Computer Hardware and History

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Question 1 of 39 Points: 10

Which component is responsible for commanding the other components of the computer?

 

CPU

 

I/O subsystem

 

bus

 

memory

Question 2 of 39 Points: 10

Disk drives form a part of what component?

 

bus

 

I/O subsystem

 

CPU

 

memory

Question 3 of 39 Points: 10

What is stored in the memory of a computer?

 

The programs currently being executed and the data used by those programs.

 

All files that have been created by users.

 

All data reserved for long-term storage for future recall.

 

All information that travels along the bus from one component to another.

Question 4 of 39 Points: 10

What component consists of wires that allow electrical current to flow between components?

 

I/O subsystem

 

bus

 

networking card

 

none of the above

Question 5 of 39 Points: 10

Which basic hardware component might include sticks of SRAM or DRAM?

 

memory

 

CPU

 

I/O subsystem

 

bus

Question 6 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following internal components is not housed directly in the motherboard?

 

CPU

 

hard drive

 

memory

 

graphics card

Question 7 of 39 Points: 10

What motherboard component usually has a heat sink and fan on it to distribute the heat it produces?

 

memory

 

expansion slots

 

bus

 

CPU

Question 8 of 39 Points: 10

Which part of the processor does the actual processing operations?

 

CU

 

CPU

 

ALU

 

GUI

Question 9 of 39 Points: 10

What unit for measuring the speed of a processor is equivalent to a billion processes per second?

 

Ppm

 

GHz

 

MHz

 

nHz

Question 10 of 39 Points: 10

What are the two main forms of random access memory?

 

ROM and RAM

 

CD-ROM and RAM

 

ROM and HDD

 

DRAM and SRAM

Question 11 of 39 Points: 10

How long does ROM memory retain its contents?

 

It retains information until the system is powered off.

 

It retains information until the operating system is updated.

 

It depends on what classification of information is stored in ROM.

 

It retains information indefinitely.

Question 12 of 39 Points: 10

Why is information stored in RAM generally faster to access than information stored in other forms?

 

Because RAM is not connected to the system directly through the motherboard like most storage media, which is the slowest way to be connected to the system.

 

Because RAM is much larger in capacity than other forms of storage media.

 

Because information can be recalled from RAM at the same speed regardless of where it is stored.

 

Because RAM is much smaller in capacity than other forms of storage media.

Question 13 of 39 Points: 10

What term is used to refer to forms of storage that do not retain their information when the power to the system is lost?

 

volatile storage

 

flux storage

 

software storage

 

none of the above

Question 14 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following is a form of volatile storage?

 

RAM

 

ROM

 

hard drive

 

All of the above are examples of volatile storage.

Question 15 of 39 Points: 10

"Fill in the blank" question: select the correct answer.

RAM memory is used when data is being processed, and 

 storage is designed to store information even when the computer is off.

Question 16 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following peripheral devices would be appropriate for use in the first step of the IPOS cycle?

 

monitor

 

keyboard

 

printer

 

none of the above

Question 17 of 39 Points: 10

A speaker is what type of peripheral device?

 

Input

 

storage

 

output

 

none of the above

Question 18 of 39 Points: 10

A computer user has provided input, and the computer system has completed its processing functions, but the user does not have an immediate use for the information that resulted from the processing. What type of peripheral device might then be used for the next step of the process?

 

a printer

 

a hard drive

 

a scanner

 

none of the above

Question 19 of 39 Points: 10

What component of the motherboard is designed to allow the system to extend its capabilities and perform new operations it was not previously capable of doing?

 

expansion slot

 

memory slot

 

CPU

 

bus

Question 20 of 39 Points: 10

What are two ways that peripheral devices might be connected to the system unit?

 

through ports of the I/O subsystem or through the hard drive

 

through the motherboard or through the RAM memory housed in it

 

through physical wiring or through wireless network connections

 

through the CPU or through the internet

Question 21 of 39 Points: 10

What are computer ports used for?

 

housing disk drives

 

holding PC cards

 

connecting additional input, output, and storage devices

 

all of the above

Question 22 of 39 Points: 10

In a laptop computer, where are internal components such as the motherboard, hard drive, and other peripherals located?

 

It is behind the screen that is built-in as part of the all-in-one unit.

 

It is outside the system case, connected either through physical wiring or wireless connections.

 

It is beneath the integrated keyboard.

 

none of the above

Question 23 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following is one common way in which many mobile computing devices are designed to be more transportable?

 

They generally have less storage capacity than desktop computers.

 

They generally have slightly less powerful processors than desktop computers.

