UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

FACULTY OF LAW AND MANAGEMENT

FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS

DATE

CERTIFICATE IN MANAGEMENT (RODRIGUES)

WEDNESDAY
26 MAY 2004

SERIES

MODULE

TIME

MAY 2004

INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
[CSE 1010e]

15.30 17.30

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
TIME ALLOWED: 2 HOURS
NO. OF QUESTIONS SET:
SECTION A: 40
SECTION B: 20
SECTION C: 4
NO. OF QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED:
SECTION A: 40 (Compulsory)
SECTION B: 20 (Compulsory)
SECTION C: Answer any two (2) questions

Section A: Answer ALL questions

Multiple Choice Questions: Each question carries one (1) mark
(Total: 40 marks)
Section B: Answer ALL questions
Fill in the Blank Questions: Each question carries one (1) mark
(Total: 20 marks)
Section C: Answer any Two (2) questions
Structured Questions
Each question carries twenty (20) marks
ALL QUESTIONS ARE TO BE ANSWERED IN THE ANSWER BOOK PROVIDED.

SECTION A
Multiple Choice
1. The CPU is an example of
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

a software
an hardware
a program
an output

2. The raw material to be processed by a computer is

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

a program
software
data
information

3. Printers and screens are common forms of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

input units
storage units
output units
processing units

4. The main memory is also known as

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

a register
mass storage
secondary storage
primary storage

5. Memory capacity may be expressed in

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

MIPS
MHz
Megabytes
Cycles

6. A bus consists of
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

registers
data paths
transistors
machine cycles

7. The main circuit board in a PC is the

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

mother board
ram/bus board
ASCII board
masterboard

8. Which of the following is not part of the CPU?

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Control Unit
ALU
Processor
Main storage

9. Computers of the second generation made use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

vacuum tubes
Integrated Circuits
transistors
LSIs

10. To retrieve information from a database, users type instructions in

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Fortran
mnemonics
assembly
query languages

11. Von Neumann revolutionized computing when he conceived

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

the micro chip

the stored-program concept
the OS
the Internet

12. An ink-jet printer is an example of a(n)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

laser printer
impact printer
a scanner
non-impact printer

13. A screen that is lighter than a CRT is a(n)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

OCR
terminal
LCD
monitor
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14. Resolution of a screen is measured by

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

dots per inch

pixel density
megahertz
megabytes

15. To communicate with a computer, physically challenged people make use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

voice-output devices
scanners
digitisers
touchscreens

16. A magnetic tape is an example of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

primary storage
random access storage
sequential access storage
direct acces storage

17. Data can be retrievd from a CD-ROM by using a

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

mechanical disk
laser beam
mechanical arm
spindle

18. We have a syntax error when

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

the rules of a programming language are violated

a program is not compiled
there is an incorrect calculation
data are wrongly entered

19. A translator that converts the entire program into binary code before executing it
is
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Pascal
a compiler
an interpreter
a query language

20. The first step in programming is

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

coding
program specification
testing
maintenance

21. To repeat a process as long as a condition remains true, a programmer makes use
of
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

selection
a loop
a sequence
a procedural language

22. Loading the OS into a PC is called

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

booting
prompting
pipelining
paging

23. The technique that avoids the mixing of printouts from several programs is
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

paging
time-slicing
spooling
queuing

24. To run a program which is larger than RAM we have recourse to

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

buffering
double buffering
multiprocessing
virtual memory

25. A PC can run two or more programs simultaneously by making use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

multiprocessing
multiprogramming
UNIX
buffering

26. A record of office expenditures is best maintained by making use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

word processing
spreadsheet
DBMS
presentation software

27. Employee details are best maintained by making use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Word Processing package

spreadsheet software
database software
presentation graphics

28. Software that is written especially for the specific needs of an organization is
called
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

freeware
shareware
special purpose software
public domain software

29. An example of tangible benefit is

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

faster information retrieval

reduced expenditures
more timely reports
less errors

30. An example of intangible cost is

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

purchase of printers
buying of new software
apprehension of using new system
programmers salaries

