Question

To select noncontiguous ranges, after selecting the first range, hold down the ____ key and drag through the additional ranges of cells to select them.

a) Ctrl
b) Alt
c) Shift
d) Tab

Answer 1

To select noncontiguous ranges in most spreadsheet applications, you hold down the Ctrl key after selecting the first range and then select additional ranges. The Ctrl key is essential for flexibility in editing or formatting separate sections of data simultaneously.

Step-by-step explanation:

To select noncontiguous ranges in programs such as Micrοsoft Excel or Goοgle Sheets, after selecting the first range of cells, one should hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard. While holding down the Ctrl key, you can then click or drag to select additional non-adjacent ranges of cells. This allows for flexibility in editing or formatting multiple sections of a spreadsheet that are not directly next to each other without changing the rest of the data.

Using the Shift key instead would select a contiguous block of cells between the first range and the current selection. The Alt key is typically used for accessing menu options or as part of keyboard shortcuts for specific actions. The Tab key is most often used to move the selection to the next cell in a row. Therefore, in most spreadsheet applications, for noncontiguous selection, the correct option is the Ctrl key.

It is important to know these keyboard shortcuts as they make it significantly easier to work with large data sets and to perform multi-range selection operations quickly.