The Best of Creative Computing Volume 2 (published 1977)
Computer Literacy Quiz (Questions about computers)
COMPUTER LITERACY QUIZ
1. All computers understand the language BASIC because, as its name implies, it
is the most fundamental of computer languages.
2. For any problem within its capability, a computer can always solve it more
quickly and cheaper than can be done manually.
3. Example of random access storage devices include:
1. core and disk
2. magnetic tape and punch cards
3. disk and magnetic tape
4. paper tape and punch cards
5. all of the above
4. M.I.C.R. stands for magnetic ink character recognition, and is used on bank
checks in the United States.
5. Which of the following does not manufacture and sell computers?
1. Control Data Corporation
2. IBM
3. Digital Equipment Corp.
4. Honeywell
5. American Telephone and Telegraph Company
6. A typical CAI drill and practice program:
1. works only when one is teaching elementary arithmetic
2. aks the student questions and checks his answers
3. forces all the students to work the same set of problems
4. allows three incorrect responses before going on to the next problem
5. none of the above
7. Although learning a machine language is difficult, once one has mastered it,
he can write programs that will be understood by any machine.
8. The best computer programs for playing chess and checkers are based upon
having the computer memorize tens of thousands of board positions (i.e. rote
memory).
9. It is now possible to manufacture a single large-scale integrated circuit,
called a chip, which contains all of the circuitry for a CPU.
10. The concept and use of punched cards was developed:
1. before 1900
2. about 1920
3. about 1940
4. about 1960
11. PLATO is an educational computer system which uses a gas plasma display
terminal.
12. In the early days of computers, all programming was done:
1. in FORTRAN
2. in BASIC
3. in machine language
4. in UNIVAC
13. The Turing "Imitation Game":
1. has a computer imitate a business environment to train executives in
decision-making.
2. has a person imitate a computer to find program errors.
3. has a computer simulate a complex situation providing a detailed study of
alternative effects.
4. has a computer pretend to be human, demonstrating artificial intelligence.
14. The science of control and feedback theory is called cybernetics, and
Norbert Weiner contributed a lot to this area.
15. One threat to privacy comes from the willingness of most people to provide
information about themselves voluntarily.
16 Which of the following is a characteristic of a problem which is well-suited
to solution by the computer?
1. Problem solution involves value judgments
2. All necessary decisions are quantifiable
3. The problem is ill-defined
4. The solution to the problem is needed only one time
17. The largest user of computers in the U. S. Government is:
1. The Internal Revenue Service
2. The Census Bureau
3. The military
4. Congress
5. None of these.
18. When one is buying a computer system, he might purchase hardware and
software from two different companies.
19. Magnetic tape is an effective medium in operations requiring frequent access
to data on a random basis.
20. Very large computer programs are apt to contain undetected errors even after
the programs have been used for several years.
21. NClC is a method whereby checks printed with a special ink can be machine
read.
22. By 1950 about 1000 electronic digital computers had been manufactured and
placed into service.
23. The fastest core memories have retrieval times of about one millisecond.
24. Using an 8 bit code (such as on magnetic tape), how many different
characters can be represented?
1. 8
2. 16
3. 32
4. 256
5. 512
25. A computer's memory can think about and solve a problem much in the same way
as a person's brain works on a problem.
26. A major problem with computerized data banks is guarding against erroneous
data getting into the system.
27. A disadvantage of punched card machines is that the speed of processing is
limited by the movement of mechanical parts and devices.
28. Which of the following is not an example of the administrative application
of computers in education?
1. Payroll
2. Scheduling
3. Student records
4. Computer-assisted instruction
29. Why do computer' scientists write computer programs to play games?
1. Computer scientists have lots of fun doing this.
2. To communicate the ability of the computer.
3. To study the nature of problem solving.
4. All of the above.
5. None of the above.
30. Computer costs (measured in terms of computations per dollar) have leveled
off in the last five years.
Answers on page 239.
