This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
The CAHIMS Exam Preparation Course
and the CAHIMS exam are the result of
collaboration between the Life Science
Informatics Center at Bellevue College
and the Healthcare Information and
Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Significant content found in the CAHIMS
Exam Preparation Course stems from the
Office of the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology. Creation
of the CAHIMS Exam Preparation Course
and the CAHIMS exam was made
possible through support from the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
Curriculum Team:
Margaret Schulte, DBA
Michèle Royer, PhD
Nathan Savage, MLIS
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Section 2 - Technology Environment
Lesson 2.5 - Systems Architecture and Components
Assessment Questions Answer Key
Lectures 1, 2 & 3
1. The motherboard is made up of circuitry and thousands of copper wires known
as __________.
a. binary code
b. RAM
*c. buses
d. chips
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 1/6
2. The CPU improves its performance through the implementation of one or more
__________, which is made up of one or more __________.
a. CPUs, fetches
*b. processes, threads
c. cores, execute operations
d. states, tasks
Answer: b.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 3/15
3. A(n) __________ jack is used to connect a network cable to a network interface
card.
a. RJ-11
b. 802.11N
*c. RJ-45
d. Either A or C
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 2/8
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 1
4. Hard disk storage is known as __________ storage.
*a. secondary
b. volatile
c. RAM
d. primary
Answer: a.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 2/13
5. The operating system is stored __________.
a. in RAM when the computer is running
b. on the hard disk
*c. Either A or B
d. None of the above
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 2/12, 13
6. What is a CT scan?
a. A nuclear medicine imaging device that produces a 3-D image.
b. A device that creates an image based on sound waves.
*c. An x-ray, using specialized equipment, that takes cross-sectional pictures of
the body.
d. Magnetic imaging equipment that uses a radio frequency pulse to create an
image.
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 1/17
7. What is an MRI?
a. A nuclear medicine imaging device that produces a 3-D image.
b. A device that creates an image based on sound waves.
c. An x-ray, using specialized equipment, that takes cross-sectional pictures of
the body.
*d. Magnetic imaging equipment that uses a radio frequency pulse to create an
image.
Answer: d.
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 2
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 1/20
8. In the binary number “01011010”, the rightmost value of “0” is a placeholder
for __________.
*a. 20
b. 21
c. 22
d. 27
Answer: a.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 2/20, 21
9. How does data differ from information?
a. Data has limited meaning, depending its storage location.
b. Information is the same as data.
*c. Data has no meaning on its own merit.
d. None of the above.
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 3/18
10. Roughly how much storage does a chest x-ray require?
a. 35 megabits
b. 20 megabits
c. 30 megabytes
*d. 20 megabytes
Answer: d .
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 2/23
Lectures 4, 5 & 6
11. There are two types of software: application and __________ software.
*a. System
b. Multimedia
c. Process
d. Utility
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Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 3
Answer: a. System software is the software that manages the hardware and its
interactions with software. Application software is everything else—the software
that users directly use.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 4/3
12. Which of the following is NOT a form of software that is free?
a. Public Domain
b. Open Source
*c. Packaged
d. Freeware
Answer: c. Packaged software is for purchase.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 4/4
13. Which of the following is an example of business software?
a. Video games
b. Electronic medical records
c. Recipe manager
*d. Project management software
Answer: d. Project management software is used by businesses.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 4/5-9
14. Which of the following is NOT true about an operating system?
a. It is a set of programs that coordinate all activities of hardware resources.
b. It is the layer between the application software and the hardware.
c. It is unique to each individual computer hardware system.
*d. There is only one operating system available for all computers.
Answer: d. There are multiple operating systems available—for example,
Windows 7 and Mac OSX.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 5/4
15. A __________ interface is one where the user types in all the commands.
*a. Command line
b. Graphical User
c. BIOS
d. Windows
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Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 4
Answer: a. Command line interfaces use only the keyboard for interactive input;
there are no mouse interactions.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 5/7
16. Operating systems use __________ to provide the illusion of a large memory.
a. Physical memory
b. Permanent memory
*c. Virtual memory
d. RAM
Answer: c. Virtual memory is larger than physical memory.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 5/13
17. A(n) __________ is a way of organizing files and their data.
a. Operating system
b. File manager
c. BIOS
*d. File system
Answer: d. File systems manage files and documents on a system.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 6/3
18. When a hard disk drive is being accessed, the __________ spins and the
__________ moves until the head is over the proper location on the disk.
a. Spindle, arm
*b. Platter, arm
c. Head, arm
d. Arm, head
Answer: b. The platter is the disk that spins, the arm has the head where the disk
is read.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 6/17
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 5
19. __________ is an open source version of Unix.
a. Windows XP
b. Mac OS X
*c. Linux
d. Linus
Answer: c. Linux is an open source version of Unix developed by Linus Torvalds.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 5/23
20. Copying software from a friend is always okay.
a. True
*b. False
Answer: b. False. Software that is copyrighted cannot be copied and shared.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 4/29
21. The device driver for your printer will probably need to be updated when you
do a major upgrade of your operating system.
