Computer Fundamentals Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage is called the father of the computer for his Analytical Engine, designed from 1837 with a mill for calculation, a store for numbers, and punched cards carrying both program and data - the structure a modern computer still has. Tim Berners-Lee invented the web and Vint Cerf co-designed TCP/IP.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Intermediate storage

Storage used to hold partial results between one step of processing and the next is intermediate storage. It is a role rather than a place: the same primary or internal storage serves as intermediate storage when it is holding a value that is neither the original input nor the final output.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Control Unit

The control unit administers the system: it decodes each instruction and issues the timing and control signals that tell memory, the ALU and the input/output units what to do and when - directing work rather than performing it. The CPU is the larger unit that contains it, and the ALU is the part that actually calculates.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Micro computer

A microcomputer puts the whole processor on a single chip, which is what allows the entire machine to be built into a desktop or portable case. Minicomputers occupy a cabinet, and mainframes and supercomputers fill a room.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Backing store

Storage added beyond the immediately usable main memory is the backing store: it is non-volatile and far larger, but the processor cannot address it directly, so its contents must be brought into main memory before use. Floppy disks, hard disks and punched cards are particular examples of it.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Application language

A functional or application language is one written in terms of the problem being solved - describing what is wanted rather than the machine steps that produce it - so its statements apply functions to values. Machine and low-level languages describe the hardware’s own operations instead.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Operating System

Without an operating system nothing can manage the processor, memory, files and devices, so no other program can be loaded or run - it is the one item on the list a working computer cannot do without. An office suite, an antivirus and a network connection are all optional additions.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Abacus

The abacus is still in everyday use for arithmetic, and a practised operator can add long columns of figures on it very quickly. EDSAC, ENIAC and UNIVAC were early electronic computers, all long since retired to museums.

Answer: A

Correct answer: 2

The binary system has two digits, 0 and 1, so its base - its radix - is 2, and each place is worth twice the one to its right: \( 1011_2 = 1\times2^3 + 0\times2^2 + 1\times2^1 + 1\times2^0 = 11 \). Base 8 is octal, base 10 decimal and base 16 hexadecimal.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Baud

The baud is the rate of signalling: the number of discrete signal elements (symbols) sent per second. It equals the bit rate only when each symbol carries one bit; a modem using four-level encoding sends 2 bits per symbol, so 1200 baud carries 2400 bits per second.