Computer Awareness Questions

The correct answer is ROM.

Key Points

• Each memory cell of a ROM chip has either a transistor for a 1 bit or none for a 0 bit.
• ROMs(Read-only memory) is used for programs that are essential parts of a computer’s operation, such as the bootstrap program that starts a computer and loads its operating system or the BIOS (basic input/output system) that addresses external devices in a personal computer (PC). 
• EPROM (erasable programmable ROM), EAROM (electrically alterable ROM), and flash memory are types of nonvolatile memories that are rewritable, though the rewriting is far more time-consuming than reading.
• They are thus used as special-purpose memories where writing is seldom necessary—if used for the BIOS, for example, they may be changed to correct errors or update features.

Additional Information

• Cache memory:
  • Cache memory, also called Cache, a supplementary memory system that temporarily stores frequently used instructions and data for quicker processing by the central processor of a computer.
  • The cache augments and is an extension of, a computer’s main memory.
  • Both main memory and cache are internal, random-access memories (RAMs) that use semiconductor-based transistor circuits.
  • The cache holds a copy of only the most frequently used information or program codes stored in the main memory; the smaller capacity of the cache reduces the time required to locate data within it and provide it to the computer for processing. 
• RAM:
  • RAM, in full random-access memory, Computer main memory in which specific contents can be accessed (read or written) directly by the CPU in a very short time regardless of the sequence (and hence location) in which they were recorded.
  • Two types of memory are possible with random-access circuits, static RAM (SRAM) and dynamic RAM (DRAM).
  • A single memory chip is made up of several million memory cells.
  • In an SRAM chip, each memory cell stores a binary digit (1 or 0) for as long as power is supplied.
  • In a DRAM chip, the charge on individual memory cells must be refreshed periodically in order to retain data.
  • Because it has fewer components, DRAM requires less chip area than SRAM; hence a DRAM chip can hold more memory, though its access time is slower.

The correct answer is Analytical Engine. 

Key Points

• Analytical Engine generally considered the first computer, designed and partly built by the English inventor Charles Babbage in the 19th century (he worked on it until his death in 1871).
• While working on the Difference Engine, a simpler calculating machine commissioned by the British government, Babbage began to imagine ways to improve it.
• Chiefly he thought about generalizing its operation so that it could perform other kinds of calculations.
• By the time funding ran out for his Difference Engine in 1833, he had conceived of something far more revolutionary: a general-purpose computing machine called the Analytical Engine. 
• The Analytical Engine was to be a general-purpose, fully program-controlled, automatic mechanical digital computer.
• It would be able to perform any calculation set before it. 
• The machine was designed to consist of four components: the mill, the store, the reader, and the printer. These components are the essential components of every computer today.

Additional Information

• Abacus:
  • Abacus, plural abaci or abacuses, calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce.
  • It is the ancestor of the modern calculating machine and computer.
  • The earliest “abacus” likely was a board or slab on which a Babylonian spread sand so he could trace letters for general writing purposes. 
  • The word abacus is probably derived, through its Greek form abakos, from a Semitic word such as the Hebrew ibeq (“to wipe the dust”; noun abaq, “dust”). 
  • The abacus, generally in the form of a large calculating board, was in universal use in Europe in the Middle Ages, as well as in the Arab world and in Asia.
  • It reached Japan in the 16th century. The introduction of the Hindu-Arabic notation, with its place value and zero, gradually replaced the abacus, though it was still widely used in Europe as late as the 17th century and survives today in the Middle East, China, and Japan; an expert practitioner can compete against many modern mechanical calculating machines.
• Calculator:
  • Calculator, machine for automatically performing arithmetical operations and certain mathematical functions.
  • Modern calculators are descendants of a digital arithmetic machine devised by Blaise Pascal in 1642.
  • Later in the 17th century, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz created a more advanced machine, and, especially in the late 19th century, inventors produced calculating machines that were smaller and smaller and less and less laborious to use.
  • In the early decades of the 20th century, desktop adding machines and other calculating devices were developed. Some were key-driven, others required a rotating drum to enter sums punched into a keyboard, and later the drum was spun by an electric motor.
• A central processing unit (CPU):
  • The central processing unit (CPU), the principal part of any digital computer system, generally composed of the main memory, control unit, and arithmetic-logic unit.
  • It constitutes the physical heart of the entire computer system; to it is linked various peripheral equipment, including input/output devices and auxiliary storage units.
  • In modern computers, the CPU is contained on an integrated circuit chip called a microprocessor.
  • The control unit of the central processing unit regulates and integrates the operations of the computer.
  • It selects and retrieves instructions from the main memory in proper sequence and interprets them so as to activate the other functional elements of the system at the appropriate moment to perform their respective operations.

