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IFT 250 – INTRODUCTION TO UNIX UTILITIES
FINAL EXAM PREP 2026 TEST BANK – 250
QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS AND
RATIONALES LATEST UPDATE –
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM
SUCCESS
SECTION 1: UNIX BASICS & FILESYSTEM NAVIGATION (Questions 1–40)
1. What does the pwd command do?
A) Print working directory
B) Change directory
C) List files
D) Display file contents
Answer: A
Rationale: pwd stands for "print working directory" and displays the absolute path of the
current directory you are in.
2. Which command changes the current directory to the user's home directory?
A) cd /home
B) cd .
C) cd ~
D) cd ..
Answer: C
Rationale: cd ~ (tilde) or simply cd with no arguments changes to the user's home
directory.
3. What does the ls -a command do?
A) Lists all files including hidden files (those starting with .)
B) Lists files in long format
C) Lists only directories
D) Lists files sorted by size
Answer: A
Rationale: The -a option shows all files, including hidden files (those whose names begin
with a dot).
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4. Which command creates an empty file named test.txt?
A) new test.txt
B) create test.txt
C) touch test.txt
D) mkfile test.txt
Answer: C
Rationale: The touch command updates a file's timestamp or creates an empty file if it
does not exist.
5. The command cd .. moves you:
A) Up one directory level (to the parent directory)
B) Down into a subdirectory named ".."
C) To the root directory
D) To the previous directory
Answer: A
Rationale: The .. entry represents the parent directory of the current directory.
6. What does the ls -l command display?
A) One file per line with detailed information (permissions, links, owner, group, size,
modification time)
B) Only file names
C) Files sorted by date
D) Hidden files only
Answer: A
Rationale: ls -l produces a long listing format showing file permissions, number of links,
owner, group, file size, timestamp, and filename.
7. The root directory in Unix is represented by:
A) /root
B) /home
C) / (forward slash)
D) ~
Answer: C
Rationale: The root directory is the top-most directory in the filesystem hierarchy,
represented by a single forward slash /.
8. Which command displays the absolute path of your current location?
A) where
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B) pwd
C) ls -p
D) dirs
Answer: B
Rationale: pwd (print working directory) displays the absolute path from the root to the
current directory.
9. What is the purpose of the man command?
A) To manage system users
B) To display the manual pages for a command
C) To list all running processes
D) To shut down the system
Answer: B
Rationale: man followed by a command name displays the manual (documentation) pages
for that command.
10. Which command would you use to see the contents of a directory in a tree-like
format?
A) ls -R
B) tree
C) ls -T
D) find .
Answer: B
Rationale: The tree command displays directory contents in a hierarchical, tree-like format
(may need to be installed separately).
11. A user types cd /usr/bin. What is the result?
A) The current directory changes to /usr/bin
B) The contents of /usr/bin are displayed
C) The user moves to the root directory
D) An error because /usr/bin is a file
Answer: A
Rationale: cd changes the current working directory to the specified path /usr/bin.
12. Which command clears the terminal screen?
A) cls
B) clear
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C) clean
D) reset
Answer: B
Rationale: clear clears the terminal screen. cls works in Windows but not Unix/Linux.
13. What does ls -R do?
A) Lists files recursively through subdirectories
B) Removes directories recursively
C) Renames files
D) Lists only read-only files
Answer: A
Rationale: The -R (recursive) option lists the contents of all subdirectories as well.
14. The command to change your password is:
A) pwd
B) passwd
C) chpass
D) newpwd
Answer: B
Rationale: passwd (with no arguments) prompts the user to change their own password.
15. Which character represents the current directory?
A) ~
B) . (single dot)
C) ..
D) /
Answer: B
Rationale: A single dot . represents the current directory.
16. Which character represents the parent of the current directory?
A) ~
B) .
C) .. (two dots)
D) /
Answer: C
Rationale: Two dots .. represent the parent directory of the current location.
