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13 - Practice Test

1. The CPU is sometimes called the "brain" of a computer. What does CPU stand for?

Computing Power Unifier

Central Putrid Unificator

Central Processing Unit

Central Projector UFO

2. Read the following excerpt on 'Clock Speed'. Is it true or false?

The operating frequency of the CPU (also known as the CLOCK SPEED) determines how
fast it can process instructions.

The speed is measured in terms of Hertz, and it is usually lies in the megaHertz (MHz) 
or gigaHertz (GHz) range. A megaHertz means that the CPU can process one million 
instructions per second whereas a gigahertz CPU has the capability to process one 
billion instructions per second. In today's technology, all CPUs run in the gigahertz 
range and you seldom see CPUs with speed in the MHz range anymore.

Theoretically, a 500 MHz CPU is six times slower than a 3 GHz CPU and a 3.6 GHz CPU is
faster than a 3 GHz or a 3.4 GHz CPU. In general, the higher the frequency of a CPU, 
the faster the speed of the computer

False

True

3. The image below shows an Intel CPU. Read the paragraph below and fill in the blanks.

The purpose of the Central Processing Unit (CPU) is to carry out program ____________. 
Each CPU is designed to execute a specific group of ____________, the instruction set.

instructions

innits

innuendos

implements

4. The performance of the CPU is directly related to the performance of your personal computer. There are four factors (The 4 Cs) to consider. Fill in the blanks.

The following are all factors that affect the performance of the CPU:

*Note: They are sometimes referred to as the 4 Cs

1.____ speed
2. number of processor _____
3. _____ size
4. ______ type.

1. computer 2. cache 3. crumpet 4. compartment

1. coping tech 2. cores 3. cache 4. computer

1. clock 2. cores 3. cache 4. cache

1. compartment 2. crux 3. cache 5. cache

5. Who is the image below and the paragraph describing?

___________________________________ was a child prodigy. When he was 6 years old, 
he could divide two 8-digit numbers in his head and could converse in Ancient Greek.
He is also credited with he book 'The Computer and the Brain' - it is speculative in nature
but he discusses similarities and differences between brains and computers of his day.

It is this man that is among the main individuals credited with the architecture 
(named after him) of the 'stored program computer', which was the precursor of our
modern CPUs.

Charles Babbage

Isaac Newton

John von Neumann

Bill Gates

6. Two brains are better than one right? And four brains are even better. Multiple cores are a key factor in performance. Read the following paragraph and fill in the blanks.

 1. A CPU traditionally had one 'core' but processors these days might be dual-core or 
    quad-core for example. 
 
 2. A core is actually a processor with its own cache. 
 
 3. So a dual-core CPU has not one but two processors. 
 
 4. A quad core CPU has four processors
 
 5. Each 'brain' can be working on different parts of a program __________________
  and so this speeds up the overall CPU's performance.

waiting patiently for the other one to finish first

one after the other

at the same time

carrying out each instruction four times

7. The Neumann architecture design consists of a Control Unit, Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU), Memory Unit, Registers and Inputs/Outputs. One of the main purposes of the CPU is to ...

process data

print to the printer

connect to the internet

output an instruction

8. Although CPUs fetch instructions from RAM, there is another place they can get instructions from, called _______.

'computer source'

'cache'

'common ground'

'cartesian fluid'

9. The speed that a CPU works at is measured in _____, Hz. Modern processors often run so fast that gigahertz, GHz, is used instead. One gigahertz is one billion _____.

metres per second

mertz

hertz

miles per hour

10. Cache is like RAM but the one difference is that it is much ___________ to read and write from it as compared to RAM. This obviously speeds up CPU performance.

craftier

faster

slower

lighter

11. Ever wondered how your brain is involved in executing an instruction? For instance, if someone says "Pass the salt"....what happens?

The instruction is decoded, and then it is fetched

The instruction is executed and then it is decoded and fetched

The instruction is executed immediately

The instruction is first fetched (received), decoded (made sense of) and then executed.