 

They often, though not always, combine input and output functions into one single peripheral device.

 

all of the above

Question 24 of 39 Points: 10

A certain computer user is trying to decide what platform would best fit his needs. He has a use for a computer device very frequently throughout each day. Usually, though, the tasks he needs to complete do not require a great deal of computing power. His daily routine usually carries him to numerous locations rather than keeping him in one place. What platform will best meet his needs?

 

typical desktop

 

laptop

 

all-in-one desktop

 

handheld device

Question 25 of 39 Points: 10

In many mobile devices, what manual pointing device sometimes replaces the mouse and allows you to enter data, select items, and give commands by touching the screen with it?

 

a touchstone

 

a stylus

 

a keyboard

 

none of the above

Question 26 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following is not a characteristic of first generation computers?

 

They were either binary or decimal.

 

They were either electronic or electromechanical.

 

The earliest models were not general computers.

 

With few exceptions, they were nonprogrammable.

Question 27 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following were key technological advances introduced during the second generation of computers?

 

transistors and magnetic core memory

 

magnetic core memory and microprocessors

 

vacuum tubes and motherboards

 

silicon chips and transistors

Question 28 of 39 Points: 10

During the third generation of computers, an organization that previously would not have been able to consider the purchase of a computer now felt that perhaps the lower costs of the new computer models might make the purchase of one a reasonable consideration. The organization would have a few dozen users, and they would not need as much computer processing power as the most powerful models provided. What type of computer model should they consider purchasing?

 

mainframe computer

 

minicomputer

 

a computer family

 

supercomputer

Question 29 of 39 Points: 10

What was the defining characteristic of a microprocessor?

 

It used silicon as the material in building the chips.

 

It used integrated circuit boards rather than individual transistors.

 

It used transistors in place of vacuum tubes.

 

It was built around a single chip rather than numerous chips.

Question 30 of 39 Points: 10

What type of memory stored information by having individual rings with a current that rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise?

 

magnetic core memory

 

integrated circuit memory

 

transistors

 

none of the above

Question 31 of 39 Points: 10

How often did Moore's original observations predict that the transistor count on computer chips would double in number?

 

every five years

 

every generation of computers

 

every year

 

every 18 months

 

every two years

Question 32 of 39 Points: 10

What type of language is exemplified in the following sample: 0011011011010001

 

machine language

 

high-level language

 

assembly language

 

It could be any of the above languages.

Question 33 of 39 Points: 10

Which of the following is not an example of a type of language translator program?

 

assembler

 

compiler

 

FORTRAN

 

All of the above are examples of language translator programs.

Question 34 of 39 Points: 10

After machine language, what is the next most basic type of programming language, which still uses many length strings of numerals and cryptic language, but does at least make use of some abbreviations of English words and commands?

 

C code

 

hexadecimal code

 

assembly language

 

high-level languages

Question 35 of 39 Points: 10

What type of language needs a compiler in order to become executable?

 

assembly language

 

low-level language

 

translator language

 

none of the above

Question 36 of 39 Points: 10

In object-oriented programming, what is the relationship between objects and variables?

 

In object-oriented programming, "object" is the term used to indicate any variable with an unspecified value.

 

Variables are single values, whereas objects are single entities that contain multiple variable values as their own characteristics.

 

In object-oriented programming, once variables change value more than one time, they become known as objects.

 

In object-oriented programming, a variable has a changing value, but an object has a fixed and unchanging value.

Question 37 of 39 Points: 10

What term is used to describe a program in which the sequential order of the lines is severely mixed up by excessive use of GOTO statements?

 

unstructured programming

 

structured programming

 

low-level programming

 

spaghetti code

Question 38 of 39 Points: 10

An IT administrator is attempting to write a short program to fix a security issue that he has discovered. However, when he attempts to execute his new program, he receives the message that some of the class names he used are undefined, and the program does not run. What kind of language must he be using, and why?

 

A compiled language; because it requires that all parts of the program be defined before the program can run.

 

A low-level language; because it is incapable of running without all parts of the program being explicitly defined.

 

A machine language; because otherwise the language translator program would be able to fill in any missing definitions.

 

An interpreted language; because he cannot test it without the entire program being completely defined.

Question 39 of 39 Points: 10

What advantage does an interpreted language have compared to a compiled language?

 

The final code of an interpreted language is much more efficient than that of a compiled language.

 

Interpreted languages work far more effectively with files, graphics, and security concerns than compiled languages do.

 

An interpreted language allows for the testing of partially completed programs, speeding the code development process.

 

Interpreted languages can be run by any compiler, regardless of what particular language the compiler was designed for.