WGU C952 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE 270 ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALE ALREADY GRADED A+
1. In order for a program to run on a computer, it must be finally
expressed in:
A) An assembly language
B) A high-level language
C) An object-oriented language
D) A machine language
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: A program must be expressed in machine language
(binary) for the CPU to execute it directly. All higher-level languages
are ultimately translated into machine code through compilers or
interpreters .
2. Which component of the CPU is responsible for performing
arithmetic and logical operations?
A) Control Unit
B) Register File
C) Datapath
D) Program Counter
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The datapath contains the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
and registers. The ALU performs the actual arithmetic (ADD, SUB) and
logical (AND, OR) operations .
3. What does CPI stand for, and what does it represent?
A) Code Performance Index; total instructions executed
, B) Cycles Per Instruction; average clock cycles per executed
instruction
C) Cache Priority Indicator; cache hit rate
D) Clock Period Interval; CPU voltage
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: CPI is a key performance metric. Lower CPI means better
performance. CPU Time = Instruction Count × CPI × Clock Cycle Time
.
4. The five classic components of a computer are:
A) CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, Monitor, Keyboard
B) Input, Output, Memory, Datapath, Control
C) System Software, Application Software, Data, Users, Network
D) ALU, CU, Registers, Bus, Cache
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: These five components form the fundamental organization
of any computer. The datapath and control together make up the
processor (CPU) .
5. What fundamental principle states that integrated circuit resources
double every 18-24 months?
A) Amdahl's Law
B) Moore's Law
C) Bell's Law
D) Murphy's Law
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Moore's Law is the observation that the number of
transistors on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two
years, which has historically driven exponential growth in computing
performance .
6. What is the abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest-
level software that encompasses all information necessary to write a
machine language program?
A) Application Binary Interface (ABI)
, B) Application Programming Interface (API)
C) Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
D) Operating System (OS)
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The ISA is the contract between the hardware and the
software. It defines the instructions, registers, memory addressing, and
I/O model that a programmer or compiler can rely on for a given
processor family .
7. Which of the following is an example of systems software?
A) A word processor
B) A video game
C) A web browser
D) An assembler
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Systems software provides fundamental services that are
commonly useful for other software to run. This includes operating
systems, compilers, loaders, and assemblers .
8. What is the term for the binary representation of machine
instructions?
A) Assembly language
B) High-level language
C) Machine language
D) Bytecode
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Machine language is the native, binary language of the
computer's hardware. It consists of sequences of 0s and 1s that directly
control the processor .
9. A computer used for running larger programs for multiple users,
often simultaneously and accessed via a network, is classified as a:
A) Personal Computer
B) Supercomputer
C) Embedded Computer
, D) Server
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Servers are networked computers designed to provide
services to multiple users or other computers simultaneously .
10. What does the term "Bandwidth" refer to in the context of computer
performance?
A) The time required to complete a single task
B) The number of tasks completed per unit of time
C) The clock rate of the processor
D) The size of the main memory
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Bandwidth, also known as throughput, measures the
amount of work a system can perform in a given time. Response time
measures the duration for a single task .
11. A microprocessor containing multiple processors ("cores") in a
single integrated circuit is called a:
A) Multicore microprocessor
B) Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
C) Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
D) System on a Chip (SoC)
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: This is the standard definition of a multicore
microprocessor. It places two or more independent processing units
(cores) on a single chip to increase parallelism and performance .
12. Which design principle states that making the common case fast will
tend to enhance performance better than optimizing the rare case?
A) Amdahl's Law
B) Principle of Locality
C) Pipelining
D) Common case fast
Correct Answer: D
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALE ALREADY GRADED A+
1. In order for a program to run on a computer, it must be finally
expressed in:
A) An assembly language
B) A high-level language
C) An object-oriented language
D) A machine language
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: A program must be expressed in machine language
(binary) for the CPU to execute it directly. All higher-level languages
are ultimately translated into machine code through compilers or
interpreters .
2. Which component of the CPU is responsible for performing
arithmetic and logical operations?
A) Control Unit
B) Register File
C) Datapath
D) Program Counter
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The datapath contains the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
and registers. The ALU performs the actual arithmetic (ADD, SUB) and
logical (AND, OR) operations .
3. What does CPI stand for, and what does it represent?
A) Code Performance Index; total instructions executed
, B) Cycles Per Instruction; average clock cycles per executed
instruction
C) Cache Priority Indicator; cache hit rate
D) Clock Period Interval; CPU voltage
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: CPI is a key performance metric. Lower CPI means better
performance. CPU Time = Instruction Count × CPI × Clock Cycle Time
.
4. The five classic components of a computer are:
A) CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, Monitor, Keyboard
B) Input, Output, Memory, Datapath, Control
C) System Software, Application Software, Data, Users, Network
D) ALU, CU, Registers, Bus, Cache
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: These five components form the fundamental organization
of any computer. The datapath and control together make up the
processor (CPU) .
5. What fundamental principle states that integrated circuit resources
double every 18-24 months?
A) Amdahl's Law
B) Moore's Law
C) Bell's Law
D) Murphy's Law
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Moore's Law is the observation that the number of
transistors on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two
years, which has historically driven exponential growth in computing
performance .
6. What is the abstract interface between the hardware and the lowest-
level software that encompasses all information necessary to write a
machine language program?
A) Application Binary Interface (ABI)
, B) Application Programming Interface (API)
C) Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
D) Operating System (OS)
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The ISA is the contract between the hardware and the
software. It defines the instructions, registers, memory addressing, and
I/O model that a programmer or compiler can rely on for a given
processor family .
7. Which of the following is an example of systems software?
A) A word processor
B) A video game
C) A web browser
D) An assembler
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Systems software provides fundamental services that are
commonly useful for other software to run. This includes operating
systems, compilers, loaders, and assemblers .
8. What is the term for the binary representation of machine
instructions?
A) Assembly language
B) High-level language
C) Machine language
D) Bytecode
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Machine language is the native, binary language of the
computer's hardware. It consists of sequences of 0s and 1s that directly
control the processor .
9. A computer used for running larger programs for multiple users,
often simultaneously and accessed via a network, is classified as a:
A) Personal Computer
B) Supercomputer
C) Embedded Computer
, D) Server
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Servers are networked computers designed to provide
services to multiple users or other computers simultaneously .
10. What does the term "Bandwidth" refer to in the context of computer
performance?
A) The time required to complete a single task
B) The number of tasks completed per unit of time
C) The clock rate of the processor
D) The size of the main memory
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Bandwidth, also known as throughput, measures the
amount of work a system can perform in a given time. Response time
measures the duration for a single task .
11. A microprocessor containing multiple processors ("cores") in a
single integrated circuit is called a:
A) Multicore microprocessor
B) Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
C) Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
D) System on a Chip (SoC)
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: This is the standard definition of a multicore
microprocessor. It places two or more independent processing units
(cores) on a single chip to increase parallelism and performance .
12. Which design principle states that making the common case fast will
tend to enhance performance better than optimizing the rare case?
A) Amdahl's Law
B) Principle of Locality
C) Pipelining
D) Common case fast
Correct Answer: D