12. The fetch-decode-execute cycle is the sequence of steps that the CPU follows to process instructions. This is also sometimes called the ...

instruction cycle

michelin star cycle

brain cycle

computer cycle

13. Here is a diagram (Source: BBC Bitesize) of the Fetch Decode Execute cycle. Out of the following options, what happens first?

The instruction is immediately decoded and executed

The processor checks the program counter to see which instruction to run next

The processor fetches the instruction value from this memory location

The program counter gives an address value in the memory of where the next instruction is

14. The next steps that occur in the Fetch Decode Execute cycle are shown in the excerpt below. Can you fill in the blanks?

The program counter gives an address value in the memory of where 
the next instruction is.

The processor fetches the instruction value from this memory 
location.

Once the instruction has been fetched, it needs to be decoded and 
executed. For example, this could involve taking one value, putting 
it into the ALU, then taking a different value from a register and 
adding the two together.

Once this is complete, the processor _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

This cycle is repeated until the program ends.

goes back to execute an instruction

goes back to the program counter to find the next instruction

goes back to the CU (Control Unit) to find the next instruction

goes to the ALU to check to see if there are any more calculations to perform

15. The three stages of the FDE cycle are 'Fetch', 'Decode' and 'Execute'. What happens in the fetch stage?

#1. In the fetch stage, the ALU provides a pointer to the program
counter. The program counter then executes the instruction directly
by sending instructions via the data and address bus. 


#2. In the fetch stage, the program counter provides the memory
address of the next instruction. This is transferred through the 
address bus to the memory and the instruction is transferred to the
instruction register of the CPU through the data bus.

Both #1 and #2 could be correct

Neither are correct

#2 is correct

#1 is correct

16. What happens in the decode stage of the FDE cycle?

The decoder in the ALU executes the instruction

The decoder in the control unit works out what the instruction means (decodes the instruction)

The decoder held in the program counter dissolves the instruction in order to understand its true meaning

The decoder sends the instruction to the program counter to be counted

17. What happens in the 'execute' part of the FDE cycle?

The ALU executes the instruction and sends it to the printer

The registers register and execute the instruction and then send it to the program counter to be executed

The control unit instructs the ALU to perform the computations required and the result is stored in one of the registers

The control unit decides whether or not to execute the instruction by counting the number of bits the data has

18. Why is the fetch decode execute cycle called a cycle?

Because a cycle refers to something that cannot repeat itself

Because it cycles around at millions of bits per second and this is the whir you hear when you switch on your PC

Because it looks a little like a bicycle and hence its name

Because the cycle is repeated over and over as each instruction in the program is executed and complete

19. The program counter stores the memory address of the next instruction to be fetched. What happens when that address has been used?

The program counter transforms into the ALU

The program counter switches off automatically until it is manually switched on

The program counter is incremented by 1 so it now has the address of the next instruction

The progam counter explodes and no longer functions correctly

20. What is overclocking?

increasing the clock frequency to above it's recommended design speed - this can be done but requires some serious cooling systems!

adding a clock to increase the speed of the computer

increasing the number of cores so that the clock speed is doubled or quadrupled, depending on the cores added

decreasing the clock frequency so it is not 'over' the limit

21. Parallel and multi-core processing both refer to the same thing: the ability to __________________________________ (in more than one core/CPU/machine.) So in this sense multi-core is just a means to do parallel processing.

read data and instructions together

to run instructions in the ALU core

to hold the data on multiple, parallel wires

execute code at the same time

22. Analyse the "pipeline" below and fill in the blanks.

Instruction pipelining is a technique for implementing instruction-level 
parallelism within a single processor. 

Pipelining attempts to keep every part of the processor busy with some 
instruction by dividing incoming instructions into a series of sequential
steps (the eponymous "pipeline") performed by different processor units 
with different parts of instructions processed in parallel. 

It allows ______________________________________________________________, 
but may increase latency due to the added overhead of the pipelining
process itself.

