TEST BANK
Michael J. Quinn
23 January 2012
, Multiple-choice Questions
For each of the following questions, choose the letter of the one best response.
Chapter 1
1. The two principal catalysts for the Information Age have been
a) books and pamphlets.
b) computers and communication networks.
c) movie theaters and public parks.
d) newspapers and magazines.
e) radio and television.
2. Which statement best supports the conclusion that society can control whether to adopt a new
technology?
a) No new nuclear power plants were built in the United States for 25 years after the
accident at Three Mile Island.
b) About half of all email messages are spam.
c) Despite decades of research, fusion power is an elusive goal.
d) People do not have to listen to Rush Limbaugh if they do not want to.
e) Some new technologies are simply too expensive to even consider adopting.
3. Tablets, abacuses, and manual tables
a) are no longer used, because of the proliferation of calculators and computers.
b) are examples of aids to manual calculating.
c) were developed in Western Europe in the late Middle Ages.
d) replaced Hindu-Arabic numerals as the preferred way to do calculations.
e) All of the above.
4. The mechanical adding machines of Pascal and Leibniz were not widely adopted because
a) they were too expensive.
b) there were unreliable.
c) they were too difficult to program.
d) they could not handle fractions.
e) bookkeepers successfully lobbied the King, and he made the machines illegal.
5. The calculating machine of Georg and Edvard Sheutz
a) computed the values of polynomial functions.
b) typeset the results of its computations.
c) performed calculations faster than they could be done manually.
d) performed calculations more reliably than they could be done manually.
e) All of the above.
6. Which of the following phrases does not describe the Gilded Age in America?
a) rapid industrialization
b) economic expansion
c) widespread electrification
d) concentration of corporate power
e) corporate mergers
2
,7. Which of the following was not a result of the adoption of mechanical calculators?
a) Less demand for “superstars” who could rapidly compute sums by hand
b) Higher productivity of bookkeepers
c) Higher salaries of bookkeepers
d) Proliferation of companies making calculators
e) Feminization of bookkeeping
8. Which of the following was not a feature of cash registers in the early 1900s?
a) Ability to compute total of purchases
b) Ability to print itemized receipts for customers
c) Ability to print log of transactions for owners
d) Ability to compute amount of change to give customer
e) Ability to ring a bell every time cash drawer is opened
9. Punched card tabulation was invented by Herman Hollerith, an employee of
a) the Pennsylvania Railroad.
b) the Census Bureau.
c) the Pennsylvania Steel Company.
d) the Burroughs Adding Machine Company.
e) IBM.
10. Which of the following phrases best describes a system that inputs data, performs one or more
calculations, and produces output data?
a) manual calculator
b) digital computer
c) data-processing system
d) difference engine
e) cash register
11. The first commercial electronic digital computers were produced just after
a) the Spanish-American War.
b) World War I.
c) World War II.
d) the Korean War.
e) the Vietnam War.
12. Programming languages were developed in order to
a) make it possible to program computers in English.
b) make programming faster and less error-prone.
c) speed translations between English and Russian during the Cold War.
d) improve the computation speed of computers, which were very expensive.
e) All of the above.
13. Which of the following was not an early programming language?
a) BASIC
b) COBOL
c) DATA-FLOW
d) FLOW-MATIC
e) FORTRAN
3
, 14. Software that allows multiple users to edit and run their programs simultaneously on the same
computer is called
a) a data-processing system.
b) an intranet.
c) a microprocessor.
d) a programming language.
e) a time-sharing system..
15. A semiconductor device containing transistors, capacitors, and resistors is called
a) a computer.
b) a diode.
c) an integrated circuit.
d) a radio.
e) a transformer.
16. Which Cold War program played an important role in advancing integrated circuit technology?
a) B-52 bomber
b) Hydrogen bomb
c) Mark 37 torpedo
d) Minuteman II ballistic missile
e) NORAD radar network
17. Which company produced the System/360, a family of 19 compatible mainframe computers?
a) Fujitsu
b) Hewlett-Packard
c) IBM
d) Intel
e) Texas Instruments
18. The company that invented the microprocessor is
a) Fujitsu
b) Hewlett-Packard
c) IBM
d) Intel
e) Texas Instruments
19. Which of the following was not an activity of the People’s Computer Company, a not-for-profit
corporation in the San Francisco area?
a) Publishing a newspaper containing the source code to programs
b) Allowing people to rent time on a time-shared computer
c) Hosting Friday-evening game-playing sessions
d) Promoting a culture in which computer enthusiasts freely shared software
e) Developing the world’s first graphical user interface
20. Who wrote “An Open Letter to Hobbyists,” complaining about software theft?
a) Stewart Brand
b) Bob Frankston
c) Bill Gates
d) Steve Jobs
e) Steve Wozniak
21. A key application that first made personal computers more attractive to business was
a) the spreadsheet program.
b) the World Wide Web.
c) desktop publishing.
d) video editing.
e) email.
