TG01

Information System, Third Canadian Edition Rainer
Tech Guide 1
Hardware
Question Type: True/False
1) Computer technologies become obsolete faster than other technologies in the organization.
Answer: True
Learning Objective: Analyze the major hardware issues that affect information workers in today’s
business environment.
Section Reference: TG 1.1 Introduction
Difficulty: Easy
2) One key issues with hardware is how to keep up with rapid price/performance increases
Answer: True
Learning Objective: Discuss the strategic issues that link hardware design to business strategy.
Section Reference: TG 1.2 Strategic Hardware Issues
Difficulty: Medium
3) A super computer is the term given to the latest technology
Answer: False
Learning Objective: Describe the hierarchy of computers according to power and their respective roles.
Section Reference: TG 1.3 Computer Hierarchy
Difficulty: Medium
4) A mainframe is a type of server.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Medium
5) A thin-client system is a desktop computer that doesn’t have locally installed software.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
6) Laptop, notebook, and netbook computers cost more than desktops because of their portability.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
7) Each generation of computer hardware has exhibited increased processing power and decreased
costs.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
8) Minicomputers are relatively small, inexpensive computers that perform the same functions as
mainframe computers, but to a limited extent.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
9) The mouse is the most common input device.
Answer: False
Learning Objective: Differentiate the various types of input and output technologies and their uses.
Section Reference: TG 1.4 Input and Output Technologies
Difficulty: Easy
10) Source data automation uses various technologies to input data with minimal human intervention.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
11) Microcontrollers are computer chips that are embedded in products and technologies of various
types and sizes.
Answer: False
Learning Objective: Describe the design and functioning of the central processing unit.
Section Reference: TG 1.5 The Central Processing Unit
Difficulty: Easy
12) Computers can run any type of program regardless of the amount and type of memory that the
computer has.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
13) A byte represents a particular alphanumeric character or a simple mathematical operation.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
14) Primary storage is the main memory of a computer, in which small amounts of data that will be used
immediately are stored.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
15) Random access memory is that part of primary storage that holds a software program (or a portion
of it) and small amounts of data when they are brought from secondary storage.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
16) If your computer loses its power supply, you will not lose the contents of your random access
memory, because it is not volatile.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
17) Sequential access is a type of data access that is associated primarily with magnetic disks.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
18) Magnetic tape provides faster access to data than magnetic disks.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
19) An optical storage device is a form of secondary storage device on which data are recorded and read
by laser in a computer’s disk drive.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
20) Digital video disks (DVDs) have higher storage capacities than CD-ROMs.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
21) The cost per megabyte of storage is greater for traditional hard disk storage than for PC memory
cards.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
22) Hardware is becoming smaller, faster, and cheaper over time.
Answer: True
Learning Objective: Analyze the major hardware issues that affect information workers in today's
Section: TG 1.1 Introduction
Difficulty: Easy
23) A thin client offers the full functionality of a PC but is much lighter.
Answer: False
Section: TG 1.3 Computer Hierarchy
Difficulty: Easy
24) Multimedia technologies integrate text, sounds, still images, animation, and digitized motion video.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
25) Secondary storage is volatile.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Question Type: Multiple Choice
26) Which of the following factors does not affect decisions about hardware?
a) Power
b) Appropriateness for the task
c) Size
d) Cost
e) Speed
Answer: c
Learning Objective: Identify the major components of a computer system.

Difficulty: Easy
27) To model the weather or simulate nuclear weapons testing, you would most likely use a(n):
a) Mainframe computer.
b) Workstation.
c) Supercomputer.
d) Personal computer.
e) Active badge.
Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
28) A _____ refers to the fastest computing engines available at any given time.
a) Supercomputer
b) Mainframe
c) Midrange computer
d) Microcomputer
e) Laptop computer
Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
29) A ___________ is an example of a computer system that is designed to accommodate multiple users
simultaneously.
a) Microcomputer
b) Mainframe
c) Laptop
d) Palmtop
e) Wearable computer
Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
30) A _____ is used in large enterprises for extensive computing applications that are accessed by
thousands of concurrent users.
a) Supercomputer
b) Mainframe
c) Midrange computer
d) Microcomputer
e) Laptop computer
Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
31) Which of the following is not a component of hardware?
a) Primary and secondary storage

b) The operating system
c) Input and output technologies
d) The central processing unit
e) Communication technologies
Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
32) Which of the following is not a component of the central processing unit?
a) Registers
b) Control unit
c) Secondary storage
d) Arithmetic-logic unit
e) Keyboard
Answer: c
Difficulty: Medium
33) Which of the following does not affect the speed of the machine instruction cycle?
a) Clock speed
b) Word length
c) Bus width
d) Line width
e) Physical design of the chip
Answer: d
Difficulty: Medium
34) Moore’s Law predicted that microprocessor complexity would ______.
a) Double every year.

