Computer Fundamentals

(b) I/O Input/output devices connect the computer with the outside world, taking data in and sending results out.

(d) Data scanning devices Devices such as OMR, OCR and MICR readers scan source documents and enter data directly without keying it in.

(b) Digitizer A digitizer converts maps, pictures and drawings into digital form (coordinates) for storage in the computer.

(a) Web client A web client (such as a browser) sends requests to and accesses the server, which responds with the requested resources.

(d) Machine Machine language consists of binary-coded instructions (0s and 1s) that the CPU executes directly.

(a) Personal assistance package Personal assistance packages let individuals store and retrieve personal information such as appointments, addresses and notes.

(b) MFD A Master File Directory is created for the system, with a User File Directory entry for each account; opening an account creates an MFD entry for the user.

(c) Time sharing Time sharing let many users on terminals share one central computer, which marked the beginning of computer communication.

(a) Time sharing In time sharing, dumb terminals are connected to a central computer that shares its processing time among them.

(c) Telnet Telnet is the remote-login service that lets a user log in to another computer on the internet.

(b) Google chrome Chrome is a web browser and is used to open websites; the other options are office, PDF and e-mail software.

(a) Plotter Plotters draw with pens and give the highest-quality line graphics and large drawings, better than printers.

(a) Direct access Magnetic disks allow any record to be reached directly by its address, without reading the preceding records.

(b) Mosaic Mosaic (1993) was the first widely used graphical web browser, among the listed options.

(c) Basic input output system BIOS is the firmware that initializes hardware and starts the operating system at boot.

(b) Mainframe Large mainframe computers are nicknamed "big iron".

(d) Router Routers filter traffic by address and port and sit at the network boundary, so firewall rules are best configured on them.

(c) Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable UTP cables (e.g. Cat5/Cat6 Ethernet) are terminated with RJ45 connectors; coaxial cables use BNC connectors.

(d) LSI chip Large Scale Integration holds roughly 3,000 to 100,000 components, so a chip with 5000 transistors is LSI.

(c) Modulation and demodulation A modem converts digital signals to analog for transmission (modulation) and back again (demodulation).

(b) Sequential Tape is read in order from the start, so records are accessed sequentially.

(c) Micro Microcomputers are the smallest and most compact computers, built around a microprocessor.

(b) 1001101001 Using powers of two: $617 = 512+64+32+8+1 = 2^9+2^6+2^5+2^3+2^0$ which gives $1001101001_2$.

(c) $(BA3)_{16}$ Group into 4 bits: $1011\ 1010\ 0011 = B\ A\ 3$. In octal (groups of 3) it is $5643_8$, and in decimal it is $11\times256+10\times16+3 = 2979$, so the other options are wrong.

(d) $(31)_{10}$ The highest five-digit binary number is $11111_2 = 2^5-1 = 31$.

(d) None of these BCD represents each decimal digit by a 4-bit binary code, so none of the given options is right.

(b) Volatile memory RAM loses its contents when power is switched off.

(a) CPU The CPU (ALU plus control unit) processes data and controls all operations, so it is called the brain of the computer.

(b) Universal Automatic Computer UNIVAC stands for Universal Automatic Computer, the first commercial computer.

(d) Control panel The name of a user account is changed from Control Panel under User Accounts.

(c) From display properties In Display Properties (Desktop settings), the My Computer icon can be enabled to appear on the desktop.

(a) Ms excel Excel is spreadsheet software; Word is a word processor, Access a database and PowerPoint a presentation tool.

(c) .txt Notepad saves plain text files with the .txt extension.

(d) MS Powerpoint PowerPoint is the software designed for slide presentations such as product demos.

(b) Ms powerpoint PowerPoint is presentation software, whereas Photoshop, CorelDraw and Paint are used for editing or drawing images.

(a) A9D1

Grouping the bits in fours from the right gives $0101\,0100\,1110\,1001 = 54E9_{16}$ for the string exactly as printed. That value is not among the options. The option that fits the intended 16-bit pattern $1010\,1001\,1101\,0001$ is A9D1, so (a) is the intended choice.