Exam Number 999
Name __ANSWER KEY ***** SEE ANSWERS AT BOTTOM OF THIS FILE *****
Sample Midterm Exam
1. The amount of data stored on a large hard disk.
a. 600K
b. 1.4M
c. 8-16M
d. 650M
e. 1G (gigabyte)
2. Commonly used operating systems include all EXCEPT
a. Macintosh OS
b. America Online
c. UNIX
d. Windows NT
e. Windows 95
3. Which of these is the smallest?
a. a minicomputer
b. a microcomputer
c. a microprocessor
d. a mini processor
e. a notebook computer
4. Next to word processors, the most commonly used software
application packages are
a. desktop publishing
b. databases
c. educational games
d. spreadsheets
e. presentation programs
5. From the film: The problem with using transistors in
computers
a. they burnt out like light bulbs
b. they led to massive wiring snarls
c. they were very expensive
d. the electronics world was uncomfortable with the
technology
e. they were hotter and less reliable than vacuum tubes
v. 2
6. The fundamental hardware components of a computer are
a. CPU, Input and output devices, memory and data
b. CPU, Input and output devices, storage and data
c. CPU, Input and output devices, memory and storage
d. CPU, people, procedures, memory and data
e. printer, monitor, disk drive, keyboard (or mouse)
7. A Gigabyte is how many bytes?
a. one thousand
b. one million
c. one billion
d. one trillion
e. one gazillion
8. The size of RAM on most home microcomputers.
a. 600K
b. 1.4M
c. 8-16M
d. 650M
e. 1G (gigabyte)
9. The amount of data a 4x CD can transfer in a second.
a. 600K
b. 1.4M
c. 8-16M
d. 650M
e. 1G (gigabyte)
10. Clock speed
a. is measured in MHz
b. does not refer to the CPU
c. is best if it is near zero
d. refers to the hard drive
e. is measured in seconds
11. The two main classifications of systems software are
a. word processing and spreadsheets
b. digital and analog
c. general and special purpose
d. programming languages and operating systems
e. systems and applications
12. MHz stands for
a. a million bytes
b. a million instructions per second
c. a million screen pixels
d. a millionth of a second
e. a millionth of a byte
v. 2
13. Which of the following CANNOT be entered directly into the
cell of a spreadsheet?
a. graphics
b. formulas
c. text
d. numbers
e. functions
14. From the film: The man who said "...engineering students
have better things to do...and so I invented the
computer."
a. Charles Babbage
b. Thomas Watson, Sr.
c. Herman Hollerith
d. Konrad Zusa
e. Doug Englebart
15. From the film: "...the single most important person in the
history of computing..."
a. Charles Babbage
b. Konrad Zusa
c. Doug Englebart
d. Alan Turing
e. Bill Gates
16. The first commercial computers ever marketed were built
a. in the US by Remington Rand
b. in Germany by the Third Reich
c. in Canada by the postal system
d. in England by a pastry company
e. in France by a museum
17. One of the first all-electronic computers, the ENIAC, was
developed by
a. Babbage and Lovelace
b. Hollerith and Jaquard
c. Steven Jobs and Steve Wozniak
d. Howard Aiken and IBM
e. Eckert and Mauchly
18. The amount of data stored on a CDROM disk.
a. 600K
b. 1.4M
c. 8-16M
d. 650M
e. 1G (gigabyte)
v. 2
19. This stores data in 'pits' and 'lands'.
a. RAM memory
b. ROM memory
c. the hard disk
d. CD-ROM disk
e. floppy disk
20. Examples of utility programs include all of the following
EXCEPT
a. disk formating
b. file recovery
c. word processing
d. device drivers
e. screen savers
21. Individual picture elements are called
a. graphic images
b. PICT files
c. dot matrix
d. paint files
e. pixels
22. Which of the following can often be a Gigabyte in size?
a. standard CD-ROM storage capacity
b. hard disk storage capacity
c. RAM memory capacity
d. modem transfer rates (per second)
e. ROM memory capacity
23. Word size (8, 16, 32, 64) refers to the number of
a. bytes that can be processed at one time.
b. bits that can be processed at one time.
c. characters that can be processed at one time.
d. words that can be processed at one time.
e. instructions that can be processed at one time.