The correct answer is 14.

Key Points

• If the font size of a text in MS-Word 2016 document is 12.
• If we select the text and press CTRL+SHIFT+> once, then the font size of the text will be 14.
• Font sizes are measured in points; 1 point (abbreviated pt) is equal to 1/72 of an inch.
• The default size increase in MS word is two points. 
• The point size refers to the height of a character.
• Thus, a 12-pt font is 1/6 inch in height.

Additional Information

• Microsoft Word uses the Calibri font and 11 point font size by default. 
• To increase the font size, press Ctrl + ] . (Press and hold the Ctrl, then press the right bracket key.)
• To decrease the font size, press Ctrl + [.

The correct answer is Motherboard.

Key Points

• The motherboard allows communication to and between the CPU, RAM, and all other computer hardware components.
• A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, system board, baseboard, planar board, logic board, or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems.
• It holds and allows communication between many crucial electronic components of a system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors for other peripherals. 

Additional Information

• Application software is a type of computer program that performs a specific personal, educational, and business function.
• System software is a type of computer program that is designed to run a computer's hardware and application programs.
• A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program.

The correct answer is F2.

Key Points

• F2 function key is used to edit the content of a cell in MS-Excel.
• To enter Edit mode, we can follow any of these steps:
  • Double-click the cell that contains the data that you want to edit.
  • Click the cell that contains the data that you want to edit, and then click anywhere in the formula bar.
  • Click the cell that contains the data that you want to edit, and then press F2.

Additional Information

Some important shortcuts used in MS Excel:

• Ctrl + N Create a new workbook.
• Ctrl + O Open an existing workbook.
• Ctrl + S Save the active workbook.
• F12 Save the active workbook under a new name, displays the Save as dialog box.
• Ctrl + W Close the active workbook.
• Ctrl + C Copy the contents of the selected cells to Clipboard.
• Ctrl + X Cut the contents of the selected cells to Clipboard.
• Ctrl + V Insert the contents of the Clipboard into the selected cell(s).

The correct answer is 2²⁰ bytes.

Key Points

• Originally megabyte was used to describe a byte multiple (2²⁰ = 1024 x 1024 = 1,048,576) in computer programming.
• However, several international organizations and most storage media (including hard drives and DVDs) use the Latin approach to the measurement whereby a megabyte is 10³ bytes (1000 x 1000 = 1,000,000).

Additional Information 

• 1 byte = 8 bits
• 1024 KB = 1 MB
• 1024 MB = 1 GB
• 1024 GB = 1 TB

The correct answer is .xls.

Key Points

• The Microsoft Excel Binary File Format, with the. xls extension and referred to here as XLS, was introduced in Microsoft Office 2007.
• An XLS file is a spreadsheet file created by Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program, It contains one or more worksheets, which store and display data in a table format.
• XLS files may also store mathematical functions, charts, styles, and formatting.

​Extension of other important files:

• Image - JPG
• Word - Docx
• Powerpoint - ppt 
• Text - txt

The correct answer is Supercomputer.

Key Points

• A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer.
• The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instructions per second (MIPS).

Additional Information

• World's fastest supercomputer - Fugaku (Japan)
• World's first supercomputer - CDC 6600
• India's fastest supercomputer - PARAM-Siddhi AI

The correct answer Firewall.

Key Points

• A firewall's main purpose is to prohibit unauthorized access to your computer via the Internet.
• In computing, a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
• A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted network and an untrusted network, such as the Internet.

Additional Information

• Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989 while working at CERN.
• The first web page address was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.
• ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983.
• NCSA Mosaic ran on Windows computers was the first browser to surf the internet.

The correct answer is Ctrl + B.

Key Points

• Ctrl + B is the shortcut key to make the selected letters bold or unbold.
• Important Shortcut keys used in MS Word:
  • Cut the selected content to the Clipboard - Ctrl+X
  • Copy the selected content to the Clipboard - Ctrl+C
  • Paste the contents of the Clipboard -Ctrl+V
  • Increase the font size by 1 point.- Ctrl+]
  • Center the text - Ctrl+E.
  • Align the text to the left - Ctrl+L