b) Double every two years.
c) Increase slowly.
d) Decrease slowly.
e) Decrease rapidly.
Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
35) The amount and type of memory that a computer possesses affects which of the following?
a) The type of program the computer can run

b) The speed of the computer
c) The cost of the computer
d) The cost of processing data
e) All of these
Answer: e
Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

Section Reference: TG 1.6 Distinguish between primary and secondary storage along the dimensions of
speed, cost and capacity.
Difficulty: Easy
36) The amount and type of memory that a computer possesses affects all the following except:
a) The type of program the computer can run.

b) The speed of the computer.
c) The cost of the computer.
d) The cost of processing data.
e) The speed of data entry.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: Computer Storage..

Difficulty: Medium
37) Arrange the hierarchy of terms to describe memory capacity in the correct sequence, from smallest
to largest:
a) Megabyte – kilobyte – gigabyte – terabyte – exabyte – petabyte

b) Exabyte – petabyte – terabyte – gigabyte – megabyte – kilobyte
c) Kilobyte – megabyte – gigabyte – terabyte – petabyte – exabyte
d) Petabyte – exabyte – kilobyte – gigabyte – kilobyte – terabyte
e) Kilobyte – gigabyte – megabyte – exabyte – petabyte – terabyte
Answer: c

Difficulty: Easy
38) Primary storage stores which of the following for very brief periods of time?
a) Data to be processed by the CPU

b) Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data
c) Operating system programs that manage various aspects of the computer’s operations
d) All of these
Answer: d

Difficulty: Easy
39) Which of the following is not stored in primary storage?
a) Data to be processed by the CPU

b) Instructions for the CPU as to how to process the data
c) Archival data
d) Operating system programs
e) All of these are stored in primary storage.
Answer: c

Difficulty: Easy
40) The main types of primary storage are:
a) Register.
b) Random access memory.
c) Cache memory.
d) Read-only memory.
e) All of these
Answer: e

Difficulty: Easy
41) _____________is(are) the part of primary storage that holds a software program (or a portion of it)
and small amounts of data when they are brought from secondary storage.
a) Read-only memory
b) Random access memory
c) Cache memory
d) Registers
e) Flash memory
Answer: b
Learning Objective: LO TG 1.6 Computer Storage.

Difficulty: Easy
42) Random access memory is _____ and _____.
a) Volatile, temporary
b) Nonvolatile, permanent
c) Nonvolatile, temporary
d) Volatile, permanent
e) Volatile, inexpensive
Answer: a

Difficulty: Medium
43) Registers have all of the following characteristics except:
a) They are a type of primary storage.

b) They can store only extremely limited amounts of instructions and data.
c) They provide the fastest storage.
d) They are slower than RAM.
e) All of these are characteristics of registers.
Answer: d
Difficulty: Medium
44) Which of the following is not a type of primary storage?
a) Random access memory

b) Registers
c) Cache
d) Read-only memory
e) Optical
Answer: e

Difficulty: Medium
45) The type of primary storage, located closest to the CPU, where the computer can temporarily store
blocks of data used most often is called:
a) Read-only memory.
b) Registers.
c) Random access memory.
d) Cache memory.
e) Flash memory.
Answer: d

Difficulty: Easy
46) The type of primary storage where certain critical instructions are safeguarded because the storage
is nonvolatile and the instructions can be read only by the computer and not changed by the user is
called:
a) Read-only memory.
b) Random access memory.
c) Cache memory
d) Registers
e) Flash memory
Answer: a

Difficulty: Easy
47) Secondary storage has which of the following characteristics?
a) It is nonvolatile.
b) It is more cost effective than primary storage.
c) It is slower than primary storage.
d) It can utilize a variety of media.
e) All of these
Answer: e

