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Multiple Choice Questions: 1. The general role of an operating system is to: a.

ID: 3537954 • Letter: M

Question

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. The general role of an operating system is to:

a. Act as an interface between various computers

b. Provide a set of services to system users

c. Manage files for application programs

d. None of the above

2. The four main structural elements of a computer system are:

a. Processor, Registers, I/O Modules & Main Memory

b. Processor, Registers, Main Memory & System Bus

c. Processor, Main Memory, I/O Modules & System Bus

d. None of the above

3. The two basic types of processor registers are:

a. User-visible and Control/Status registers

b. Control and Status registers

c. User-visible and user-invisible registers

d. None of the above

4. Address registers may contain:

a. Memory addresses of data

b. Memory addresses of instructions

c. Partial memory addresses

d. All of the above

5. A Control/Status register that contains the address of the next instruction to be

fetched is called the:

a. Instruction Register (IR)

b. Program Counter (PC)

c. Program Status Word (PSW)

d. All of the above

6. The two basic steps used by the processor in instruction processing are:

a. Fetch and Instruction cycles

b. Instruction and Execute cycles

c. Fetch and Execute cycles

d. None of the above

7. A fetched instruction is normally loaded into the:

a. Instruction Register (IR)

b. Program Counter (PC)

c. Accumulator (AC)

d. None of the above

8. A common class of interrupts is:

a. Program

b. Timer

c. I/O

d. All of the above

9. When an external device becomes ready to be serviced by the processor, the

device sends this type of signal to the processor:

a. Interrupt signal

b. Halt signal

c. Handler signal

d. None of the above

10. Information that must be saved prior to the processor transferring control to the

interrupt handler routine includes:

a. Processor Status Word (PSW)

b. Processor Status Word (PSW) & Location of next instruction

c. Processor Status Word (PSW) & Contents of processor registers

d. None of the above

11. One accepted method of dealing with multiple interrupts is to:

a. Define priorities for the interrupts

b. Disable all interrupts except those of highest priority

c. Service them in round-robin fashion

d. None of the above

12. In a uniprocessor system, multiprogramming increases processor efficiency by:

a. Increasing processor speed

b. Taking advantage of time wasted by long wait interrupt handling

c. Eliminating all idle processor cycles

d. All of the above

13. As one proceeds down the memory hierarchy (i.e., from inboard memory to

offline storage), the following condition(s) apply:

a. Increasing cost per bit

b. Decreasing capacity

c. Increasing access time

d. All of the above

14. Small, fast memory located between the processor and main memory is called:

a. WORM memory

b. Cache memory

c. CD-RW memory

d. None of the above

15. When a new block of data is written into cache memory, the following determines

which cache location the block will occupy:

a. Block size

b. Cache size

c. Write policy

d. None of the above

16. Direct Memory Access (DMA) operations require the following information from

the processor:

a. Address of I/O device

b. Starting memory location to read from or write to

c. Number of words to be read or written

d. All of the above

17. A primary objective of an operating system is:

a. Convenience

b. Efficiency

c. Ability to evolve

d. All of the above

18. The operating system provides many types of services to end-users,

programmers and system designers, including:

a. Built-in user applications

b. Error detection and response

c. Relational database capabilities with the internal file system

d. All of the above

19. The operating system is unusual in it%u2019s role as a control mechanism, in that:

a. It runs on a special processor, completely separated from the rest of the

system

b. It frequently relinquishes control of the system processor and must

depend on the processor to regain control of the system

c. It never relinquishes control of the system processor

d. None of the above

20. Operating systems must evolve over time because:

a. Hardware must be replaced when it fails

b. Users will only purchase software that has a current copyright date

c. New hardware is designed and implemented in the computer system

d. All of the above

21. A major problem with early serial processing systems was:

a. Setup time

b. Lack of input devices

c. Inability to get hardcopy output

d. All of the above

22. An example of a hardware feature that is desirable in a batch-processing system

is:

a. Privileged instructions

b. A completely accessible memory area

c. Large clock cycles

d. None of the above

23. A computer hardware feature that is vital to the effective operation of a

multiprogramming operating system is:

a. Very large memory

b. Multiple processors

c. I/O interrupts and DMA

d. All of the above

24. The principle objective of a time sharing, multiprogramming system is to:

a. Maximize response time

b. Maximize processor use

c. Provide exclusive access to hardware

d. None of the above

25. Which of the following major line of computer system development created

problems in timing and synchronization that contributed to the development of

the concept of the process?

