Computer Awareness & Fundamentals — Set 06

1. Who developed the first operational mechanical loom controlled by punched cards in 1804, inspiring early computer data storage concepts?

• A) Joseph Marie Jacquard
• B) Charles Babbage
• C) Herman Hollerith
• D) John Napier

2. Which pioneering electronic computer, completed in 1945 by Eckert and Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania, is considered the first general-purpose electronic digital computer?

• A) ENIAC
• B) EDVAC
• C) UNIVAC I
• D) Colossus

3. The upcoming Fifth Generation of computing focuses fundamentally on which cutting-edge architectural paradigm?

• A) Vacuum Tubes
• B) Transistors and Magnetic Cores
• C) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Quantum Computing
• D) Mechanical Relays

4. What type of personal computer form factor integrates the system components (CPU, motherboard, storage) into the same physical housing as the display monitor?

• A) Tower PC
• B) All-in-One (AIO) Desktop
• C) Server Rack
• D) Mainframe

5. Which programming language was created by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz in 1964 as an easy-to-learn teaching tool for college students?

• A) FORTRAN
• B) BASIC
• C) COBOL
• D) Ada

6. The physical internal wire pathways that connect the processor to external high-speed PCIe peripheral slots are collectively controlled by the:

• A) Expansion Bus
• B) Power Bus
• C) Serial Bus
• D) Optical Bus

7. How many bits make up one standard American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) character in Extended ASCII?

• A) 4 bits
• B) 7 bits
• C) 8 bits
• D) 16 bits

8. What is the storage capacity of a standard single-sided, dual-layer DVD disc (DVD-9)?

• A) 4.7 GB
• B) 8.5 GB
• C) 17.08 GB
• D) 25 GB

9. What type of non-volatile solid-state memory can be electrically erased and reprogrammed in in-circuit flash memory cells without needing UV light?

• A) PROM
• B) EPROM
• C) EEPROM
• D) SRAM

10. What is the high-speed interface protocol designed specifically for accessing high-throughput solid-state drives (SSDs) directly over the PCI Express bus?

• A) SATA
• B) NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)
• C) IDE
• D) SCSI

11. Which peripheral pointing device consists of an exposed ball resting in a socket with sensors that detect rotation around two axes while the housing remains stationary?

• A) Trackball
• B) Optical Mouse
• C) Stylus
• D) Light Pen

12. What type of display monitor technology passes electrical currents through organic carbon-based molecular films to emit its own light without requiring a backlight?

• A) CRT
• B) LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
• C) OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode)
• D) Plasma

13. Which impact printer strikes individual raised characters embossed on the petals of a rotating plastic or metal disc against an inked ribbon?

• A) Daisy Wheel Printer
• B) Dot Matrix Printer
• C) Line Printer
• D) Inkjet Printer

14. What measurement unit quantifies the operational rotational speed of the magnetic platters inside a mechanical hard disk drive?

• A) Hertz (Hz)
• B) RPM (Revolutions Per Minute)
• C) DPI
• D) FLOPS

15. What reversible, symmetrical 24-pin connector standard has become the universal connection for charging, video display, and high-speed data transfer?

• A) USB Type-A
• B) USB Type-B
• C) USB Type-C
• D) Mini-USB

16. The physical socket on a desktop motherboard designed to seat and lock the central processing unit chip securely in place is the:

• A) RAM Slot
• B) CPU Socket (LGA / PGA)
• C) PCI Slot
• D) SATA Port

17. A passive metal cooling component with high surface area fins that dissipates thermal heat away from a CPU is known as a:

• A) Thermal Sensor
• B) Heat Sink
• C) Capacitor
• D) Choke

18. What is the thin layer of thermally conductive paste applied between the CPU integrated heat spreader and the metal heatsink called?

• A) Thermal Compound (Thermal Paste)
• B) Liquid Solder
• C) Dielectric Gel
• D) Silicon Sealant

19. Software distributed freely without monetary cost but containing proprietary closed-source code that cannot be legally modified is:

• A) Open Source Software
• B) Freeware
• C) Public Domain Software
• D) Shareware

20. What software tool converts human-written source code into machine language line by line, executing each statement immediately as it translates?

• A) Compiler
• B) Interpreter
• C) Linker
• D) Assembler

21. What is the main structural text layer of an operating system that accepts typed user commands, interprets them, and passes them to the kernel?

• A) Shell
• B) BIOS
• C) Device Driver
• D) Firmware

22. A Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) is engineered primarily to fulfill which operational requirement?

• A) Maximizing visual interface animations
• B) Processing inputs and guaranteeing response within strict, predictable time limits
• C) Storing large volumes of video files
• D) Running office spreadsheet suites

23. What is the low-power system state where RAM remains powered to preserve running applications while processors and drives shut down called?

• A) Hibernation
• B) Sleep Mode (Standby)
• C) Cold Boot
• D) Safe Mode

24. What minimal diagnostic boot mode in Microsoft Windows loads only essential drivers and services to help troubleshoot system crashes?

