Sample questions for CS 1011 Midterm 1 (Spring 2001).

NOTE: the actual midterm will have 20 three point multiple choice questions
and eight 7-8 point short answer questions.  The questions below are samples
of questions you might see on the midterm.


MULTIPLE CHOICE (3 points each) - circle the LETTER of the single BEST answer:

1. The term computer, as used today, commonly refers to __________.

    (a) An electronic device operating under a set of instructions that can
        receive, process, and produce data
    (b) Any device involving chips and circuits
    (c) A person performing a series of repetitive calculations
    (d) A device capable of performing complex calculations with storage
        capabilities
    (e) A mechanism used to control complex machinery and devices

2. John von Neumann is credited with the stored program concept which involves
   __________.

    (a) Mechanisms for writing programs to punch cards
    (b) Mechanisms for writing programs to disk drives
    (c) Treating programs and data as things that can be stored in memory
    (d) Storing programs in a special type of memory
    (e) Storing data in a special type of memory

3. Ada Lovelace is often referred to as __________.

    (a) The first programmer
    (b) The first computer scientist
    (c) The inventor of the Ada programming language
    (d) The person who coined the term "Bug"
    (e) None of these

4. The system clock is used to __________.

    (a) Report the time to users
    (b) Measure how many instructions are being executed
    (c) Control the cycles of the CPU
    (d) Synchronize the components of a computer
    (e) Remember the time zone and daylight savings information

5. Which of the following terms would NOT normally be used when referring to a
   keyboard?

    (a) QWERTY
    (b) Numeric keypad
    (c) Typing area
    (d) Mouse button
    (e) Function key

6. Speech recognition software allows a computer to __________.

    (a) Distinguish words spoken by the user
    (b) Make speeches to the user
    (c) Critique the speeches of its user
    (d) Input sounds made by the user
    (e) None of these

7. Which of the following does NOT describe a type of display device?

    (a) Active-matrix liquid crystal
    (b) Gas plasma
    (c) Monochrome
    (d) Active-phosphor screen
    (e) Cathode ray tube

8. Which of the following is NOT a form of computer output?

    (a) Paper
    (b) Audio
    (c) Video
    (d) Text
    (e) Graphics

SHORT ANSWER (8 points each) - briefly answer the following:

9. The history of computers can be broken down into four "generations" based
    on the technology used for the components of the CPU.  List the four
    generations in order by the component that characterized that generation.



10. What is a bus in a computer system?  What two types of buses are there?
    How is the speed of a bus determined?



11. What is a bar code?  How does a bar code reader read a bar code?



12. Explain how a laser printer produces a page of output.