Deck 5: Computing Components

Question 1

Which of the following is a unit of frequency?

A) Hertz
B) Pentium 4
C) Random access
D) Cycles per second
E) Modem

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The prefix giga refers to which power of two?

A) 2¹⁰
B) 2²⁰
C) 2³⁰
D) 2⁴⁰
E) 2⁵⁰

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A von Neumann computer architecture is best characterized by which of the following?

A) Program input device
B) Read-only memory
C) Random access memory
D) Stored-program concept
E) The use of disk drives

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which parallel-processing approach applies the same program to multiple data sets using multiple ALUs?

A) Synchronous processing
B) Tandem processing
C) Pipelining processing
D) Transfer processing
E) Decode processing

Question 5

What does the term Core i5 refer to in the description of the components of the Dell Inspiron 5000 laptop?

A) The presence of two central core processors on one chip in the laptop computer
B) The presence of two central core lithium batteries in the laptop computer
C) The presence of two central hard drives in the laptop computer
D) The presence of two front side buses (FSBs) in the laptop computer
E) The presence of two software operating systems in the laptop computer

Question 6

A megabyte of memory space is larger than a gigabyte of memory space.

Question 7

The von Neumann architecture is characterized by the fact that instructions and data are logically the same and can both be stored in memory.

Question 8

The bit pattern stored at a particular memory location conveys the kind of information that it represents (a number, part of an image, etc.).

Question 9

A volatile storage device loses the contents of its memory if its power supply is turned off.

Question 10

The data on a CD-RW can be rewritten.

Question 11

A compact disc stores data using magnetized particles.

Question 12

A computer's _______________ is the number of bits that are stored in each addressable memory location.

Question 13

The prefix _______________ stands for 10³ (1000) or 2¹⁰ (1024).

Question 14

A _______________ is a set of wires through which data travels between components of a computer.

Question 15

The primary circuit board on which the core components of a computer reside is called the _______________.

Question 16

A(n) _______________ is a computer that is designed to perform a narrow range of functions as part of a larger system.

Question 17

_______________ is a computing technique in which multiple processors apply the same set of instructions to multiple data sets at the same time.

Question 18

What two components make up the central processing unit in a von Neumann machine?

Question 19

Describe synchronous processing in a parallel architecture.

Question 20

Which of the following means that each memory location can be accessed directly?

A) Hertz
B) Pentium 4
C) Random access
D) Cycles per second
E) Modem

Question 21

Which of the following is a device that allows a computer to connect to the Internet?

A) Hertz
B) Pentium 4
C) Random access
D) Cycles per second
E) Modem

Question 22

Which of the following contains the instruction register?

A) Control unit
B) Arithmetic/logic unit
C) Auxiliary storage device
D) RAM
E) ROM

Question 23

If an ad for a computer describes a memory having 4 x 2³⁰ bytes, how many gigabytes of the computer are uniquely addressable?

A) 4 GB
B) 8 GB
C) 16 GB
D) 4 MB
E) 8 MB

Question 24

Whose name is attached to a type of computer architecture characterized by storing a program in the same place as regular data?

A) Maurice Wilkes
B) John Vincent Atanasoff
C) J. Presper Eckert
D) John Mauchly
E) John von Neumann

Question 25

Which type of touch screen is made up of two layers that come into contact when the user presses on the screen?

A) Resistive
B) Capacitive
C) Infrared
D) Surface acoustic wave (SAW)

Question 26

Which type of touch screen has a laminate applied over the glass that conducts electricity, which flows to the finger or stylus when touched?

A) Resistive
B) Capacitive
C) Infrared
D) Surface acoustic wave (SAW)

Question 27

Which of the following is a computing technique in which multiple processors each contribute one part of an overall computation?

A) Synchronous processing
B) Task-level parallelism
C) Data-level parallelism
D) SIMD (single instructions, multiple data)
E) Rotation delay

Question 28

The prefix kilo means 1000 when referring to speed and 1024 when referring to storage.

Question 29

The prefix giga is abbreviated G and stands for 10⁹ (one billion) or 2³⁰ (slightly more than one billion).

Question 30

A computer's front-side bus (FSB) is small, fast memory that is usually built into the processor chip.

Question 31

Addressability is the number of bits stored in each addressable location in memory.

Question 32

The program counter is a register that stores the number of instructions executed by a computer.

Question 33

Task-level parallelism is based on the idea that different processors can execute different tasks simultaneously.

Question 34

The term embedded system now refers to any computer that is pre-programmed to perform a dedicated or narrow range of functions as part of a larger system.

Question 35

The prefix micro refers to which power of ten?

A) 10^-12
B) 10^-9
C) 10^-6
D) 10^-3

Question 36

Addressability refers to which of the following?

A) The number of bits stored in each addressable location
B) The size of each addressable location
C) The size of a memory address
D) The capacity of a memory device
E) The number of bytes currently holding data in a memory device

Question 37

What is the function of the front side bus (FSB) in a computer?

A) The FSB activates access to the megabytes of memory stored in the computer's cache.
B) The FSB determines the resolution standard for the display screen of the computer.
C) The FSB holds the capacity of memory contained in the graphics processor unit (GPU) of the computer.
D) The FSB protects the integrity and security of all software loaded on the computer.
E) The FSB permits the central core processor to access input/output devices and memory not stored in the cache.

Question 38

Which of the following statements is true of all embedded systems?

A) The logic is so specialized that it is implemented as a single program.
B) The size and speed of the code is no longer an issue with modern processors, so assembly language is seldom used.
C) They are based on networks of distributed microprocessors.
D) They are designed to perform a narrow range of functions as part of a larger system.
E) They are implemented completely in hardware (i.e., without software).

Question 39

What is the role of random-access memory (RAM) in a computer?

A) RAM stores information temporarily and permits each computer byte of memory to be accessed directly.
B) RAM permits you to begin at the beginning of the data memory retrieval process and access each byte of memory until you get the one you desire.
C) RAM allows permanent storage of memory to be stored on the hard drive.
D) RAM regulates the integrity and security of all software loaded on to the computer.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 40

In a von Neumann architecture, the units that store information and the units that process information are the same.

Question 41

The read/write heads of a disk drive all read from the same disk at the same time.

Question 42

The interface called SATA (serial ATA) used with the hard disk drive is both faster and less costly to make than the parallel ATA in the transmission of individual data bits.

Question 43

The fetch part of the fetch-execute cycle fetches the next instruction to be executed from memory.

Question 44

The control unit and the arithmetic/logic unit are both part of the central processing unit (CPU).

Question 45

RAM stands for _______________, and is generally synonymous with the main memory of a computer.

Question 46

ROM stands for _______________, which retains its contents even after the power is turned off.

Question 47

_______________ is the time it takes for the desired sector to rotate to the read/write head in a disk drive.

Question 48

The information on a disk drive is organized into concentric circles called _______________, which are divided into sectors.

Question 49

What are the the four ordered steps in the fetch-execute processing data and instruction processing cycle?