4
Michael J. Quinn
23 January 2012
, Multiple-choice Questions
For each of the following questions, choose the letter of the one best response.
Chapter 1
1. The two principal catalysts for the Information Age have been
a) books and pamphlets.
b) computers and communication networks.
c) movie theaters and public parks.
d) newspapers and magazines.
e) radio and television.
2. Which statement best supports the conclusion that society can control whether to adopt a new
technology?
a) No new nuclear power plants were built in the United States for 25 years after the
accident at Three Mile Island.
b) About half of all email messages are spam.
c) Despite decades of research, fusion power is an elusive goal.
d) People do not have to listen to Rush Limbaugh if they do not want to.
e) Some new technologies are simply too expensive to even consider adopting.
3. Tablets, abacuses, and manual tables
a) are no longer used, because of the proliferation of calculators and computers.
b) are examples of aids to manual calculating.
c) were developed in Western Europe in the late Middle Ages.
d) replaced Hindu-Arabic numerals as the preferred way to do calculations.
e) All of the above.
4. The mechanical adding machines of Pascal and Leibniz were not widely adopted because
a) they were too expensive.
b) there were unreliable.
c) they were too difficult to program.
d) they could not handle fractions.
e) bookkeepers successfully lobbied the King, and he made the machines illegal.
5. The calculating machine of Georg and Edvard Sheutz
a) computed the values of polynomial functions.
b) typeset the results of its computations.
c) performed calculations faster than they could be done manually.
d) performed calculations more reliably than they could be done manually.
e) All of the above.
6. Which of the following phrases does not describe the Gilded Age in America?
a) rapid industrialization
b) economic expansion
c) widespread electrification
d) concentration of corporate power
e) corporate mergers
2
,7. Which of the following was not a result of the adoption of mechanical calculators?
a) Less demand for “superstars” who could rapidly compute sums by hand
b) Higher productivity of bookkeepers
c) Higher salaries of bookkeepers
d) Proliferation of companies making calculators
e) Feminization of bookkeeping
8. Which of the following was not a feature of cash registers in the early 1900s?
a) Ability to compute total of purchases
b) Ability to print itemized receipts for customers
c) Ability to print log of transactions for owners
d) Ability to compute amount of change to give customer
e) Ability to ring a bell every time cash drawer is opened
9. Punched card tabulation was invented by Herman Hollerith, an employee of
a) the Pennsylvania Railroad.
b) the Census Bureau.
c) the Pennsylvania Steel Company.
d) the Burroughs Adding Machine Company.
e) IBM.
10. Which of the following phrases best describes a system that inputs data, performs one or more
calculations, and produces output data?
a) manual calculator
b) digital computer
c) data-processing system
d) difference engine
e) cash register
11. The first commercial electronic digital computers were produced just after
a) the Spanish-American War.
b) World War I.
c) World War II.
d) the Korean War.
e) the Vietnam War.
12. Programming languages were developed in order to
a) make it possible to program computers in English.
b) make programming faster and less error-prone.
c) speed translations between English and Russian during the Cold War.
d) improve the computation speed of computers, which were very expensive.
e) All of the above.
13. Which of the following was not an early programming language?
a) BASIC
b) COBOL
c) DATA-FLOW
d) FLOW-MATIC
e) FORTRAN
3
, 14. Software that allows multiple users to edit and run their programs simultaneously on the same
computer is called
a) a data-processing system.
b) an intranet.
c) a microprocessor.
d) a programming language.
e) a time-sharing system..
15. A semiconductor device containing transistors, capacitors, and resistors is called
a) a computer.
b) a diode.
c) an integrated circuit.
d) a radio.
e) a transformer.
16. Which Cold War program played an important role in advancing integrated circuit technology?
a) B-52 bomber
b) Hydrogen bomb
c) Mark 37 torpedo
d) Minuteman II ballistic missile
e) NORAD radar network
17. Which company produced the System/360, a family of 19 compatible mainframe computers?
a) Fujitsu
b) Hewlett-Packard
c) IBM
d) Intel
e) Texas Instruments
18. The company that invented the microprocessor is
a) Fujitsu
b) Hewlett-Packard
c) IBM
d) Intel
e) Texas Instruments
19. Which of the following was not an activity of the People’s Computer Company, a not-for-profit
corporation in the San Francisco area?
a) Publishing a newspaper containing the source code to programs
b) Allowing people to rent time on a time-shared computer
c) Hosting Friday-evening game-playing sessions
d) Promoting a culture in which computer enthusiasts freely shared software
e) Developing the world’s first graphical user interface
20. Who wrote “An Open Letter to Hobbyists,” complaining about software theft?
a) Stewart Brand
b) Bob Frankston
c) Bill Gates
d) Steve Jobs
e) Steve Wozniak
21. A key application that first made personal computers more attractive to business was
a) the spreadsheet program.
b) the World Wide Web.
c) desktop publishing.
d) video editing.
e) email.
4