• A) Normal Mode
• B) Safe Mode
• C) BIOS Setup
• D) Recovery Console

25. In Windows File Explorer, what shortcut combination creates a new folder in the active directory?

• A) Ctrl + N
• B) Ctrl + Shift + N
• C) Alt + N
• D) Shift + F10

26. What standard shortcut key combination pastes the current contents of the system clipboard into the active document?

• A) Ctrl + P
• B) Ctrl + V
• C) Ctrl + C
• D) Ctrl + X

27. What happens when you select a paragraph of text in Microsoft Word and press the shortcut 'Ctrl + B'?

• A) It applies Bottom Border
• B) It toggles Bold formatting on the selected text
• C) It changes background color
• D) It inserts a Bullet Point

28. In Microsoft Word, what is the line spacing value applied when selecting the 'Single' line spacing preset?

• A) 1.0
• B) 1.15
• C) 1.5
• D) 2.0

29. What is the faint text or image printed behind the main body text across document pages (such as 'CONFIDENTIAL' or 'DRAFT') called?

• A) Footer
• B) Watermark
• C) Margin Marker
• D) Callout

30. What is the primary software application in the Microsoft Office suite used specifically for creating relational databases and data entry forms?

• A) MS Publisher
• B) MS Access
• C) MS Outlook
• D) MS Visio

31. What is the name of the rectangular text box located above the worksheet grid in Excel that displays the active cell's coordinate reference (e.g., C5)?

• A) Formula Bar
• B) Name Box
• C) Status Bar
• D) Title Bar

32. In Microsoft Excel, what built-in statistical function calculates the arithmetic mean of a selected numerical cell range?

• A) MEAN()
• B) AVERAGE()
• C) MEDIAN()
• D) MODE()

33. What feature in Microsoft Excel freezes selected top rows or left columns on screen so they remain visible while scrolling through large tables?

• A) Split Window
• B) Freeze Panes
• C) AutoFilter
• D) Conditional Lock

34. What file extension is assigned to an automated, self-running PowerPoint slide show that opens directly in presentation mode when double-clicked?

• A) .pptx
• B) .ppsx
• C) .potx
• D) .pptm

35. In computer networks, what is the term for the maximum amount of data that can be transmitted across a communication path in a given period?

• A) Latency
• B) Bandwidth
• C) Jitter
• D) Attenuation

36. What physical transmission media attenuation problem describes the gradual loss of signal strength as an electrical wave travels over long distances of wire?

• A) Crosstalk
• B) Attenuation
• C) Reflection
• D) Collision

37. What type of signal interference occurs when magnetic fields generated by one wire bleed into and disrupt the signal in an adjacent parallel wire?

• A) Jitter
• B) Crosstalk (EMI)
• C) Paging
• D) Throttling

38. What is the hardware address assigned to a wireless network access point, broadcast to allow client devices to discover the Wi-Fi network name?

• A) IP Address
• B) SSID (Service Set Identifier)
• C) Subnet Mask
• D) Gateway

39. Which network topology connects nodes sequentially along a closed circular data path where tokens circulate unidirectionally to control transmission?

• A) Bus Topology
• B) Star Topology
• C) Ring Topology
• D) Tree Topology

40. What layer of the 7-layer OSI model defines the electrical, mechanical, and physical signaling interfaces (cables, connectors, voltages)?

• A) Data Link Layer
• B) Physical Layer (Layer 1)
• C) Network Layer
• D) Session Layer

41. In the OSI reference model, which layer establishes, manages, synchronizes, and terminates communication dialogues between applications?

• A) Transport Layer
• B) Session Layer (Layer 5)
• C) Presentation Layer
• D) Network Layer

42. What standard networking protocol translates logical hostnames into numerical IP addresses across the global Internet?

• A) DHCP
• B) DNS (Domain Name System)
• C) SNMP
• D) NTP

43. What default network port number is used for encrypted web communications using HTTPS?

• A) Port 21
• B) Port 25
• C) Port 80
• D) Port 443

44. What technology creates an encrypted, secure tunnel over the public Internet to protect private corporate or personal data traffic?

• A) VLAN
• B) VPN (Virtual Private Network)
• C) WAN
• D) NAT

45. What type of malware infects executable macros embedded in office documents, spreadsheets, and database templates?

• A) Boot Sector Virus
• B) Macro Virus
• C) Worm
• D) Trojan Horse

46. What cyber attack technique exploits poor database input sanitation to run unauthorized SQL commands by injecting malicious code into form fields?

• A) Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
• B) SQL Injection (SQLi)
• C) Buffer Overflow
• D) Phishing

47. An attack where malicious JavaScript code is injected into a trusted website and executed inside other visitors' browsers is called:

• A) SQL Injection
• B) Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
• C) Man-in-the-Middle
• D) Rootkit

48. What form of social engineering tricks victims by sending deceptive mobile text messages (SMS) containing malicious links or requests for credentials?

• A) Vishing
• B) Smishing (SMS Phishing)
• C) Pharming
• D) Spooling

49. What symmetrical cryptographic cipher standard adopted by the US NIST in 2001 uses 128, 192, or 256-bit keys for electronic data encryption?

• A) DES
• B) AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
• C) RSA
• D) MD5

50. In relational database terminology, what is a single horizontal row containing data for a specific individual entity called?

• A) Attribute
• B) Tuple (or Record)
• C) Domain
• D) Relation