Athabasca University

1. The modern microcomputer:

A. has reached the pinnacle of development

B. is not the same thing as a "personal computer"

C. has increased in cost in proportion to increases in its capacity

D. is more powerful than the mainframe computers of 25 years ago

2. The capability of a microcomputer can be expanded by the use of:

A. networking

B. client-server technology

C. file servers

D. all of the above

3. The operating system is the software that:

A. sits between the hardware and the user

B. allowed chips to be used for memory

C. allows computer logic to be "burnt into" the layers of a chip

D. made possible a massive reduction in the size of computers

4. The motherboard:

A. is a peripheral device

B. is used to store programs and data

C. is where the memory and processor are typically mounted

D. none of the above

5. Which of the following is NOT a function of the Windows operating system?

A. manages all the devices on your machine, ensuring they communicate with the programs correctly

B. organizes your file storage

C. provides you with a way of communicating with the computer

D. all of the above are functions of Windows

6. Windows is an example of:

A. an application program

B. a GUI

C. a word-processing program

D. a programming language

7. Which of the following is NOT a type of operating system?

A. Windows

B. Unix

C. Linux

D. ASCII

8. The use of icons, pointing devices, and pull-down menus occurs in:

A. GUIs

B. Windows

C. Mac OS

D. all of the above

9. An operating system is:

A. a collection of programs that enable you to use the machine

B. permanently burned into the memory of your computer

C. inaccessible through the file tree

D. typically, program and data files with textual data

10. Random Access Memory (RAM):

A. does not allow a program to address any memory cell directly

B. is "read/write," which means you can read it and make changes or add to it

C. contains "burned in" instructions for start-up

D. can only contain program instructions

11. A modern spreadsheet does all of these EXCEPT:

A. incorporate standard tools for statistical and financial analysis

B. allow for custom programming

C. handling letters, reports, mailings, etc.

D. producing high-quality graphs

12. The correct hierarchical order, smallest to largest, for the following database terms is:

A. file, field, record, database

B. file, record, field, database

C. record, field, file, database

D. field, record, file, database

13. Which of the following can be placed in spreadsheet cells?

A. values

B. names or labels

C. formulas

D. all of the above

14. A binary digit is:

A. also called a bit

B. either a 1 or 0

C. the smallest unit of data that can be processed by a computer

D. all of the above

17. The quantity of data represented by the term "gigabyte" would most likely be used to describe the performance of:

A. ROM

B. internal storage

C. a modem

D. a floppy drive

18. File organization in operating systems is:

A. generally in the form of a tree structure

B. only used for organizing the storage of user data files, not programs

C. not visible to the user

D. none of the above

19. The most commonly found image file formats on the Internet are:

A. Digital photographs and computer generated drawings

B. Windows or OS/2 Bitmaps

C. GIFs, JPEGs and PNGs

D. Pixels

20. Virus protection programs are generally:

A. infallible

B. updated frequently

C. only effective against "worm" viruses

D. not needed if accessing files through a secure ISP

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School of Computing and Information Systems - COMP 200 computer literacy quiz