24. This are made of mylar with a thin coating of magnetic
material.
a. RAM memory
b. ROM memory
c. the hard disk
d. CD-ROM disk
e. floppy disk
v. 2
25. If you highlight a section of the document on the screen and
remove it, placing it in another location in your document
you have used
a. copy and paste
b. cut and paste
c. edit and paste
d. justification
e. file export
26. Which of the following is not a common feature of modern
word processors?
a. word wrap
b. search and replace
c. 'what if' analysis
d. mail-merge
e. text justification
27. From the film: The first computer program to communicate
graphically (with pictures).
a. Ivan Sutherland's "Sketchpad"
b. Mitch Kapor's "Lotus 1-2-3"
c. Jobs and Wozniak's "Macpaint"
d. Doug Englebart's "Mouse"
e. Alan Turing's "Collossis"
28. From the film: Programming using punched cards was
depicted as "bleak and dehumanizing"
a. by IBM advertisements
b. in the ads of Remington Rand and other IBM competitors
c. by Hollywood and student films
d. by Senator Joseph McCarthy
e. by the US space program (NASA)
29. This is an optical storage medium.
a. RAM memory
b. ROM memory
c. the hard disk
d. CD-ROM disk
e. floppy disk
30. Which of the following DOES NOT belong in the
basic definition of a modern computer?
a. electronic device
b. accepts input and produces output
c. processes data in a prescribed manner
d. stores results for later use
e. fits on a desktop
v. 2
31. Which of the following is NOT contained on the
system board (mother board)?
a. the CPU
b. the hard drive
c. RAM memory modules
d. expansion slots
e. ROM chips
32. You can tell which is the active cell in a spreadsheet
because
a. the cell is highlighted
b. the cell border is thicker than usual
c. the cell location is displayed by the entry bar
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
33. From the film: UNIVAC's big success was stimulated by it's
performance
a. During the 1952 Presidential Election
b. taking Apollo 11 behind the moon and back
c. as the first modern desktop computer
d. calculating firing and bombing tables in WWII
e. processing the 1890 US Census data
34. Which of the following is not associated with punched
cards?
a. IBM
b. Babbage
c. Jaquard
d. Blaise Pascal
e. Herman Hollerith
35. The two main classifications of software are
a. systems and applications
b. word processing and spreadsheets
c. desktop and mainframe
d. MicroSoft and IBM
e. digital and analog
36. The era of McCarthyism in Washington took place during the
a. first generation of computers
b. second generation of computers
c. third generation of computers
d. fourth generation of computers
e. before the first generation of computers
v. 2
37. The two main components of the CPU are
a. the control unit and ALU
b. the control unit and RAM memory
c. RAM memory and the ALU
d. RAM memory and storage devices
e. Input and output devices
38. Standard size for this is 650M.
a. RAM memory
b. ROM memory
c. the hard disk
d. CD-ROM disk
e. floppy disk
39. The storage capacity of a standard HD floppy.
a. 600K
b. 1.4M
c. 8-16M
d. 650M
e. 1G (gigabyte)
40. The major manufacturers of CPU's for microcomputers are
a. IBM and Apple
b. IBM and MicroSoft
c. Microsoft and Intel
d. Intel and Motorola
e. Motorola and Apple
41. From the film: XEROX PARC is important because
a. It was where XEROX invented the first computer
b. It lead to the development of GUI's
c. It lead to the development of laser printers.
d. It led to the first Apple Computer
e. It led to spectacular success in the US space program
42. The two main classifications of application software are
a. word processing and spreadsheets
b. digital and analog
c. general and special purpose
d. programming languages and operating systems
e. systems and applications
43. The word processor available in the Mac labs on campus is.
a. Microsoft Word
b. WordPerfect
c. WriteNow
d. Lotus Word
e. Word for Windows
v. 2
44. Ada Augusta, the Countess of Lovelace
a. was the only legitimate daughter of the poet Lord Byron
b. was an excellent mathematician
c. acted as Babage's interpreter to the world.
d. is sometimes called the first 'computer programmer'
e. all of the above
45. Data is to information as
a. hardware is to software
b. analog is to digital
c. raw material is to processed product
d. humans are to robots
e. punched cards are to modern graphic interfaces
46. Alan Turing did NOT
a. Commit suicide
b. Develop the ENIAC
c. Have a speech impairment
d. Work on cracking secret German codes
e. Publish works on 'Computing Machines' in the 1930's
47. The contents of this disappear when power is turned off.
a. RAM memory
b. ROM memory
c. the hard disk
d. CD-ROM disk
e. floppy disk
48. Spreadsheets create
a. document files
b. worksheet files
c. database files
d. LANs
e. ALUs
49. If you change one value in a spreadsheet
a. the whole spreadsheet recalculates itself
b. you then need to tell the spreadsheet to recalculate
c. you should quit and reboot the computer
d. you need to change your totals as well
e. it will have no effect on the rest of the spreadsheet
50. The most important directory on any operating system is
a. your account
b. the root
c. the table of contents
d. the applications directory
e. the program library directory
v. 2
Sample Test Answer key
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1. E
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. B
6. C
7. C
8. C
9. A
10. A
11. D
12. B
13. A
14. D
15. C
16. D
17. E
18. D
19. D
20. C
21. E
22. B
23. B
24. E
25. B
26. C
27. A
28. C
29. D
30. E
31. B
32. D
33. A
34. D
35. A
36. A
37. A
38. D
39. B
40. D
41. B
42. C
43. B
44. E
45. C
46. B
47. A
48. B
49. A
50. B