Computer Awareness Made Simple: Made Simple

By Soumya Rajan Behera

Today, we are living in a computer age, where computers play a key role in our everyday lives. In addition to communication media like television, radio and newspaper, we now have another communication medium, i.e. computers. We use computers to email, to chat, for Internet browsing, for teleconferencing, for video conferencing, etc. We also use them for e-learning, e-commerce, e-banking, e-governance, e-ticketing and for many more things. So, fundamental awareness of computers is a must if we wish to lead a successful life. Computer Awareness is essential and an integral part of competitive and entrance exams. This book Computer Awareness- made simple has been specially designed for General competitive examinations like Bank PO, Clerk, SSC, Railway and various entrance examinations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BPB Online LLP
• Release date: Dec 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9789388176835

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

A computer is an electronic device that is designed to work with Information. The term computer is derived from the Latin term ‘computare’, this means to calculate or programmable machine. Today, the word computer refers to computing devices, whether or not they are electronic, programmable, or capable of ‘storing and retrieving’ data.

A computer is not an short form, is sometimes abbreviated as ‘puter’ and is an electronic device that allows you to input data and have it stored, processed, or otherwise manipulated quickly and efficiently and if necessary output that data in an easy to read format.

Charles Babbage is known as Father of Computer (Programmable Computer). Alan Turing is considered as Father of modern computer science. He formed the concept of the algorithms and computations with one of his inventions, the Turing machine. He is also regarded as Father of theoretical Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A Computer System

Functioning of a Computer

The four basic functions of a computer system are as follows

Input: Transferring of information into the computer system is called input. It may be through a user input device - i.e. keyboard, mouse, scanner etc. or though previously loaded software/program, cd etc. It sends data instructions to the Central Processing Unit (CPU).

Storage: The process of saving data and instructions permanently is known as storage. The data is first stored in the storage unit for faster access and processing.

Processing: It involves manipulation of raw data into information. It is the core function of the computer system. It controlled by the Control Unit, the Arithmetic Logic Unit and Temporary Storage.

Output: It is the function that allows a computer to display information to the user. It can be accomplished through the monitor (or other graphical display), printer, etc.

Features of Computer

The important features of computer are as follows

Automatic (Spontaneous): The computers are automatic. It may execute the process without any involvement of user once they are assigned to a work.

Accuracy (Authenticity): The degree of accuracy of computer is very high and every calculation is performed with the same accuracy. The level of accuracy is determined by the design of computer.

Speed (Celerity): Computer can perform millions of instructions and even more per second. The computer present in the modern world has the speed of Nano and Pico second.

Diligence (Attentiveness): A computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc. It can work for hours without creating any error.

StorageCapacity: A computer can store huge amount of data / information and retrieve any piece of this information whenever required. It depends on the capacity of hard disk (secondary storage).

Reliability (Consistency): A computer is reliable, dependent and can be run for many years without loss of data.

Versatility (Adaptability): Computer can perform different types of tasks simultaneously. It can do multiple tasks at same time.

Plugand Play (PnP): Computer can detect and configure hardware and software component automatically.

Terms Related to Computer

Hardware: It is the physical components of the computer. It refers to the objects that we can actually touch. e.g. monitor, keyboard, mouse, system unit, hard disk, mother board, etc.

Software: It is a set of instructions / programs that tells the hardware what to do and how to perform the actions. e.g. word processor, operating system, etc.

Data: It is a raw material of information. It can be unprocessed raw texts, numbers, figures, spreadsheets, etc.

Information: Properly processed, organized, structured data is called information.

Instruction: Any command given to the computer in the computer language is by the user is called instruction.

Program: It is a collection of instructions that performs a specific task when executed by a computer.

History of Computer

Generations of Computer

Vinod Dham is known as the Father of Pentium Chip.

Siddharth is the First computer developed in India is (manufactured by Electronics Corporation of India).

Classification of Computer

Major Supercomputers of India

Top 10 Super Computer of World as on 2017-18

Application of Computer

Today, a computer is a necessary electronic device which helps us in different ways, like developing software, browsing on internet, E-learning, listening music, watching videos, designing, page-making, gaming, social-networking and much more.