a. Multiprogramming batch operation systems

b. Time sharing systems

c. Real time transaction systems

d. All of the above

26. The paging system in a memory management system provides for dynamic

mapping between a virtual address used in a program and:

a. A virtual address in main memory

b. A real address in main memory

c. A real address in a program

d. None of the above

27. Relative to information protection and security in computer systems, access

control typically refers to:

a. Proving that security mechanisms perform according to specification

b. The flow of data within the system

c. Regulating user and process access to various aspects of the system

d. None of the above

28. A common problem with full-featured operating systems, due to their size and

difficulty of the tasks they address, is:

a. Chronically late in delivery

b. Latent bugs that show up in the field

c. Sub-par performance

d. All of the above

29. A technique in which a process, executing an application, is divided into threads

that can run concurrently is called:

a. Multithreading

b. Multiprocessing

c. Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)

d. None of the above

30. WIN2K supports several types of user applications, including:

a. WIN32

b. Linux

c. System 10

d. None of the above

31. Key to the success of Linux has been it%u2019s character as a free software package

available under the auspices of the:

a. World Wide Web Consortium

b. Free Software Foundation

c. Berkeley Software Distribution

d. None of the above

32. The behavior of a processor can be characterized by examining:

a. A single process trace

b. Multiple process traces

c. The interleaving of the process traces

d. All of the above

33. The behavior of an individual process can be characterized by examining:

a. A single process trace

b. Multiple process traces

c. The interleaving of the process traces

d. All of the above

34. The basic Two-State Process Model defines two possible states for a process in

relationship to the processor:

a. Running and Executing

b. Running and Not Running

c. Executing and Waiting

d. None of the above

35. There are a number of conditions that can lead to process termination, including:

a. Normal completion

b. Bounds violation

c. Parent termination

d. All of the above

36. In the Five-State Process Model, the following represents a valid state transition:

a. Running -> Blocked

b. New -> Running

c. New -> Blocked

d. All of the above

37. In a Process Model that implements two suspend states, a valid state transition is

represented by:

a. Ready/Suspend -> Ready

b. Running -> Ready/Suspend

c. Ready -> Ready/Suspend

d. All of the above

38. The scheduling strategy where each process in the queue is given a certain

amount of time, in turn, to execute and then returned to the queue, unless

blocked is referred to as:

a. Prioritization

b. Round-Robin

c. LIFO

d. All of the above

39. A Memory Table is an O/S control structure that is used by the O/S to:

a. Manage I/O devices

b. Manage processes

c. Provide information about system files

d. None of the above

40. The Process Image element that contains the collection of attributes needed by

the O/S to control a particular process is called the:

a. User Data

b. System Stack

c. Process Control Block

d. None of the above

41. The Process Image element that contains the modifiable part of the user space is

called the:

a. User Program

b. System Stack

c. Process Control Block

d. None of the above

42. The processor execution mode that user programs typically execute in is referred

to as:

a. User mode

b. System mode

c. Kernel mode

d. None of the above

43. One step in the procedure for creating a new process involves:

a. Initializing the process control block

b. Allocating space for the process

c. Assigning a unique identifier

d. All of the above

44. A process switch may occur when the system encounters an interrupt condition,

such as that generated by a:

a. Memory fault

b. Supervisor call

c. Trap

d. All of the above

45. In the Process Based O/S:

a. Major kernel functions are organized as separate functions

b. The User Process Image includes a kernel stack

c. O/S code and data are contained in the shared address space

d. None of the above

46. In a typical UNIX system, the element of the process image that contains the

processor status information is the:

a. System-level context.

b. Register context

c. User-level context

d. All of the above

Explanation / Answer

Ans-1) b. Provide a set of services to system users

Ans-2)c. Processor, Main Memory, I/O Modules & System Bus

Ans-3)a. User-visible and Control/Status registers

Ans-4)d. All of the above

Ans-5)b. Program Counter (PC)

Ans-6)c. Fetch and Execute cycles

Ans-7)a. Instruction Register (IR)

Ans-8)d. All of the above

Ans-9)a. Interrupt signal

Ans-10)b. Processor Status Word (PSW) & Location of next instruction

Ans-11)a. Define priorities for the interrupts

Ans-12)b. Taking advantage of time wasted by long wait interrupt handling

Ans-13)c. Increasing access time

Ans-14)b. Cache memory

Ans-15)d. None of the above(mapping function)

Ans-16)d. All of the above

Ans-17)d. All of the above

Ans-18)b. Error detection and response

Ans-19)b. It frequently relinquishes control of the system processor and must

depend on the processor to regain control of the system

Ans-20) c. New hardware is designed and implemented in the computer system

Ans-21)a. setup time
Ans-22)
a. Privileged instructions

Ans-23)c. I/O interrupts and DMA

Ans-24)d. None of the above

Ans-25)d. All of the above

Ans-26)b. A real address in main memory

Ans-27)c. Regulating user and process access to various aspects of the system

Ans-28)d. All of the above

Ans-29)a. Multithreading

Ans-30)a. WIN32

Ans-31)b. Free Software Foundation

Ans-32)a. A single process trace

Ans-33)a. A single process trace

Ans-34)b. Running and Not Running

Ans-35)d. All of the above

Ans-36)a. Running -> Blocked

Ans-37)d. All of the above

Ans-38)b. Round-Robin

Ans-39)d. None of the above(use to keep track of main "real" and secondary'virtual"memory)

Ans-40)c. Process Control Block

Ans-41)d. None of the above(user data)

Ans-42)a. User mode

Ans-43)d. All of the above

Ans-44)d. All of the above

Ans-45)a. Major kernel functions are organized as separate functions

Ans-46)b. Register context