Computer Fundamentals Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: Interrogation

Putting a question to a file from a terminal and receiving the matching records back is interrogation - querying the file rather than updating it. “Interactive” describes the general style of working at a terminal; interrogation is the particular act of asking the file a question.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Interface

An interface is the shared boundary across which two systems meet and exchange information - the connector and signal conventions between hardware units, or the agreed set of calls between software components. Each side can then be changed independently as long as the boundary is honoured.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Bit manipulation

Working on single bits or small groups of bits inside a word - testing, setting, clearing, shifting or masking them - is called bit manipulation, and it is done with the AND, OR, XOR and shift instructions. A bit slice is a hardware technique for building wide processors from narrow ones.

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: B

Correct answer: Dialup

A dial-up connection reaches a distant machine by having a modem place an ordinary telephone call to a modem at the other end; once the two have negotiated, the line carries data. It is the classic way of connecting a remote computer over the public network.

Answer: B

Correct answer: 5

The Murray code, the teleprinter code standardised as ITA2, uses 5 bits per character. That gives \( 2^5 = 32 \) patterns - too few for letters, digits and punctuation together, so two of the patterns shift the machine between a letter case and a figure case, doubling the effective set.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Mnemonics

Assembly language replaces each binary operation code with a short mnemonic - MOV, ADD, JMP - chosen to remind the programmer what the instruction does, and names memory locations with symbolic labels. The assembler translates those mnemonics back into the machine code.

Answer: A

Correct answer: 1

The 2’s complement is formed by inverting every bit and then adding 1. For \( 0101 \) the 1’s complement is \( 1010 \), and \[ 1010 + 1 = 1011 \] which represents \( -5 \) in four-bit 2’s complement. The extra 1 is what gives a single representation of zero and lets subtraction be done by addition.

Answer: C

Correct answer: PL/M

PL/M - Programming Language for Microcomputers - was written by Gary Kildall in 1973 for Intel, and was the first high-level language aimed at microprocessors. CP/M and much of Intel’s own systems software were written in it.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Sentinel

A sentinel is a value placed in the data stream to mark a significant point - most often the end of a list or a record - so that a loop can stop when it meets the sentinel instead of counting items. The null terminator ending a C string is the familiar example.