IFT 250 – INTRODUCTION TO UNIX UTILITIES
FINAL EXAM PREP 2026 TEST BANK – 250
QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS AND
RATIONALES LATEST UPDATE –
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM
SUCCESS
SECTION 1: UNIX BASICS & FILESYSTEM NAVIGATION (Questions 1–40)
1. What does the pwd command do?
A) Print working directory
B) Change directory
C) List files
D) Display file contents
Answer: A
Rationale: pwd stands for "print working directory" and displays the absolute path of the
current directory you are in.
2. Which command changes the current directory to the user's home directory?
A) cd /home
B) cd .
C) cd ~
D) cd ..
Answer: C
Rationale: cd ~ (tilde) or simply cd with no arguments changes to the user's home
directory.
3. What does the ls -a command do?
A) Lists all files including hidden files (those starting with .)
B) Lists files in long format
C) Lists only directories
D) Lists files sorted by size
Answer: A
Rationale: The -a option shows all files, including hidden files (those whose names begin
with a dot).
,2|Page
4. Which command creates an empty file named test.txt?
A) new test.txt
B) create test.txt
C) touch test.txt
D) mkfile test.txt
Answer: C
Rationale: The touch command updates a file's timestamp or creates an empty file if it
does not exist.
5. The command cd .. moves you:
A) Up one directory level (to the parent directory)
B) Down into a subdirectory named ".."
C) To the root directory
D) To the previous directory
Answer: A
Rationale: The .. entry represents the parent directory of the current directory.
6. What does the ls -l command display?
A) One file per line with detailed information (permissions, links, owner, group, size,
modification time)
B) Only file names
C) Files sorted by date
D) Hidden files only
Answer: A
Rationale: ls -l produces a long listing format showing file permissions, number of links,
owner, group, file size, timestamp, and filename.
7. The root directory in Unix is represented by:
A) /root
B) /home
C) / (forward slash)
D) ~
Answer: C
Rationale: The root directory is the top-most directory in the filesystem hierarchy,
represented by a single forward slash /.
8. Which command displays the absolute path of your current location?
A) where
,3|Page
B) pwd
C) ls -p
D) dirs
Answer: B
Rationale: pwd (print working directory) displays the absolute path from the root to the
current directory.
9. What is the purpose of the man command?
A) To manage system users
B) To display the manual pages for a command
C) To list all running processes
D) To shut down the system
Answer: B
Rationale: man followed by a command name displays the manual (documentation) pages
for that command.
10. Which command would you use to see the contents of a directory in a tree-like
format?
A) ls -R
B) tree
C) ls -T
D) find .
Answer: B
Rationale: The tree command displays directory contents in a hierarchical, tree-like format
(may need to be installed separately).
11. A user types cd /usr/bin. What is the result?
A) The current directory changes to /usr/bin
B) The contents of /usr/bin are displayed
C) The user moves to the root directory
D) An error because /usr/bin is a file
Answer: A
Rationale: cd changes the current working directory to the specified path /usr/bin.
12. Which command clears the terminal screen?
A) cls
B) clear
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C) clean
D) reset
Answer: B
Rationale: clear clears the terminal screen. cls works in Windows but not Unix/Linux.
13. What does ls -R do?
A) Lists files recursively through subdirectories
B) Removes directories recursively
C) Renames files
D) Lists only read-only files
Answer: A
Rationale: The -R (recursive) option lists the contents of all subdirectories as well.
14. The command to change your password is:
A) pwd
B) passwd
C) chpass
D) newpwd
Answer: B
Rationale: passwd (with no arguments) prompts the user to change their own password.
15. Which character represents the current directory?
A) ~
B) . (single dot)
C) ..
D) /
Answer: B
Rationale: A single dot . represents the current directory.
16. Which character represents the parent of the current directory?
A) ~
B) .
C) .. (two dots)
D) /
Answer: C
Rationale: Two dots .. represent the parent directory of the current location.
