THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMME FINAL EXAMINATION

(60% )

Code/Name of Course : Information Technology

Semester1 : 2011

Duration : 2 hrs

Instructions : Answer all questions in SECTION A / SECTION B on

the answer sheet provided.

Answer any three (3) questions in SECTION C.

University of the West Indies

OPEN CAMPUS

Information Technology

Circle the best possible answer

Answer sheet

Candidate Number___________________________________________________

SECTION A

Multiple Choice

SECTION B

True/False

1. A B C D

2. A B C D

3. A B C D

4. A B C D

5. A B C D

6. A B C D

7. A B C D

8. A B C D

9. A B C D

10. A B C D

11. A B C D

12. A B C D

13. A B C D

14. A B C D

15. A B C D

16. A B C D

17. A B C D

18. A B C D

19. A B C D

20. A B C D

1. T F

2. T F

3. T F

4. T F

5. T F

6. T F

7. T F

8 T F

9. T F

10. T F

11 T F

12 T F

13 T F

14 T F

15 T F

16 T F

17 T F

18 T F

19 T F

20 T F

SECTION A

MULTIPLE CHOICE (20 Marks)

(answer all questions)

1. Two types of __________ are desktop computers and notebook computers.

(a) Mainframe computers

(b) Personal computers

(c) Minicomputers

(d) Supercomputers

2. Three commonly used _________are a printer, monitor and speakers.

(a) Input devices

(b) Output devices

(c) Storage devices

(d) Processing devices

3. The most widely used coding scheme for personal computers is

(a) EBCDIC

(b) Microcode

(c) ASCII

(d) Program code

4. A modem is a(n) _________

(a) mouse

(b) storage device

(c) input device

(d) communication device

5. Examples of storage media include all of the following ,except

a. Floppy disks

b. DVD’s

c. monitors

d. magnetic tape

6. ROM can be described as

a. volatile

b. permanent

c. magnetic

d. temporary

7. Which one of the following is true

a. A bit is equal to 8 bytes

b. A TB is equal to 2 MB

c. A byte is equal to 8 bits

d. A character is made up of 8 bytes

8. The system unit houses all of the following except

a. processor

b. RAM

c. Keyboard

d. motherboard

9. Which of the following is not applications software

a. Ms Word

b. Ms Publisher

c. Ms Windows

d. Ms Access

10. Which of the following is true of system software

a. programs that help manage a computer’s resources

b. helps the end user to use the hardware

c. controls the peripheral devices

d. all of the above

11. Which of the following is an advantage to using fibre optic cables

a. Fast data transmission rate

b. Low noise level

c. Few transmission errors

d. All of the above

12. A firewall

a. Is a fireproof wall surrounding the computer room

b. Prevents fire from destroying computer files

c. Is a control against unauthorized entry to computer data

d. All of the above

13. URL is an acronym for

a. User Resource Locator

b. User Resource Location

c. Uniform Resource Location

d. Uniform Resource Locator

14. The shape or configuration of a network is called

a. Wide Area Network

b. A Multiplexer

c. Topology

d. Modem

15. HTTP is an acronym for

a. Hypertext Transistor Page

b. Hypertext Transport Page

c. Hypertext Transfer Protocol

d. Hypertext Transistor Protocol

16. The most suitable device for the output of architectural drawings is a

a. plotter

b. laser printer

c. graphics tablet

d. light pen

17. An airline reservation system is best described as an example of

a. Systems software

b. Custom software package

c. Specialized software package

d. Off the shelf package

18. Which of the following cannot be sent via e-mail

a. Parcels

b. Sound files

c. Text

d. Graphics

19. Uploading/Downloading data to and from a remote computer is done using

a. File transfer protocol

b. Internet relay chat

c. Blogging

d. Instant messaging

20. Each website on the internet can be accessed by entering a unique address called

a. HTTP

b. HTML

c. FTP

d. URL

SECTION B

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS(20 marks)

Answer all questions in this section.

1. A megabyte is approximately equal to one million bytes.

2. A floppy disk has a much faster access rate than a flash disk.

3. Application software is a set of programs that manages the resources of the computer.

4. A flash drive is a form of secondary storage

5. In simplex transmission, data can flow in only one direction at a time.

6. The telecommunications medium with the lowest transmission capacity is twisted

wire.