*Latency is referring to the amount of time taken to traverse a system

equal CPU throughput

lighter data passing through the system

faster CPU throughput than would otherwise be possible at a given clock rate

slower CPU throughput

23. The image shows an Intel CPU with a math co-processor. What is a co-processor?

Additional information about a coprocessor
==========================================

Operations performed by the coprocessor may be floating point 
arithmetic, graphics, signal processing, string processing, 
encryption or I/O Interfacing with peripheral devices. 

By offloading processor-intensive tasks from the main processor, 
coprocessors can accelerate system performance. Coprocessors allow 
a line of computers to be customized, so that customers who do not 
need the extra performance do not need to pay for it.

A coprocessor is an additional processor which works as ROM

A coprocessor is a type of computer that operates much faster than traditional computers

A coprocessor is a computer processor used to supplement the functions of the primary processor (the CPU)

A coprocessor is when a CPU is placed underneath the ALU so that it can co-work more closely

24. Describe how the CPU and RAM work together to make a tablet computer work and execute instructions/programs?

Instructions currently running are stored in the CPU - these are fetched by the RAM which executes them

Instructions currently running are stored in RAM - these are fetched by the CPU which then executes them

Instructions currently running are stored in the ROM (Hard drive) - these are then executed by the RAM and CPU together

Instructions are stored in the RAM and CPU and the ALU fetches them from the RAM to execute them.

25. This would perform an operation such as 5+8 (1-4)

Control Unit

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Accumulator

Cache

26. This would reduce the number of memory/processor transfers

Accumulator

Control Unit

Cache

Arithmetic Logic Unit

27. This sends signals such as ?I/O Read?

Control Unit

Accumulator

Arithmetic Logic Unit

Cache

28. This doesn?t happen during the Fetch part of the cycle:

Instructions are transferred from Main Memory and Hard drive

Current Instruction is held in the CIR

Results are held in the Accumulator

Status Register updated

29. Which of the following is held in ROM?

Instructions frequently used (ROM is the same as CACHE)

ROM instructions and clocks

Bootstrap loader

Data currently in used

30. What carries the address of the next instruction that will be fetched

System Bus

Address Bus

Control Bus

Data Bus

31. One of the properties of an address bus is that it is uni-directional.

FALSE

TRUE

32. Developments in the field of storage are progressing every day. There is talk of 'embedded storage chips' becoming common place. Can you name one more type of storage that is not on the below list.

External Hard Drive. These are hard drives similar to the type that 
is installed within a desktop computer or laptop computer. ...

Solid State Drive (SSD) ...

Network Attached Storage (NAS) ...

USB Thumb Drive Or Flash Drive. ...

Optical Drive (CD/ DVD) ...

Window Storage

Variable Storage

Software Storage

Cloud Storage

33. A storage device is sometimes defined as devices used to store data in binary format (used for processing later). Which of the following in the list is NOT a storage device?

Hard drive
CD-ROM
DVD-ROM
flash media
"thumb" drive
memory stick
iPOD
digital camera
keyboard
removable hard drive
back-up tape
mouse
PDA (Palm, Windows Mobile, etc)
Blackberry
Cell phone
monitor

Digital camera and mouse

I-Pod and Hard drive

CD-Rom, cellphone, Monitor

keyboard, mouse, monitor

34. An E-Book reader would be best off using a particular type of storage for the following reasons. What type of storage is this likely to be referring to?

#1 Fast access

#2 No moving parts / robust (can be moved around a lot with no damage)

#3 Small / sufficiently lightweight

#4 low power (would allow for extended battery life)

Optical

Solid State

Fuel State

Magnetic

35. The online company TechHamper is producing a free e-book to distribute to its customers about the latest technology items. Which of the following reasons are valid for why a CD-ROM might be best?

==Advantages of Opitcal Storage=====

#1 Cheap to Produce

#2 Expensive to Produce

#3 Portable

#4 Enough capacity for something like an e-book

#5 Can easily be read by other devices (e.g. computers)

#6 Read-only (cannot write over it)

#7 Massive capacity for storage

#8 No moving parts / reliable and robust

5,6,7,8

1,2,3,4

1,3,4,5,6

4,5,6,7

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