*a. True
b. False
Answer: a. True. Device drivers are unique to a computer architecture and to the
operating system. A major upgrade of an operating system is enough of a
change that a new device driver is needed.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 5/9
22. Programming languages have __________, just like natural languages.
a. Code
*b. Syntax
c. Meaning
d. Greetings
Answer: b. Programming languages have keywords, statements and rules,
similar to natural languages.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 4/3
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 6
Lectures 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11
23. __________ is an example of a third generation programming language.
*a. FORTRAN
b. SQL
c. Machine code
d. Assembly language
Answer: a. FORTRAN is a high level language that is consider a 3rd generation
language.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 7/14, 17
24. Which of the following programming languages was developed specifically
for healthcare applications?
a. Java
b. C++
*c. MUMPS
d. Python
Answer: c. MUMPS was developed in the 1960s for healthcare applications.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 7/20
25. __________ are programming constructs that store data.
a. Assignments
*b. Variables
c. Expressions
d. Control structures
Answer: b. Variables store data in programs. The value stored in the variable
can change; hence, the name variable.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 9/5
26. The __________ data type in Java is used for storing whole numbers.
a. float
b. char
*c. int
d. Boolean
Answer: c. Integers (whole numbers)
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 7
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 9/7
27. __________ are control structures that allow code to repeat.
*a. Loops
b. If statements
c. Assignments
d. Objects
Answer: a Loops are sections of code that repeat. If statements execute
conditionally, but only once.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 10/10
28. In Object Oriented Programming, __________ and __________ are stored
together.
a. integers, floating point numbers
b. functions, procedures
*c. data, methods
d. objects and classes
Answer: c. Objects are composed of instance variables (data) and methods.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 11/4
29. __________ provides information hiding in Object Oriented Programming.
*a. Encapsulation
b. Inheritance
c. Polymorphism
d. Expressions
Answer: a. Encapsulation allows data to be “private” and details of methods to be
hidden.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 11/11
30. MIIS is a language that was developed for healthcare applications.
*a. True
b. False
Answer: a. MIIS is one of the languages created by Neil Pappalardo for
healthcare applications.
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 8
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 7/20
31. Java uses a hybrid approach of compiling and interpreting.
*a. True
b. False
Answer: a. Java compiles programs to byte code which are then interpreted by
the Java Virtual Machine.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 8/8
32. The equal sign is the assignment operator in Java.
*a. True
b. False
Answer: a. The equal sign is used for assigning values to variables.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 9/9
33. Classes and objects are exactly the same things.
a. True
*b. False
Answer: b. Classes are the definition of a data type; objects are created of this
data type when the program run
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 11/5
Lectures 12, 13 & 14
34. A wired network connection requires the use of:
a. NIC, WAP, switch, router.
b. Wireless NIC, WAP, router
*c. NIC, copper cabling, switch, router.
d. NIC, WAP, switch.
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 12/10
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Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 9
35. __________ is the highest number of bits that can be sent across the media at
any one time.
a. Mbps
b. Throughput
c. Goodput
*d. Bandwidth
Answer: d.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 12/11
36. A __________ IP address can change when you reboot your ISP device.
*a. dynamic
b. static
c. DNS
d. public
Answer: a.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 12/18
37. The __________ is used by switches for intranet communications and has no
meaning outside of that local network.
a. IP address
b. subnet mask
c. HTTP protocol
*d. MAC address
Answer: d.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 13/7
38. A domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative
autonomy, authority, or control on the Internet, based on the __________.
*a. Domain Name System
b. IEEE 802.3 standard
c. Whitehouse
d. ICANN
Answer: a.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 13/11
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 10
39. In Windows peer-to-peer networking, a workgroup is simply a __________.
a. domain name
b. server concept
*c. name for the network
d. protocol
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 14/5
40. Medical implants use __________ technology to relay information from inside
a patient’s body to a receiver.
a. WiMAX
b. Ethernet
*c. Bluetooth
d. CAT 5e
Answer: c.
Lecture(s)/Slide(s): 14/25
This work is funded by the National Science Foundation
Advanced Technological Education Grant 1003223
Page 11