Literacy Test #3
Chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10
******** Please Do Not Write on This Test Paper
All answers are to be entered on a Scantron. Under your name on the scantron indicate the Test#
and date.
True/False. Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false.
1. Most memory holds data and instructions permanently and thus is nonvolatile.
2. When a disk is formatted, the operating system marks bad sectors as unusable.
3. A popular use of Zip disks is to back up important data and information.
4. Hard disks are read/write storage media, meaning that users can read from and write on a hard
disk any number of times.
5. To prevent the loss of items stored on a hard disk, preventive maintenance should be performed
regularly, such as defragmenting or scanning the disk for errors.
6. Newer DVD-ROM drives cannot read audio CDs, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, or CD-RWs.
7. When turning on a computer that has been powered off completely, users are performing a warm
boot.
8. Some parts of the operating system are nonresident, that is, these instructions remain on the hard
disk until they are needed.
9. To make a program active (in the foreground) in Windows XP, click its program button on the
taskbar.
10. By spooling print jobs to a buffer, a processor can continue interpreting and executing
instructions while a printer prints.
11. Today, installing a new hardware device is more difficult because few devices or operating
systems support Plug and Play.
12. The programmer of a virus, known as a virus author, intentionally writes a virus program.
13. The last and least used application of GPS (global positioning system) technology is to assist
people with determining where they are located.
14. Many businesses network their computers together to facilitate communications, share hardware,
share data and information, share software, and transfer funds.
15. A MAN typically includes one or more WANs, but covers a smaller geographic area than a LAN.
16. If a computer or device on a ring network fails, all devices before the failed device cannot
function, but those after the failed device are unaffected.
17. Infrared requires line-of-sight transmission; that is, the sending device and the receiving device
must be in line with each other so that nothing obstructs the path of the infrared light wave.
18. Fiber-optic cables have the capability of carrying significantly more signals than wire cables.
19. For a computer to produce correct information, the data that is input into a database must have
integrity.
20. File maintenance procedures include adding records to, changing records in, and deleting records
from a file.
21. Data redundancy can increase the chance of error.
22. With the database approach, most data items are stored in multiple files, which greatly increases
duplicate data.
23. The capability of querying a database is one of the more powerful database features.
24. Most DBMSs allow different levels of access privileges to be identified for each field in a
database.
25. Today, a relational database is a rarely used type of database.
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Multiple Choice. Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the
question.
26. To start up, a computer locates ____.
a. application software in storage and loads it into memory
b. application software in memory and loads it onto storage
c. an operating system in storage and loads it into memory
d. an operating system in memory and loads it onto storage
27. A floppy disk drive ____.
a. can read from a floppy disk only if the write-protect notch is open
b. can read from a floppy disk only if the write-protect notch is closed
c. can read from a floppy disk whether the write-protect notch is open or closed
d. cannot read from a floppy disk whether the write-protect notch is open or closed
28. Current personal computer hard disks have storage capacities from 40 to 160 ____ and more.
a. KB
c. MB
b. GB
d. PB
29. A ____ occurs when a read/write head touches the surface of a hard disk platter, usually resulting
in a loss of data and sometimes loss of the entire drive.
a. disk crash
c. drive crash
b. head crash
d. data crash
30. An advantage of external hard disks and removable hard disks is that users can ____.
a. transport a large number of files
b. add storage space to a notebook computer
c. share a drive with multiple computers
d. all of the above
31. All of the following use direct access except ____.
a. CDs and DVDs
c. tape
b. Zip disks
d. floppy disks and hard disks
32. The use of microfilm and microfiche provides all of the following advantages except ____.
a. they greatly reduce the amount of paper firms must hand
b. they are inexpensive
c. they have the longest life of any storage media
d. they can be read without a microfilm or microfiche reader
33. With virtual memory, the technique of swapping items between memory and storage, called ____,
is a time consuming process for the computer.
a. logging
c. spooling
b. paging
d. booting
34. If a new device, such as a printer or scanner, is attached to a computer, its ____ must be installed
before the device can be used.
a. driver
c. manager
b. platform
d. kernel
35. While entering a ____, most computers hide the actual characters by displaying some other
characters, such as asterisks (*) or dots.
a. user name
c. user ID
b. password
d. all of the above
36. A ____ is an icon on the desktop that provides a user with immediate access to a program or file.
a. kernel
c. buffer
b. spooler
d. shortcut
37. ____ a disk, or reorganizing it so the files are stored in contiguous sectors, speeds up disk access
and thus the performance of the entire computer.
a. Formatting
c. Spooling
b. Defragmenting
d. Compressing
38. Many backup programs ____, or shrink the size of, files during the backup process.
a. restore
c. fragment
b. register
d. compress
39. Each computer or device on a local area network, called a ____, often shares resources such as
printers, large hard disks, and programs.
a. hub
c. token
b. server
d. node
40. On a ____, all of the computers and devices (nodes) on the network connect to a central device.
a. bus network
c. star network
b. ring network
d. token ring network
41. A networked computer in a house can ____.
a. share a single high-speed Internet connection
b. access files and programs on other computers in the house
c. share peripherals such as a printer, scanner, external hard disk, or DVD drive
d. all of the above
42. Physical transmission media used in communications include all of the following except ____.
a. twisted-pair cable
c. broadcast radio cable
b. coaxial cable
d. fiber-optic cable
43. Fiber-optic cables have all of the following advantages over cables that use wire except ____.
a. lower costs and easier installation and modification
b. faster data transmission and smaller size
c. less susceptible to noise from other devices
d. better security for signals during transmission
44. Microwave transmission, sometimes called ____, involves sending signals from one microwave
station to another.
a. line-of-sight transmission
c. out-of-sight transmission
b. flexed-point wireless
d. fixed-point wireless
45. ____ is a computer phrase that means users cannot create correct information from data that is
incorrect.
a. Nothing ventured, nothing gained (NVNG)
b. Bad data, bad info (BDBI)
c. Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO)
d. What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)
46. Timely information ____.
a. can be proven as correct or incorrect
b. has an age suited to its use
c. gives more value than it costs to produce
d. is error free
47. A major weakness of a lot of file processing systems is that ____.
a. they have redundant data and they isolate data
b. they are much more complex than a database
c. data is more vulnerable than data in a database
d. all of the above
48. A user of a relational database, refers to a file as a ____.
a. table
c. row
b. column
d. relationship
49. A user of a relational database, refers to a record as a ____.
a. table
c. row
b. column
d. relationship
50. A ____ stores documents such as schedules, calendars, manuals, memos, and reports.
a. multimedia database
b. groupware database
c. computer-aided design (CAD) database
d. hypertext database