Technology Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The input-output interface controls data transfer between an external device, main memory and the CPU registers.

It resolves the differences in speed, word length and signalling between the fast processor and the slow peripheral, and handles the handshaking between them.

Answer: D

The number of times the electron beam scans the screen per second is the refresh rate.

It is measured in hertz; 60 Hz means the whole screen is redrawn sixty times a second. Too low a rate on a CRT produces visible flicker and eye strain.

Answer: A

BIND stands for Berkeley Internet Name Domain.

Developed at the University of California, Berkeley, it is the most widely used DNS server software on the internet, and its behaviour has effectively defined how DNS works in practice.

Answer: A

RPN stands for Reverse Polish Notation.

The operator follows its operands, so 3 4 + means 3 + 4. It needs no brackets and no precedence rules, which is why it suits stack machines and why HP calculators used it.

Answer: A

COBOL is not a low-level language - it is a high-level one.

Designed in 1959 for business data processing, its statements read almost like English. Machine language and assembly are the low-level languages, tied to a particular processor.

Answer: A

Secondary memory is also called auxiliary memory.

It is non-volatile and is reached through the input-output system rather than addressed directly by the processor - hard disks, SSDs, optical discs and tape.

Answer: B

The set of wires carrying information in a controlled manner is the system bus.

It comprises the address bus, the data bus and the control bus, and connects the processor to memory and to the input-output devices.

Answer: C

WinRAR is not application software in the ordinary sense - it is a utility.

Utilities maintain and manage the computer rather than doing productive work for the user. Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Sage are applications for web design, image editing and accounting.

Answer: A

A binary number of 4 bits is a nibble.

Four bits give sixteen combinations, exactly one hexadecimal digit, and two nibbles make a byte. The word is a play on 'byte'.

Answer: A

The CRT is associated with a monitor.

A cathode ray tube fires electrons at a phosphor screen, deflected by coils to scan out the picture. CU and ALU are parts of the processor.