer

The team adapts to changing requirements

Answer

Requirements are defined iteratively

Question 13

Which TWO of the following are common causes of project delays in IT infrastructure projects? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Unforeseen dependencies between tasks. Unforeseen dependencies between tasks (B) are a common cause of delays because IT infrastructure projects often involve complex interconnections—for example, a network upgrade may depend on a prior firewall rule change or a storage array reconfiguration. When these hidden dependencies are not mapped in the project schedule, a delay in one task cascades to dependent tasks, pushing the entire timeline. This is especially critical in infrastructure where hardware, software, and configuration tasks are tightly coupled.

Answer

Successful integration testing

Answer

Overestimating resource capacity

Answer

Frequent status meetings

Question 14

A project is implementing a new backup solution. The current infrastructure uses tape backups, and the new solution will use cloud storage. During planning, the team identifies that the internet bandwidth is insufficient for initial seed data transfer. What is the best approach to mitigate this risk?

Accepted Answer

Perform a physical seed transfer of the initial backup. When internet bandwidth is insufficient for the initial seed data transfer of a cloud backup solution, a physical seed transfer (e.g., shipping a hard drive or tape cartridge to the cloud provider) bypasses the bandwidth bottleneck entirely. This approach is commonly supported by major cloud providers (e.g., AWS Snowball, Azure Data Box) for large initial datasets, as it avoids prolonged transfer times and potential failures over limited connections.

Answer

Compress the backup data to reduce transfer size

Answer

Schedule the transfer during off-peak hours

Answer

Upgrade the internet connection to higher bandwidth

Question 15

Which TWO documents should be included in the procurement management plan? (Select TWO).

Accepted Answer

Statement of Work (SOW). The procurement management plan includes documents related to procurement, such as SOW (scope of work) and contract terms. The other documents are not procurement-specific.

Answer

Risk register

Answer

Communication plan

Answer

Project charter

Question 16

A project manager is reviewing the schedule performance and finds that the earned value (EV) is $50,000 and the planned value (PV) is $60,000. What does this indicate?

Accepted Answer

The project is behind schedule. Schedule variance (SV) = EV - PV = $50,000 - $60,000 = -$10,000. A negative SV means the project is behind schedule.

Answer

The project is on schedule

Answer

The project is over budget

Answer

The project is ahead of schedule

Question 17

In a network diagram, the critical path is the longest path through the project. What does it determine?

Accepted Answer

The shortest possible project duration. The critical path determines the shortest possible project duration; any delay on the critical path delays the project.

Answer

The project's budget

Answer

The resource allocation

Answer

The project's total float

Question 18

Which document contains the subsidiary plans for scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, communication, risk, and procurement?

Accepted Answer

Project management plan. The project management plan integrates all subsidiary plans for managing the project.

Answer

Risk register

Answer

Project charter

Answer

Work breakdown structure

Question 19

A project manager is overseeing a manufacturing process improvement project. During the monitoring and controlling phase, the project manager notices that the project is two weeks behind schedule due to unexpected machine downtime. The team suggests reducing the amount of testing on the new equipment to recover the schedule. The project sponsor is concerned about meeting the deadline and supports the team's suggestion. What should the project manager do?

Accepted Answer

Analyze the impact and propose fast-tracking or crashing as alternatives.. The correct action is to analyze the impact of reduced testing on quality and propose alternative solutions like fast-tracking or crashing. Option C is correct because compromising testing could lead to defects and rework, increasing costs and risks. Option A is wrong because ignoring the schedule issue is irresponsible. Option B is wrong as it may cause more problems. Option D is wrong because it does not address the root cause of the delay.

Answer

Add more resources to the testing phase later to compensate.

Answer

Accept the team's suggestion to reduce testing and update the schedule.

Answer

Immediately escalate to the steering committee for a decision.

Question 20

A project manager is tracking remaining work over the course of a sprint to see if the team is on pace to complete all committed stories. Which agile artifact should the project manager use?

Accepted Answer

Burndown chart. A burndown chart shows remaining work (e.g., story points) over time in a sprint, helping visualize whether the team is on track.

Answer

Velocity chart

Answer

Burnup chart

Answer

Gantt chart