Let us take a look at some application and uses of computers

Education: The computer helps in providing a lot of facilities in the education system. The computer provides a tool in the education system known as CBE (Computer Based Education). Computers are used as virtual classroom, online classes, interactive learning, e-learning, etc. It helps us to give online exams.

Science and Engineering: Scientists, engineers and researchers alike are able to compile vast amounts of data and leave it to the computer to work through the data while focusing on another area of the research project. One of the major areas is CAD (Computer Aided Design) that provides creation and modification of images. Some of the fields are Structural Engineering, Industrial Engineering & Architectural Engineering.

Industry and Business: Industrial Manufacturing system & machineries are controlled by computer. A computer has high speed of calculation, diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility which has made it an integrated part in all business organizations.

Healthcare: Computers have become an important part in hospitals, labs, and dispensaries. They are being used in hospitals to keep the record of patients and medicines. It is also used in scanning and diagnosing different diseases. ECG, EEG, ultrasounds and CT scans, etc. are also done by computerized machines. Major fields of computer used in healthcare are diagnostic, patient monitoring, pharma information & surgery.

Banks: Today banking is totally dependent on computer. Online accounting facility, which includes checking current balance, making deposits and overdrafts, checking interest charges, shares, and trustee records. ATM machines are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.

Administration: Computers play an important role in both private and government services. It helps in planning budget, weather forecasting, tax department, voting, law enforcement, etc.

Defence: Computers are largely used in defence like modern tanks, missiles, weapons, etc. Military also employs computerized control systems. Some military areas where a computer has been used are Missile Control, Military Communication, Military Operation and Planning, Smart Weapons, etc.

E-commerce: Electronic commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the internet. Total e-commerce is dependent on computers.

Entertainment: Computers can be used as a source of entertainment since they can be used to watching movies, listening music and playing games, etc.

Some other applications of computers are word processing, digital video or audio composition, desktop publishing, social networking, telecommunications, news, weather analysis, animation, online marketing, robotics, plagiarism, etc.

In 1982, Time Magazine awarded its annual Man of the Year to the Personal Computer, The first non-human to receive the honor, the magazine described the choice as 1982's greatest influence for good or evil.

The first personal computer was the Kenbak-1 (developed by John Blankenbaker), launched in 1971.

The first laptop or portable computer is theIBM 5100. It is the first portable computer, which was released on September 1975. The computer weighed 55 pounds and had a five inch CRT display, tape drive, 1.9MHz PALM processor, and 64KB of RAM.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

The word Computer comes from the word compute, which means______.

to assume

to input

to combine

to calculate

to add

Computer is a/an

monitoring device

input device

electronic device

battery

None of these

______ is the father of computer.

Ada Byron

Charles Babbage

Blaise Pascal

Herman Hollerith

None of these

IBM stands for

Integrated Business Machine

International Business Machine

Internal Business Machine

Indian Business Machine

None of these

Who is the chief of Microsoft

Babbage

Bill Gates

Bill Clinton

Bush

None of these

IBM was provided software for PCs by______.

Microsoft

Apple

NASA

All of these

None of these

The first microprocessor was developed in 1971 by______.

Apple

NASA

Intel

All of these

None of these

A Personal Computer is a______.

Mainframe Computer

Supercomputer

Mini Computer

Micro Computer

None of these

First Mechanical calculator

Abacus

Napier's Bones

Pascaline

Stepped Reckoner

None of these

______ is the revolving around the use of nano structures to build devices on an extremely small scale. [IBPS Clerk 2017]

Nanotechnology

Micro-technology

Computer forensics

Artificial Intelligence

Very small scale technology

What does LSI stand for? [IBPS Clerk 2016]

Large Scale Integration

Large Scale Integrity

Low Scale Integration

Larger Scale Interior

Largest Symbol Integration

Which of the following is used for manufacturing computer chips? [IBPS Clerk 2016]