31. To analyse a system, an analyst uses a(n)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

systems flowchart
DFD
entity
questionnaire

32. A new system can be tested by

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

training the users

running it in parallel with the old system
testing the programs
interviewing the users
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33. Transmission permitting data to move in both directions but only one way at a
time is called
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

half-duplex
full-duplex
simplex
half simplex

34. For the transmission of data, SAFE makes use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

satellites
microwave
twisted pair
fibre optics

35. When two or more computers are connected to a central hub computer we have a
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

hierarchy network
star network
ring network
bus network

36. A network of computers spanning Rodrigues island would be a

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

LAN
WAN
bus
NAN

37. A Web sites initial page is called a(n)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

home page
web page
entry page
primary page

38. The software needed to surf on the Internet is called a(n)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

ISP
URL
http
browser

39. To construct a web page we make use of

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

HTML
Netscape
Hyperlinks
Search engines
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40. The first part of a URL is the

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Protocol
Location
Domain
server

SECTION B
Fill-in-the-blanks
1. For data to be processed it must be placed in the ______________________.
2. Medium sized computers are also known as ___________________________.
3. A CPU found one chip is known as a __________________.
4. MIPS stands for ___________________________.
5. Hard disk capacity is expressed in ________________.
6. Third generation computers were a ______________ times faster than first generation
computers.
7. LCD stands for ___________________________________ .
8. A(n) ________________ printer uses a mechanical head of retracting pins to print
characters.
9. If a read/write head touches a hard disk surface, this is called a _________________.
10. Data are read on ___________ disks by means of a laser beam.
11. The technique that lets two or more programs execute concurrently is
__________________.
12. A technique for speeding up data transfer between memory and a slow peripheral is
_______________.
13. The intersection of a row and column on a spreadsheet is called a(n) __________.
14. The kind of analysis that lets a user change spreadsheet values and then observe the
resulting effect is called ________________.
15. The data analysis tool that shows a system in a lot of details is the
__________________.
16. The device that converts a digital signal to an electrical signal and vice versa is a(n)
________________.
17. A(n) ____________ network links all computers together in a circular chain.
18. To access the Internet we need to have an account with a(n) ________________.
19. Doing on-line shopping on the Internet is known as _______________.
20. The area of IT which deals with health related issue`s is known as ____________.
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SECTION C
Open-Ended

Answer any two(2) of the following:

Question 1
(a)

What do you understand by the term configuration? What is the minimum

configuration needed to make use of Microsoft Office?
(1 + 2 marks)

(b)

Illustrate by means of a sketch the computation process inside a computer.

(4 marks)

(c)

What does CMOS stand for? Briefly explain its importance.

(4 marks)

(d)

List three examples of extension cards and state what they do.
(3 marks)

(e)

Describe briefly the functions of the following:

(i) a port
(ii) cache
(iii) system clock
(6 marks)

Question 2
(a)

What are the three logical structures used in programming?

(b)

What are the methods available for debugging a program?

(6 marks)

(4 marks)
(c)

What are the inputs needed (in a program) to calculate the electricity bill of a
consumer?
(2 marks)

(d)

By making use of a flowchart, show the processes involved for producing the
electricity bill.
(8 marks)

10

Question 3
(a)

Indicate by means of a flowchart the different phases of the systems development

cycle.
(5 marks)

(b)

Describe briefly the different techniques available for gathering information

during systems analysis.
(8 marks)

(c)

What is the purpose of a context diagram?

(d)

By making reference to a suitable system, show the different symbols used in a

context diagram.
(5 marks)

(2 marks)

Question 4
(a)

Illustrate by means of diagrams the different types of networks that exist.

(8 marks)

(b)

What is a meta-search engine?

(2 marks)

(c)

How would you distinguish the World Wide Web from the Internet?
(4 marks)

(d)

What is a computer virus? What are the different types of viruses and how can
we deal with them?
(6 marks)

- END OF QUESTION PAPER -

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