Difficulty: Easy
48) Which of the following is not a characteristic of secondary storage?
a) It is nonvolatile.
b) It is more cost effective than primary storage.
c) It is slower than primary storage
d) It cannot utilize any media except chips
e) None of these
Answer: d

Difficulty: Medium
49) The characteristics of magnetic tape include all of the following except:
a) It is the fastest magnetic storage medium.

b) It is the cheapest magnetic storage medium.
c) It provides sequential access to the data.
d) It has greater storage capacity than thumb drives.
e) It is often used for archival storage.
Answer: a

Difficulty: Medium
50) If you wished to store a large amount of archival data for a long period of time, you would choose
which of the following?
a) Magnetic disk
b) Magnetic tape
c) Read-only chips
d) Cache chips
e) Thumb drives
Answer: b

Difficulty: Medium
51) To access a specific piece of information, _____ are usually faster than _____.
a) Sequential access storage devices, direct access storage devices

b) Direct access storage devices, sequential access storage devices
c) Streaming tape devices, DVDs
d) Optical storage devices, random access memory
e) Sequential access storage devices, thumb drives
Answer: b

Difficulty: Medium
52) _____ are electronic storage devices that contain no moving parts.
a) Hard drives
b) Flash memory devices
c) Streaming tape devices
d) DVDs
e) CDs
Answer: b

Difficulty: Easy
53) Jun is getting ready to open a store in her home town to sell unique lamp bases and shades. What
kind of computer does she need at this point?
a) Mainframe computer
b) Server
c) Supercomputer
d) Personal computer
e) iPad
Answer: d
Difficulty: Easy
54) Jun has been in business selling unique lamp bases and shades for two years in her first location. She
is getting ready to open a second location two towns over. What kind of computer does she need at this
point?
b) Server
c) Supercomputer
e) iPad
Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
55) Jun really likes your Apple iPad and wants to get one for her lamp business. What kind of computer
would the iPad replace?
b) Workstation
c) Server
e) Smartphone
Answer: d
Difficulty: Medium
56)_______________ manipulates the data and controls the tasks performed by other components.
a) CPU
b) Primary storage
c) Output technologies
d) Secondary storage
Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
57) _____________________ stores data and programs for future use.
a) CPU
b) Primary storage
Answer: d
Difficulty: Easy
58) ________________ provide for the flow of data from external computer networks to the CPU and
vice versa.
a) Communication technologies
b) Input technologies
d) Secondary storage devices
Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
59) Which of the following is NOT a strategic hardware issue?
a) Price and performance

b) Personal and organizational productivity
c) BYOD
d) Need for the latest and greatest applications
Answer: d
Learning Objective: Discuss the strategic issues that link hardware design to business strategy.
Section: TG 1.2 Discuss the strategic issues that link hardware design to business strategy
Difficulty: Medium
60) Which of the following is the correct order of the computer hierarchy, from smallest to largest?
a) Supercomputers, mainframe computers, midrange computers, microcomputers

b) Microcomputers, midrange computers, mainframe computers, supercomputers
c) Microcomputers, mainframe computers, midrange computers, supercomputers
d) Supercomputers, midrange computers, mainframe computers, microcomputers
Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
61) Desktop PCs are an example of _____________
a) mainframe computers
b) microcomputers
c) midrange computers
d) supercomputers
Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
62) NASA’s computer system is an example of ___________
b) microcomputers
d) supercomputers
Answer: d
Section: Computer Hierarchy
Difficulty: Medium
63) Airline reservation systems are an example of ___________
b) microcomputers
d) supercomputers
Answer: a
Section: Computer Hierarchy
Difficulty: Easy
64) Which of the following is an example of an output technology?
a) Joystick
b) Keyboard
c) Printer
d) RFID scanner
Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
65) Which of the following is an example of an input technology?
a) Monitor
b) Mouse
c) Printer
d) Plotter
Answer: b