Control bus

Semiconductor

Control unit

Parity unit

Interpreter

A computer is a/an______device. [SBI Clerk 2007; Allahabad Bank 2010]

calculating

electronic

electrical

All of these

None of these

An electronic device, operating under the control of instructions that can accept and process the data, produce output and store the results for future use. [SBI Clerk 2011]

Input

Computer

Software

Hardware

None of these

Input, output and processing devices grouped together present a(n). [SBI Clerk 2009]

mobile device

information processing system

circuit board

computer system

None of the above

A computer consists of [Allahabad Bank Clerk 2009]

a central processing unit

a memory

input and output units

All of the above

None of the above

_______is processed by the computer into information. [SBI Clerk 2011]

Numbers

Processor

Input

Data

None of these

Computer is a device which processes or transforms data into useful [SBI Clerk 2009]

program

information

input

instruction

None of these

Processed data is retrieved from computer with the help of a______ device.

output

input

CPU

RAM

Software

Information on a computer is stored as [Allahabad Bank Clerk 2009]

analog data

digital data

modem data

hybrid data

None of these

The smallest unit of information. a computer can understand and process is known as [SSC CHSL 2010]

digit

byte

megabyte

bit

Any component of computer you can see and touch is [SBI Clerk 2012]

software

peripheral

storage

CPU

hardware

A computer system includes [SBI Clerk 2008; Allahabad Bank 2011]

hardware

software

peripheral devices

All of these

None of these

Information that comes from external source and fed into computer software is called [IBPS Clerk 2011]

output

input

throughout

reports

None of these

Which one of the following is/are a characteristic(s) or a function(s) of computer?

Data collection

Data processing

Data storage

Data output

All of these

What do you mean by Jacquard loom? [SBI PO 2011]

A bird found in Japan

A weaving machine used punched cards

The first computer controlled loom

A machine for writing match tables

None of the above

The process of textiles was simplified by

Joseph Jacquard

Pascal

Heney Jobs

Charles Babbage

Ada Byron

______ was the first computer programmer in the history of computer.

Ian Morre

Cristopher Kyana

Joseph Jade

Lisa Babage

Ada Byron

Which was the computer conceived by Babbage? [SBI Clerk 2011]

Analytical engine

Arithmetic machine

Donald knuth

All of the above

None of the above

______ is the father of punched card.

Herman Hollerith

Joanthan Iva

Charles Babbage

Blaise Pascal

None of these

The first electro-mechanical computer MARK-1 invented by______.

Charles Pascal

John W Mauchly

Howard Aiken

Clifford Berry

Steve Wozniak

What was the first fully electronic computer in the world?

ENIAC

EDSAC

EDVAC

UNIVAC

Z1

Which of the following is the full-form of ENIAC?

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer

Electrical Numerical Integer and Calculator

Electrical Numerical Integer and Computation

Efficient Numerical Integrator and Computer

Electronic Numbers Integer and Calculator

UNIVAC stands for:

Universal Automatic Computer

Universal Adding Calculator

Universal Assumable Calculator

Unique Numerical Integrator & Computer

None of the above

Which of the following devices is used in the first generation computer? [SBI Clerk 2012]

Integrated circuit

Processor

Microprocessor

Vacuum tube

None of these

The first generation computers could do [Allahabad Bank 2010]

multi-tasking

networking

batch processing

multi-tabulation

None of these

Computers built before the first generation of computers were [SBI PO 2011]

mechanical

electro-mechanical

electrical

All of these

None of these

The first computer was programmed using [SBI Clerk 2007]

Assembly language

Machine language

Source code

Object code

ASCII code

Who has made transistors? [SBI Clerk 2008]

John William

Walter Hang

John Miton

John Bardeen

None of these

In second generation, which type of memory was used to store data? [IBPS RRB 2011]

Paper tapes

Magnetic drum

Magnetic core

Magnetic tape

Magnetic disk

The IC chip used in computer, is generally made up of which among the following?

