chapter 1 - Basic concepts data representation

Question 1

Assembly language is described as:

A) High-level programming language
B) Hardware-independent language
C) Machine-specific language
D) Operating system language

Answer 1

C) Machine-specific language

Question 2

Why is assembly language studied? (*)

A) To avoid hardware interactions
B) For direct access to memory and hardware
C) To replace high-level languages
D) For web development

Answer 2

B) For direct access to memory and hardware

Question 3

A significant disadvantage of assembly language is: (*)

A) Lack of portability
B) High memory usage
C) Difficulty in system calls
D) Lack of hardware interaction

Answer 3

A) Lack of portability

Question 4

The level at which assembly language operates in the virtual machine model is: (*)

A) Level 1
B) Level 2
C) Level 3
D) Level 4

Answer 4

D) Level 4

Question 5

The operating system in the virtual machine model is at: (*)

A) Level 2
B) Level 3
C) Level 4
D) Level 5

Answer 5

B) Level 3

Question 6

Which level interprets digital logic in the virtual machine model? (*)

A) Level 0
B) Level 1
C) Level 2
D) Level 3

Answer 6

A) Level 0

Question 7

The LSB (Least Significant Bit) in binary numbers represents:

A) The highest value
B) The lowest power of 2
C) The largest memory segment
D) None of the above

Answer 7

B) The lowest power of 2

Question 8

How many bits are in a byte? (*)

A) 4
B) 8
C) 16
D) 32

Answer 8

B) 8

Question 9

A word in memory typically consists of how many bytes? (*)

A) 1
B) 2
C) 4
D) 8

Answer 9

B) 2

Question 10

A double word is equivalent to how many bytes? (*)

A) 2
B) 4
C) 8
D) 16

Answer 10

B) 4

Question 11

The base of the hexadecimal numbering system is: (*)

A) 2
B) 8
C) 10
D) 16

Answer 11

D) 16

Question 12

An unsigned 4-bit number can represent values in the range of: (*)

A) 0 to 7
B) 0 to 15
C) -8 to 7
D) -16 to 15

Answer 12

B) 0 to 15

Question 13

What is the range of a signed 8-bit number? (*)

A) -128 to 127
B) 0 to 255
C) -256 to 255
D) 0 to 128

Answer 13

A) -128 to 127

Question 14

To represent an unsigned binary number with 3 bits, the range is: (*)

A) 0 to 3
B) 0 to 7
C) 0 to 8
D) -8 to 7

Answer 14

B) 0 to 7

Question 15

The highest bit in a signed binary number is used as: (*)

A) Data
B) Address
C) Sign bit
D) Overflow flag

Answer 15

C) Sign bit

Question 16

Which of these represents 1010b in hexadecimal? (*)

A) A
B) 10
C) 1A
D) 110

Answer 16

A) A

Question 17

Convert the hexadecimal value 1C to binary: (*)

A) 11100
B) 11000
C) 10001
D) 10110

Answer 17

A) 11100

Question 18

Two’s complement is calculated by: (*)

A) Adding 1 to the signed number
B) Flipping all bits and adding 1
C) Multiplying the number by 2
D) Adding the number to itself

Answer 18

B) Flipping all bits and adding 1

Question 19

What is the 8-bit two’s complement of -28? (*)

A) 11100100
B) 11101010
C) 11110100
D) 11111000

Answer 19

A) 11100100

Question 20

Which number is represented by the two’s complement 11110100? (*)

A) -12
B) -28
C) -116
D) 12

Answer 20

A) -12

Question 21

What is assembly language, and how does it differ from high-level programming languages?

Answer 21

Assembly language is a low-level, machine-specific language that directly corresponds to machine code instructions, unlike high-level languages, which are abstract and hardware-independent.

Question 22

Explain the significance of the sign bit in binary numbers.

Answer 22

The sign bit in a signed binary number indicates whether the number is positive (0) or negative (1).

Question 23

What is the range of numbers that can be represented with 4 bits (unsigned)?

Answer 23

The range is 0 to 15 (binary: 0000 to 1111).

Question 24

Describe the two’s complement method for representing negative numbers.

Answer 24

Two’s complement involves flipping all the bits of the number and adding 1 to represent the negative equivalent.

Question 25

What is the advantage of using hexadecimal representation in computing?

Answer 25

Hexadecimal simplifies the representation of binary data by grouping bits into 4-bit segments, making it more compact and easier to read.

Question 26

Convert 1234 in decimal to hexadecimal.

Answer 26

1234 in decimal is 4D2h in hexadecimal.

Question 27

What is the 2’s complement of the binary number 1101 (signed 4-bit)?

Answer 27

The 2’s complement is 0011, representing -3.

Question 28

How does a cache hit improve system performance?

Answer 28

A cache hit allows the CPU to retrieve data directly from the faster cache memory rather than accessing slower main memory.

Question 29

What does ASCII stand for, and what is its purpose?

Answer 29

ASCII stands for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It encodes characters as numerical values for representation in computers.