USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Chapter 1
Introduction to Information Technology
Self-Test Questions
1. The ________ ________ ________ refers to the part of the internet that presents information in multimedia
form.
2. The two main types of microcomputers are the________ ________ , which sits on the desktop, and the ________ ________,
which usually is placed on the floor.
3. “________ technology” merges computing with highspeed communications.
4. A(n) ________ is an electronic machine that accepts data and processes it into information.
5. The ________ is a worldwide network that connects hundreds of thousands of smaller networks.
6. ________ refers to information presented in nontextual forms such as video, sound, and graphics.
7. ________ are high-capacity machines with thousands of processors.
8. Embedded computers, or ________, are installed in “smart” appliances and automobiles.
9. The kind of software that enables users to perform specific tasks is called ________ software.
10. RAM is an example of ________ storage, and a hard drive is an example of ________ storage.
11. A(n) ________ is a communications system connecting two or more computers.
12. The four basic operations of all computers are ________ , ________ , ________ , and ________.
13. The first programmable computer in the USA, which appeared in 1946, was called the ________ .
14. The ________ is the display device that takes the electrical signals from the video card and forms an image using points of colored light on
the screen.
15. The base material for computer processing devices is ________ , a natural element found in sand.
16. The general term for all the machinery and equipment in a computer system is ________.
17. ________ and ________ are the two most common input devices.
18. The processor chip, commonly called the ________ or a ________, is a tiny piece of silicon that contains millions of miniature electronic
circuits.
19. One gigabyte is approximately ________ characters.
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which of the following devices converts computer output into displayed images?
a. printer
b. monitor
c. floppy-disk drive
d. processor
e. hard-disk drive
2. Which of the following computer types is the smallest?
a. mainframe
b. microcomputer
c. microcontroller
d. supercomputer
e. workstation
3. Which of the following is a secondary-storage device?
a. processor
b. memory chip
c. floppy-disk drive
d. printer
e. monitor
4. Since the days when computers were first made available, computers have developed in three directions.
What are they?
a. increased expense
b. miniaturization
c. increased size
d. affordability
e. increased speed
 5. Which of the following operations constitute the four basic operations followed by all computers?
a. input
b. storage
c. programming
d. output
e. processing
6. Supercomputers are used for
a. breaking codes.
b. simulations for explosions of nuclear bombs.
c. forecasting weather.
d. keeping planets in orbit.
e. all of these
f. only a, b, and c.
7. What is the leading use of computers?
a. web surfing
b. email
c. e-shopping
d. word processing
8. Which is the main circuit board in the computer?
a. RAM chip (random access memory)
b. CPU processor chip (central processing unit)
c. motherboard (system board)
d. hard drive
9. A terabyte is approximately
a. one million characters.
b. one billion characters.
c. one trillion characters.
d. one quadrillion characters.
10. Speakers are an example of
a. an input device.
b. an output device.
c. a processor.
d. a storage device.
True/False Questions
1. Mainframe computers process faster than microcomputers.
2. Main memory is a software component.
3. The operating system is part of the system software.
4. Processing is the manipulation by which a computer transforms data into information.
5. Primary storage is the area in the computer where data or information is held permanently.
6. The keyboard and the mouse are examples of input devices.
7. Movies are a form of multimedia.
8. Computers are becoming larger, slower, and more expensive.
9. Modems store information.
10. A microcomputer is used to view very small objects.
11. A hard disk is an example of software.
12. Computers continue to get smaller and smaller.
13. Supercomputers are particularly inexpensive.

Short-Answer Questions
1. What does online mean?
Using a computer or some other information device, connected through a network, to access information and services from
another computer or information device.
2. What is the difference between system software and application software?
System software helps the computer perform essential operating tasks and enables the application software to run. System
software consists of several electronically coded programs. The most important is the operating system.
Application software enables you to perform specific tasks—solve problems, perform work, or entertain yourself.
3. Briefly define cyberspace.
Area that includes not only online world and the internet but also the whole wired and wireless world of communication in
general.
4. What is the difference between software and hardware?
Software: Also called programs; step-by-step electronically encoded instructions that tell the computer hardware how to
perform a task. Without software, hardware is useless.
Hardware: All machinery and equipment in a computer system. Hardware runs under the control of software and is useless
without it. However, hardware contains the circuitry that allows processing.
5. What is a local area network?
Network that connects, usually by special cable, a group of desktop PCs and other devices, such as printers, in an office or a
building. LANs have replaced mainframes for many functions and are considerably less expensive.