Silver

Gold

Chromite

Silicon

Iron

In which generation did multi-programming start? [SBI Clerk 2010]

First generation

Second generation

Third generation

Fourth generation

None of these

CPU is the______of computer.

Brain

Eye

Ear

All above these

None of these

The earlier computers, which were massive in size, were based on ______.

Microprocessor

P4 processor

Core 2 Duo

Vacuum tubes

None of these

The printers in pre-1950s were______.

Inkjet printer

Punch cards

Laser printer

Dot matrix

None of these

Name the first general purpose electronic computer.

EDVAC

ADVAC

Mac

IBM-PC

UNIVAC

______ is used in first generation computer.

Integrated circuit

Microprocessor

Vacuum tubes

Transistors

None of these

______ is used in second generation computer.

Integrated circuit

Microprocessor

Vacuum tubes

Transistors

None of these

______ is used in third generation computer.

Integrated circuit

Microprocessor

Vacuum tubes

Transistors

None of these

______ is used in fourth generation computer.

Integrated circuit

Microprocessor

Vacuum tubes

Transistors

None of these

IBM-PC is an example of

First generation computer

Second generation computer

Third generation computer

Fourth generation computer

None of these

These are the specially designed computer chips reside inside other drives, such as your car or your electronic thermostat.

Server

Workstation computer

Embedded computer

Mainframe computer

None of these

Which of the following is not one of the four major data processing functions of a computer?

gathering data

processing data into information

analyzing the data or information

storing the data or information

None of these

The name for the way that computers manipulate data into information is called:

programming

storing

organizing

processing

None of these

IC stands for

Integrated circuit

Integrated computer

Internal computer

Internal circuit

None of these

Pascaline was invented by______.

Charles Babbage

Blaise Pascal

Ada Byron

Herman Hollerith

None of these

Tabulating Machine was invented by______.

Charles Babbage

Blaise Pascal

Ada Byron

Herman Hollerith

None of these

Analytical Engine was invented by______.

Charles Babbage

Blaise Pascal

Ada Byron

Herman Hollerith

None of these

Vacuum tubes are smaller than

Integrated circuit

Transistor

Microprocessor

All of these

None of these

Large Scale Integration of chips was introduced in generation of computers. [SBI Clerk 2011]

first

second

third

fourth

None of these

This type of computer(s) is/are the least powerful, yet the most widely used and fastest-growing computer. [IBPS RRB Clerk 2012]

Mainframe computers

Super computers

Micro computers

All of these

None of these

Processing capacity of micro computer is ______ per second. [BOB Clerk 2009]

one lac

two lac

four lac

five lac

None of these

A desktop computer is also known as [Union Bank Clerk 2010]

palmtop

P C

laptop

mainframe

None of these

Computers that are portable and convenient for users who travel, are known as [PNB Clerk 2010]

super computer

laptop

minicomputer

file servers

None of these

Portable computer also known as laptop computer weighing between 4 and 10 pounds is called [IBPS PO 2011]

general-purpose application

internet

scanner

printer

notebook computer

Which of the following is the smallest computer? [SBI Clerk 2011]

Notebook

Laptop

Desktop

Workstation

None of these

A computer (also referred to as a laptop), is a small, lightweight personal computer that incorporates the screen, the keyboard, storage and processing components into a single portable unit. [SBI PO 2010]

notebook

journal

diary

briefcase

None of these

Which of the following can be considered as portable computer? [SBI Clerk 2012]

Mini computer

Mainframe computer

Desktop

Workstation

PDA

A personal computer design to meet the computing needs of a(n) [SBI Assoociates Clerk 2011]

individual

department

company

city

None of these

Multi-user systems provided cost savings for small business because they use a single processing unit to link several is called _____. [PNB Assistant 2010]

personal computers

workstations

dumb terminals

mainframe

laptop

A single bus structure is primarily found in [SBI Assistant 2010]

mainframes

super computers

high performance machines

mini and micro computers

None of the above

A is a large and expensive computer, capable of simultaneously processing data for hundreds or thousands of users. [SBI Associates Clerk 2011]

handheld computer

personal computer

mainframe computer

tablet computer

None of these

______ processing is used in mainframe computer. [LIC Assistant 2009]

Batch

Parallel

Serial

Toggle

______ are specially designed computers that perform complex calculations extremely rapidly. [PNB Clerk 2010]

Servers

Super computers

Laptops

Mainframes

None of the above

Which of the following is the most powerful type of computer? [IBPS RRB Assistant 2011]