7. A ring network is controlled by a central host computer.

8. WORM optical disk allow users to record data only once on the disk.

9. Sequential order is the only way to store records on magnetic tape.

10. A search engine is a hardware tool.

11. Hacking and Encryption are examples of deliberate sabotage of computers.

12. The device needed to convert analog signals to digital signals is called an A-D

converter.

13. An example of a dedicated computer at work is the control of traffic lights.

14. When the computer is working on given instructions, it is called processing.

15. Magnetic tape uses laser technology to store data.

16. A hardcopy is the display on a monitor.

17. The number 001110010 is called a denary number.

18. The unit of storage used to represent a character is called a byte.

19. The technology used to read pen/pencil marks is called POS.

20. Bluetooth technology facilitates the transfer of data between computers.

SECTION C Attempt any THREE(3)) questions

(60 marks)

1.

(a) What does ‘formatting’ a diskette mean? (2 marks)

(b) State three features of optical disks and what does CD-R and CD-RW stand for?(5 marks)

(c) What does DVD mean and suggest one use for which it is more suitable than a CD.

. (2 marks)

(d) Tabulate four (4) differences between flash drives (disks) and hard disks. (4 marks)

(e) What type of devices are OMR, OCR, MICR; state what they each stand for, and give

an application in which that technology is frequently used for each of them. (7 marks)

(20marks)

2.

Consider the 2 scenarios:

Scenario 1: Ethan communicates with his computer by typing in specific commands using

a specific language to get tasks done.

Scenario 2: Gale communicates with her computer by using the mouse and selecting

pictures representing tasks.

(a) Name the type of interface suggested in each scenario. (2 marks)

(b) State one type of interface other than those suggested above. (1 mark)

(c) Which of the above interfaces is more user friendly for someone learning to use a

computer and why? (2 marks)

(d) What is ‘user interface’and state the type of program that provides this interface(3marks)

(e) Define (i) window (ii) icon (iii)menu (iv) pointer with one example each. (12 marks)

(20 marks)

3.

A large insurance company has ten employees who work in the main office. Each employee

has a computer system and a printer to use for his/her daily tasks. It is suggested that these

computers should be networked.

(a) Name and explain with drawings three (3) network topologies that may be used and state

which one of these is best suited for this environment and why. (10 marks)

(b) Give two (2) reasons why networks are important in an office environment. (2 marks)

(c) What is a network. (2 marks)

(d) Explain any three (3) of the following benefits of data communications.

(i) E-mail (ii) Voice mail (iii) Text Messaging (iv)Teleconferencing (6 marks)

(20marks)

4.

(a) What is software piracy and state one reason why copying a program is considered to be

morally wrong. (3 marks)

(b) Within a large company, data on each employee is stored in a central location. This data is

shared by several departments and an employee’s record can be viewed and modified by

many employees from several departments.

(i) State two(2) problems that would arise from the sharing of the data in the company.

(2 marks)

(ii) State two(2) methods that can be used to secure data. (2 marks)

(c) What is a computer virus and state two (2) measures that could be implemented in order

to prevent a computer virus from infecting a computer. (4 marks)

(d) Differentiate between the following terms.

(i) Up-load and Down-load

(ii) U.R.L. And Search Engine

(iii) Pixel and Resolution (9 marks)

(20marks)

5.

(a) What is a database? (2marks)

(b) In databases, data is stored according to a data storage hierarchy consisting of

files, bytes, fields, records, bits. List this hierarchy in its correct order and define

each term in italics. (10marks)

(c ) Consider the screen below

Enter UserName: janedoe

Enter Password : *******

Re-Enter Password: *******

(i) Why is a username important (1 mark)

(ii) What is the purpose of having asterisks (*) in the password section (1 mark)

(iii) Give two reasons why a password may have to be re-entered (2 marks)

(iv) Suppose the password is ‘holiday’. Give two examples of genuine errors that the

. user could typically have re-entered for the password. (2 marks)

(v) Define a ‘password’ (2 marks)

(20 marks)

END OF EXAM