Higher Computing - Computer Systems 3

Quiz

Which one is not a virus code action?
1. Watching
2. Replication
3. Scanning
4. Delivery
Which one of the following would increase the precision of a floating point number?
1. Decrease the number of bits allocated to storing the exponent.
2. Decrease the number of bits allocated to storing the mantissa.
3. Increase the number of bits allocated to storing the exponent.
4. Increase the number of bits allocated to storing the mantissa.
Unicode is an alternative to ASCII for representing text in a computer. Unicode uses 16 bits to store each character.
Which one of the following pairs of statements is true?
1. ASCII messages require less storage than Unicode messages.
  ASCII permits a larger character set than Unicode.
2. ASCII messages require less storage than Unicode messages.
  ASCII permits a smaller character set than Unicode.
3. ASCII messages require more storage than Unicode messages.
  ASCII permits a larger character set than Unicode.
4. ASCII messages require more storage than Unicode messages.
  ASCII permits a smaller character set than Unicode.
Which one of the following is a reason why the decimal system is not used to represent data in a computer?
1. Degradations in voltage could affect the values held in memory.
2. File sizes would be too large.
3. It only allows the storage of digits 0 to 9.
4. Negative numbers could not be stored.
A computer can be described as a two state machine. Which of the following statements describe advantages of a two state machine?
Tick all that apply.
1. The rules for basic arithmetic can be easily encoded into electrical circuits.
2. Less RAM is required to store binary data than hexadecimal data.
3. Slight degradations in voltage do not affect the value of data held in a memory location.
4. The decimal digits 0-9 can be represented by 0-9 volts.
Which topology will allow simultaneous transmissions between pairs of computers in different parts of the network?
1. Bus
2. Star
3. Mesh
4. Ring
Which network topologies will allow data to be transmitted to other stations when a channel failure occurs?
Tick all that apply.
1. Bus
2. Star
3. Mesh
4. Ring
Which one of the following binary numbers represents -22 in 8-bit, two’s complement notation?
1. 00010110
2. 10010110
3. 11101001
4. 11101010
Which one is not a graphic file format?
1. GIF
2. RTF
3. TIFF
4. JPEG
How many distinct values can be represented by two bytes?
1. 255
2. 512
3. 65535
4. 65536
A picture was scanned into a computer and stored as a bit-mapped graphic.
Software was then used to convert the file to a vector graphic.
Which of the following pairs of statements is most likely to be true?
1. The file size of the vector graphic is larger than the bitmap.
  The vector graphic will not lose resolution when enlarged.
2. The file size of the vector graphic is larger than the bitmap.
  The vector will lose resolution when enlarged.
3. The file size of the vector graphic is smaller than the bitmap.
  The vector graphic will not lose resolution when enlarged.
4. The file size of the vector graphic is smaller than the bitmap.
  The vector graphic will lose resolution when enlarged.
Which one is not a type of virus?
1. File
2. Boot sector
3. Macro
4. Worm
Which one is not a section of memory?
1. Buffer
2. Cache
3. Register
4. Spooler
Put the following steps of the fetch-execute cycle in the correct order.