Super micro computer

Super conductor

Micro computer

Super computer

Mega frame

Number crunchier is the informal name for [IBPS Clerk 2012]

mini computer

super computer

micro computer

mainframe computer

None of these

A computer falls into the______category if it is, at the time of construction, one of the fastest computers in the world. [Allahabad Bank Clerk 2010]

mini computer

super computer

micro computer

mainframe

None of these

______ developed a SAGA-220 super computer in 2011.

ISRO

NASA

C-DAC

BARC

None of these

Which of the following is the fastest type of computer? [IBPS Clerk 2011]

Laptop

Notebook

Personal computer

Workstation

Super computer

The first super computer was installed at Los Alamos National Laboratory of USA and was introduced in 1976. What was its name? [SBI Clerk 2009]

Altair

Cray-1

Z1

Tital-1

None of these

PARAM is an example of [LIC 2009]

super computer

laptop

PC

PDA

To access a mainframe or super computer, users often use a [SBI Clerk 2008]

terminal

desktop

node

handheld

None of these

In______computers, computation is carried out with physical quantities such as voltage, length, current, temperature, etc. [PNB Assistant 2012]

digital

analog

hybrid

micro computer

mainframe computer

Digital computers use a______system to encode data and programs. [Allahabad Bank Clerk 2010]

semiconductor

decimal

binary

RAM

ROM

What is the main barrier to the development of a quantum computers? [SBI PO 2011]

Picking the colour of the casing

The difficulty of producing precision lasers

The prohibitively large amount of power required to start a quantum computer

The problem of decoherence

None of the above

Modern computers compared to earlier computers are [PNB Assistant 2009]

faster and larger

less reliable

larger and stronger

slower but more reliable

faster and smaller

The benefit of using computers is that [IBPS Clerk 2011]

computers are very fast arid can store huge amounts of data

computers provide accurate output even when input is incorrect

computers are designed to be inflexible

All of the above

None of the above

The speed of computer is usually measured in [IBPS Clerk 2011]

MHz

GHz

KHz

Both

and (b)

None of these

Which characteristic of computer distinguishes it from electronic calculators? [Allahabad Bank PO 2011]

Accuracy

Storage

Versatility

Automatic

None of these

Which of the following is not a characteristic of a computer? [PNB Assistant 2010]

Intelligence

Speed

Versatility

Automation

None of the above

Which one of the following statement about computer is not true? [SBI Clerk 2012]

Computers have no intuition

Computers cannot take decision by its own

Computers have no ability to adopt

Computers can have imaginations

Computers does not have emotions

ANSWERS

1. (d)

2. (c)

3. (b)

4. (b)

5. (b)

6. (a)

7. (c)

8. (d)

9. (a)

10. (a)

11. (a)

12. (b)

13. (b)

14. (b)

15. (d)

16. (d)

17. (d)

18. (b)

19. (a)

20. (b)

21. (d)

22. (e)

23. (d)

24. (b)

25. (e)

26. (b)

27. (a)

28. (e)

29. (a)

30. (a)

31. (c)

32. (a)

33. (a)

34. (a)

35. (d)

36. (c)

37. (b)

38. (b)

39. (d)

40. (c)

41. (d)

42. (c)

43. (a)

44. (d)

45. (b)

46. (e)

47. (c)

48. (d)

49. (a)

50. (b)

51. (d)

52. (c)

53. (c)

54. (d)

55. (a)

56. (b)

57. (d)

58. (a)

59. (e)

60. (d)

61. (c)

62. (a)

63. (b)

64. (b)

65. (e)

66. (a)

67.