Difficulty: Easy
66) Which of the following is an example of source-data automation?
a) Keyboard
b) Mouse
c) UPC scanner
d) Voice recognition
Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
67) Registers are high-speed storage areas that store __________ amounts of data and instructions for
___________ periods of time.
a) very large, long

b) very large, short
c) very small, long
d) very small, short
Answer: d
Difficulty: Easy
68) Which of the following arranges the hierarchy of memory capacity from largest to smallest?
a) ZB, EB, PB, TB, GB, MB, KB

b) ZB, EB, PB, TB, MB, GM, KB
c) ZB, EB, PB, TB, GB, KB, MB
d) ZB, EB, PB, TB, MB, KB, MB
Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
69) __________ is main memory.

a) ALU
b) Primary storage
c) A register
Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
70) RAM is ___________ storage that is ____________.
a) primary, nonvolatile
b) primary, volatile
c) secondary, nonvolatile
d) secondary, volatile
Answer: b
Difficulty: Easy
71) __________ is an example of secondary storage.
a) A hard drive
b) Cache memory
c) RAM
d) ROM
Answer: a
Difficulty: Easy
72) A(n) _________ is the cheapest storage medium.
a) hard drive
b) magnetic tape
c) magnetic disk
d) optical storage device
Answer: b
Difficulty: Medium
73) _________ uses the unused digital portion of a regular copper telephone line.
a) Dial-up access
b) Cable
c) DSL
d) Wireless
Answer: c
Difficulty: Easy
Question Type: Essay
74) Discuss why it is difficult to make hardware decisions today.
Difficulty: Medium
75) Describe the components that make up hardware.
Difficulty: Medium
76) What are the types of primary storage?

Difficulty: Medium
77) Compare and contrast supercomputers, mainframes, midrange computers, and microcomputers.
Difficulty: Medium
78) What are the types of secondary storage?

Difficulty: Medium
Question Type: Fill-in-the-Blank
79) _______________ refers to the physical equipment for the input, processing, output, and storage
activities of a computer system.
Answer: Hardware
Difficulty: Easy
80) ___________ input data with minimal human intervention.
Answer: Source-data automation
Difficulty: Easy
81) Moore’s Law states that microprocessor complexity would ________ every 2 years.
Answer: double
Difficulty: Easy
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Information System, Third Canadian Edition Rainer

Question Type: True/False

3) A super computer is the term given to the latest technology

4) A mainframe is a type of server.

9) The mouse is the most common input device.

13) A byte represents a particular alphanumeric character or a simple mathematical operation.

22) Hardware is becoming smaller, faster, and cheaper over time.

25) Secondary storage is volatile.

Question Type: Multiple Choice

Learning Objective: Identify the major components of a computer system.

31) Which of the following is not a component of hardware?

a) Primary and secondary storage

34) Moore’s Law predicted that microprocessor complexity would ______.

a) Double every year.

a) The type of program the computer can run

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

a) The type of program the computer can run.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage..

a) Megabyte – kilobyte – gigabyte – terabyte – exabyte – petabyte

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

a) Data to be processed by the CPU

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

39) Which of the following is not stored in primary storage?

a) Data to be processed by the CPU

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

40) The main types of primary storage are:

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

Learning Objective: LO TG 1.6 Computer Storage.

42) Random access memory is _____ and _____.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

43) Registers have all of the following characteristics except:

a) They are a type of primary storage.

44) Which of the following is not a type of primary storage?

a) Random access memory

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

47) Secondary storage has which of the following characteristics?

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

48) Which of the following is not a characteristic of secondary storage?

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

a) It is the fastest magnetic storage medium.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

a) Sequential access storage devices, direct access storage devices

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

Learning Objective: Computer Storage.

57) _____________________ stores data and programs for future use.

59) Which of the following is NOT a strategic hardware issue?

a) Price and performance

a) Supercomputers, mainframe computers, midrange computers, microcomputers

61) Desktop PCs are an example of _____________

62) NASA’s computer system is an example of ___________

63) Airline reservation systems are an example of ___________

64) Which of the following is an example of an output technology?

65) Which of the following is an example of an input technology?

Section Reference: TG 1.4 Input and Output Technologies

66) Which of the following is an example of source-data automation?

a) very large, long

a) ZB, EB, PB, TB, GB, MB, KB

69) __________ is main memory.

70) RAM is ___________ storage that is ____________.

71) __________ is an example of secondary storage.

42) Random access memory is _ and _.

70) RAM is _ storage that is __.