A Instruction is decoded and executed.
B Instruction is put onto data bus and transferred to processor.
C Processor sets up the address bus with address of next instruction.
D Read line of control bus is activated.
Which one is not a type of backing storage device?
1. Cache
2. Solid state
3. Flash
4. Optical
Which one of the following is not normally considered a utility program?
1. User interface.
2. Disk defragmenter.
3. Tape backup software.
4. Virus checking software.
Which one of the following is an advantage of having the operating system stored on disk rather than ROM?
1. It is easier to update.
2. It is faster to load.
3. It is less likely to be accidentally deleted.
4. It is less likely to be infected by a computer virus.
Which one of the following shows two data types which can be manipulated in multimedia applications and are not normally found in other general purpose application packages?
1. Graphics and sound.
2. Graphics and text.
3. Sound and text.
4. Video and sound.
Which one of the following tasks is most likely to be carried out by the kernel of the operating system?
1. Carrying out process management to avoid one process monopolising the use of the processor.
2. Providing a wide range of essential and non-essential services to the user.
3. Sending control signals to a range of input and output devices.
4. Interpreting the user's command.
A peripheral connected to a computer by several data carrying wires will require a
1. network interface
2. router
3. parallel interface
4. serial interface
Anyone creating a computer virus could be prosecuted under the
1. Computer Misuse Act
2. Data Protection Act
3. Software Misuse Act
4. Copyright, Design and Patents Act
Which of the following factors will affect the ability of a new spreadsheet package to be installed on a computer system?
Tick all that apply.
1. Amount of RAM.
2. Amount of free hard disk space.
3. Speed of CD-ROM drive.
4. Type of printer.
Which one of the following is most likely to be carried out by a utility program?
1. Checking a floppy disk for viruses.
2. Compiling a program.
3. Managing a database.
4. Managing files.
Which one of the following shows the number -17 in two’s complement notation?
1. -00010001
2. 10010001
3. 11101110
4. 11101111
Which one of the following tasks is performed by a network operating system, but not by a single-user operating system?
1. Allowing different access to the same set of files depending on a user’s level of privilege.
2. Issuing control signals to a range of input and output devices.
3. Managing processes to avoid one process monopolising the use of the processor.
4. Reserving separate areas of RAM for a variety of concurrent processes.
Which one is not a technique used to detect computer viruses?
1. Checksum
2. Heuristic detection
3. Parity checking
4. Signature search
Computers are often advertised as 32-bit or 64-bit. This figure is known as the word length of the computer. Which one of the following best describes what is meant by word length.
1. The maximum number of colours the screen can display.
2. The total capacity of the registers on the processor.
3. The width of the address bus.
4. The width of the data bus.
Which network topology depends on the functioning of a central node to allow data transmission?
1. Bus
2. Star
3. Mesh
4. Ring
Which one of the following expressions represents the total number of distinct values that can be stored in four bytes?
1. 2 * 4
2. 2 ^ 32
3. 2 ^ 4
4. 256 * 4
A user issues a request to the operating system to move a file from one folder (directory) to another on a hard disk. Which of the following parts of the operating system are used?
Tick all that apply.
1. User interface.
2. File management system.
3. Input/Output system.
4. Bootstrap loader.
Which of the following are advantages of having the operating system of a computer stored in ROM rather than on disk?
Tick all that apply.
1. It is easier to add modules.
2. It is faster to load.
3. It is less likely to be infected by a computer virus.
4. New versions can be installed easily without changing hardware.
Which part of the operating system allows two programs to run simultaneously without data from one interfering with the other?
1. User interface.
2. File management system.
3. Input/output system.
4. Memory management system.
A sales executive is preparing a set of graphs from sales figures obtained from her company's Web site. Which two classes of software will she need to use?
1. Utility software and number processing software.
2. Multimedia software and number processing software.
3. Number processing software and communications software.
4. Text processing software and communications software.
Which one of the following has no effect on the throughput of a processor?
1. Increasing the clock speed of the processor.
2. Increasing the number of registers in the processor.
3. Increasing the width of the address bus.
4. Increasing the width of the data bus.
3 Terabytes is
1. 3072 Megabytes
2. 3072 Gigabytes
3. 24 Gigabytes
4. 1024 Megabytes
Which of the following is not a measure of computer performance?
1. Benchmark
2. Clock Speed
3. MIPS
4. Bit depth
Which one of the following shows the steps in a memory read operation in the correct order?
1. Data item is put onto data bus and transferred to processor.
  Processor sets up the address bus with address of data to be read.
  Read line of control bus is activated.
2. Data item is put onto data bus and transferred to processor.
  Read line of control bus is activated.
  Processor sets up the address bus with address of data to be read.
3. Processor sets up the address bus with address of data to be read.
  Read line of control bus is activated.
  Data item is put onto data bus and transferred to processor.
4. Processor sets up the address bus with address of data to be read.
  Data item is put onto data bus and transferred to processor.
  Read line of control bus is activated.
Servers and workstations connected together in an office building are a
1. wide area network
2. mainframe with terminals
3. client/server network
4. peer-to-peer network
Which of the following factors would you expect to find specified on the packaging when buying a new application program for your computer?
Tick all that apply.
1. Amount of RAM required.
2. Free hard disc space required.
3. Number of internal registers.
4. The version of the operating system required.
Which of the following are involved in reading a data item from memory?
Tick all that apply.
1. Address bus
2. Interrupt line
3. Data bus
4. Instruction Register