6. What is multimedia?
From “multiple media”; technology that presents information in more than one medium—including text, graphics, animation,
video, and sound—in a single integrated communication. Multimedia is used increasingly in business, the professions, and education
to improve the way information is communicated.
7. What is the difference between microcomputers and supercomputers?
Microcomputers : Also called personal computer; small computer that fits on or next to a desk or can be carried around. The
microcomputer has lessened the reliance on mainframes and has provided more ordinary users with access to computers. It can be
used as a stand-alone machine or connected to a network.
Supercomputers: High-capacity computer with thousands of processors that is the fastest calculating device ever invented.
Supercomputers are used primarily for research purposes, airplane design, oil exploration, weather forecasting, and other activities
that cannot be handled by mainframes and other less powerful machines.
Mainframe Computer are used in many large businesses. Mainrames are water or air-cooled computers and vary in size
from small, to medium, to large, depending on their use.
8. What is the function of RAM?
Memory chips, also known as RAM (Random Access Memory) chips, represent primary storage or temporary storage; they
hold data before processing and information after processing , before it is sent along to an output or storage device.
9. What does downloading mean?
To transfer data from a remote computer to one’s own computer. Allows text, music, and images to be transferred quickly by
telecommunications.
10. What is meant by connectivity?
Ability to connect computers to one another by communications lines, so as to provide online information access and/or the
sharing of peripheral devices. It provides online access to countless types of information and services. The connectivity resulting from
the expansion of computer networks has made possible email and online shopping, for example.
11. What is the basic meaning of cloud computing?
Cloud computing means that instead of storing your software and data on your own PC or your own company’s computers,
you store it on servers on the internet.
12. Information Technology
Information technology effects almost all aspects of our lives including education, health, recreation and entertainment,
government, jobs and carrers and your personal life.
13.Computer
A computer is a programmable, multiuse machine that accepts data raw facts and figures and processes or manipulates, it into
information we can use.
14.Multimedia
The technology presents information in more than one medium including text, graphic, animation video and sound in a single
intergrated communication.
15.Data and Information
Data consists of the raw facts and figure that are processed into information.
Information is data that has been summarized or otherwise transformed for use in decision making.
16. Processor Chips and Memory Chips
Memory Chips: Also known as RAM (for “random access memory”) chip; represents primary storage or temporary storage.
Holds data before processing and information after processing, before it is sent along to an output or storage device.
Processor Chips: Also called the processor, the CPU (central processing unit), or simply chip; tiny piece of silicon that
contains millions of miniature electronic circuits used to process data. Chips have made possible the development of small computers.
17. Hard-disk drive and CD drive
Hard-disk drive : Storage device that stores billions of characters of data on a nonremovable disk platter usually
inside the computer case. Hard disks hold much more data than diskettes do. Nearly all microcomputers use hard disks as their
principal secondary-storage medium.
CD drive (Compact disk) , is a storage device that uses laser technology to read data from optical disks.
18. Microcontroller and Microcomputer
Microcontroller: Also called an embedded computer; the smallest category of computer. Microcontrollers are the tiny,
specialized microprocessors built into “smart” electronic devices, such as appliances and automobiles.
Microcomputers : Also called personal computer; small computer that fits on or next to a desk or can be carried around. The
microcomputer has lessened the reliance on mainframes and has provided more ordinary users with access to computers. It can be
used as a stand-alone machine or connected to a network.
19.Communication Technology
Communication technology also called telecommunications technology, consists of electromagnetic devices and systems for
communicating over any distance.
20.Email
Email (electronic mail), messages transmitted over a computer network, most often the Internet.
21.Server
Servers are computers having special software dedicated to providing services to other computers.
22.Keyboard
A keyboard is an input device that converts letters, numbers and other characters into electrical signals readable by the
processor.
23.Mouse
A mouse is a nonkeyboard input device (pointing device) that is used to manipulate objects viewed on the computer display
screen.
24.Motherboard
Motherboard also called the system board, the motherboard is the main circuit board in the computer.
25.Peripheral Device
A peripheral device is any component or piece of equipment that expands a computer’s input, storage or output capabilities.
26. Video Card
Circuit board that converts the processor’s output information into a video signal for transmission through a cable to the
monitor.
27. Sound Card
Special circuit board that enhances the computer’s sound-generating capabilities by allowing sound to be output through
speakers.
28. Monitor
Display device that takes the electrical signals from the video card and forms an image using points of colored light on the
screen.
29. Speaker
Devices that play sounds transmitted as electrical signals from the sound card. Speakers are connected to a single wire
plugged into the back of the computer.
30. Printer
Output device that produces text and graphics on paper.
31. Modem
Device that sends and receives data over telephone lines to and from computers.