Computer Hardware and History Topic Test

What are the two main forms of random access memory? 1. DRAM and SRAM 2. ROM and RAM 3. ROM and HDD 4. CD-ROM and RAM

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What term is used to refer to forms of storage that do not retain their information when the power to the system is lost? 1. volatile storage 2. flux storage 3. software storage 4. none of the above

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What type of language is exemplified in the following sample: 0011011011010001 1. machine language 2. high-level language 3. assembly language 4. It could be any of the above languages.

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What type of memory store information by having individual rings with a current that rotated either clockwise or counterclockwise? 1. magnetic core memory 2. integrated circuit memory 3. transistors 4. none of the above

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Which component is responsible for commanding the other components of the computer? 1. CPU 2. bus 3. memory 4. I/O subsystem

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Which of the following is a form of volatile storage? 1. RAM 2. ROM 3. hard drive 4. All of the above are examples of volatile storage.

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Which of the following is not a characteristic of first generation computers? 1. With few exceptions, they were nonprogrammable. 2. They were either electronic or electromechanical. 3. The earliest models were not general computers. 4. They were either binary or decimal.

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RAM memory is used when data is being processed, and _____ storage is designed to store information even when the computer is off.

hard drive

Why is information stored in RAM generally faster to access than information stored in other forms? 1. Because information can be recalled from RAM at the same speed regardless of where it is stored. 2. Because RAM is much smaller in capacity than other forms of storage media. 3. Because RAM is much larger in capacity than other forms of storage media. 4. 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.

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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? 1. a printer 2. a hard drive 3. a scanner 4. none of the above

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Disk drives form a part of what component? 1. CPU 2. I/O subsystem 3. bus 4. memory

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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? 1. mainframe computer 2. minicomputer 3. a computer family 4. supercomputer

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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? 1. a touchstone 2. a stylus 3. a keyboard 4. none of the above

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What are two ways that peripheral devices might be connected to the system unit? 1. through ports of the I/O subsystem or through the hard drive 2. through physical wiring or through wireless network connections 3. through the motherboard or through the RAM memory housed in it 4. through the CPU or through the internet

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What component consists of wires that allow electrical current to flow between components? 1. I/O subsystem 2. bus 3. networking card 4. none of the above

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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? 1. memory slot 2. expansion slot 3. bus 4. CPU

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Which of the following internal components is not house directly in the motherboard? 1. CPU 2. hard drive 3. memory 4. graphics card

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Which of the following peripheral devices would be appropriate for use in the first step of the IPOS cycle? 1. monitor 2. keyboard 3. printer 4. none of the above

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A speaker is what type of peripheral device? 1. input 2. storage 3. output 4. none of the above

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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? 1. high-level languages 2. C code 3. assembly language 4. hexadecimal code

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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? 1. A low-level language; because it is incapable of running without all parts of the program being explicitly defined. 2. A machine language; because otherwise the language translator program would be able to fill in any missing definitions. 3. A compiled language; because it requires that all parts of the program be defined before the program can run. 4. An interpreted language; because he cannot test it without the entire program being completely defined.

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How long does ROM memory retain its contents? 1. It retains information until the system is powered off. 2. It depends on what classification of information is stored in ROM. 3. It retains information indefinitely. 4. It retains information until the operating system is updated.

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How often did Moore's original observations predict that the transistor count on computer chips would double in number? 1. every 18 months 2. every five years 3. every year 4. every generation of computers 5. every two years

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In a laptop computer, where are internal components such as the motherboard, hard drive, and other peripherals located? 1. It is behind the screen that is build-in as part of the all-in-one unit. 2. It is outside the system case, connected either through physical wiring or wireless connections. 3. It is beneath the integrated keyboard. 4. none of the above

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What advantage does an interpreted language have compared to a compiled language? 1. The final code of an interpreted language is much more efficient than that of a compiled language. 2. Interpreted languages work far more effectively with files, graphics, and security concerns than compiled languages do. 3. An interpreted language allows for the testing of partially completed programs, speeding the code development process. 4. Interpreted languages can be run by any compiler, regardless of what particular language the compiler was designed for.

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What are computer ports used for? 1. housing disk drives 2. holding PC cards 3. connecting additional input, output, and storage devices 4. all of the above

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What motherboard component usually has a heat sink and fan on it to distribute the heat it produces? 1. expansion slots 2. memory 3. CPU 4. bus

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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? 1. unstructured programming 2. structured programming 3. spaghetti code 4. low-level programming

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What unit for measuring the speed of a processor is equivalent to a billion processes per second? 1. MHz 2. nHz 3. GHz 4. Ppm

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Which basic hardware component might include sticks of SRAM or DRAM? 1. I/O subsystem 2. bus 3. memory 4. CPU

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Which of the following is not an example of a type of language translator program? 1. assembler 2. compiler 3. FORTRAN 4. All of the above are examples of language translator programs.

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Which of the following were key technological advances introduced during the second generation of computers? 1. vacuum tubes and motherboards 2. silicon chips and transisitors 3. transistors and magnetic core memory 4. magnetic core memory and microprocessors

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Which part of the processor does the actual processing operations? 1. GUI 2. CPU 3. ALU 4. CU

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A certain computer user is trying to decide what platform would be best fit to 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? 1. laptop 2. all-in-one desktop 3. typical desktop 4. handheld device

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In object-oriented programming, what is the relationship between objects and variables? 1. In object-oriented programming, once variables change value more than one time, they become known as objects. 2. In object-oriented programming, a variable has a changing value, but an object has a fixed and unchanging value. 3. In object-oriented programming, "object" is the term used to indicate any variable with an unspecified value. 4. Variables are single values, whereas objects are single entities that contain multiple variable values as their own characteristics.

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What is stored in the memory of a computer? 1. All data reserved for long-term storage for future recall. 2. All information that travels along the bus from one component to another. 3. All files that have been created by users. 4. The programs currently being executed and the data used by those programs.

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What type of language needs a compiler in order to become executable? 1. assembly language 2. low-level language 3. translator language 4. none of the above

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What was the defining characteristic of a microprocessor? 1. It used silicon as the material in building the chips. 2. It used transistors in place of vacuum tubes. 3. It used integrated circuit boards rather than individual transistors. 4. It was built around a single chip rather than numerous chips.

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Which of the following is one common way in which many mobile computing devices are designed to be more transportable? 1. They generally have less storage capacity than desktop computers. 2. They generally have slightly less powerful processors than desktop computers. 3. They often, though not always, combine input and output functions into one single peripheral device. 4. all of the above

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