SAMPLE QUESTIONS

True/False questions test your absolute knowledge of specific topics. A particular statement is either True or it isn't. If you know the chapter material, the answer is obvious. A sample question might be "A byte consists of 16 bits". This question is obviously False since a byte consists of only 8 bits. 

On the other hand, Multiple Choice questions require you to select the correct answer from a number of alternatives. Some of the answers may be relevant to the topic while others may be totally irrelevant. Someone who did not study and is just trying to "guess" isn't likely to do well on this section. Those who studied should do fine. For example:

         The federal law that makes it illegal to gain unauthorized access to computers and databases is the

1. Electronic Communications and Privacy Act

2. The Privacy Act

3. The Computer Matching and Privacy Act

4. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

If you do not understand the basic rationale behind each of these pieces of legislation, you are less likely to select the correct answer (which is #4).

Terminology 1 questions are a bit easier because you are given two possible choices to select from. The goal of these questions is to see if you have a grasp of the general concept rather than the memorization of specific "buzz phrases". You will know the answer when you see it. An example of this type of question would appear as follows: A person who breaks into a computer systems with the intent to commit malicious activities is correctly known as a (cracker / hacker / phreaker). If you remember the keywords we talked about in class, you should immediately be able to select "cracker".

Terminology 2 questions require you to fill-in-the-blanks by entering the missing word or words. Some of these questions will pertain to concepts while others may ask you what a particular acronym stands for. For example, many of the people you work with have probably heard of CPUs. But do they (or you) know what it means? The correct answer is "Central Processing Unit".

The List/Characteristic questions require some memorization of specific characteristics. For example, we discussed how computers are typically categorized based upon their size and other characteristics. List the 4 major categories of computers. The correct response would be microcomputers, minicomputers, mainframes, and supercomputers. We also talked about the 6 characteristics of a computer system. That would be another example of a List/Characteristic question.