Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board

Multiple Choice Questions

(U04C02L01Q001)
Which of the following is/are the main part(s) of the central processing unit (CPU)?
(1) Control Unit
(2) Arithmetic and Logic Unit
(3) System Unit
A (1) only
B (2) only
C (1) and (2) only
D (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

(U04C02L01Q002)
Which of the following are the tasks of the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)?
(1) It controls the other parts of a computer.
(2) It performs arithmetic operations.
(3) It performs logical operations.
A (1) and (2) only
B (1) and (3) only
C (2) and (3) only
D (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
C

(U04C02L01Q003)
In the CPU, the final results of arithmetic and logical operations are temporarily held
in
A CPU.
B hard disk.
C accumulator.
D RAM.
Answer
C

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 1 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
(Module B)
Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L01Q004)
Which of the following are parts of an instruction?
(1) operation code
(2) operator
(3) operand
A (1) and (2) only
B (1) and (3) only
C (2) and (3) only
D (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
B

(U04C02L01Q005)
What is the operation code of the following instruction?
1010 1001
A 1010
B 1001
C 10
D 01
Answer
A

(U04C02L01Q006)
Which of the following are specified by the operand?
(1) data
(2) memory location
(3) arithmetic operation
A (1) and (2) only
B (1) and (3) only
C (2) and (3) only
D (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
A

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 2 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
(Module B)
Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L01Q007)
Which of the following is NOT a factor that affects the performance of a CPU?
A clock rate
B instruction cycle
C word size
D cache capacity
Answer
B

(U04C02L01Q008)
Which of the following is NOT mounted permanently on the main board?
A ROM chips
B expansion slots
C memory slots
D CPU
Answer
D

(U04C02L01Q009)
Which of the following are expansion cards?
(1) sound card
(2) graphic card
(3) system card
A (1) and (2) only
B (1) and (3) only
C (2) and (3) only
D (1), (2) and (3)
Answer
A

(U04C02L01Q010)
Which of the following is NOT a component of the CPU?
A. decoder
B. control unit
C. arithmetic and logic unit
D. register
Answer
A
Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 3 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
(Module B)
Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L01Q011)
Which of the following is NOT the work of arithmetic and logic unit?
A. perform arithmetic operations
B. perform comparison operations
C. execute instructions
D. perform logical operations
Answer
C

(U04C02L01Q012)
Which of the followings is NOT the status flag of processor status register?
A. carry
B. zero
C. overflow
D. decimal place
Answer
D

(U04C02L01Q013)
Which of the following is the correct sequence of a machine cycle?
A. decoding → executing → fetching
B. executing → decoding → fetching
C. fetching → decoding → executing
D. fetching → executing → decoding
Answer
C

(U04C02L01Q014)
During the fetching operation, where does the CPU obtain a program instruction?
A. memory
B. hard disk
C. register
D. keyboard
Answer
A

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 4 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
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Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L01Q015)
Which of the following attributes does NOT reflect the performance of the CPU?
A. clock rate
B. price
C. cache
D. word size
Answer
B

(U04C02L01Q016)
Which of the following is the characteristic of the CISC CPU?
A. It executes simple instructions more quickly.
B. It executes complex instructions more quickly.
C. It is larger in size.
D. It plays with only frequently used instructions.
Answer
B

(U04C02L01Q017)
The control chipsets on the main board consist of
A. Right bridge / Left Bridge.
B. Top bridge / Bottom Bridge.
C. North bridge / South Bridge.
D. East bridge / West Bridge.
Answer
C

(U04C02L01Q018)
Which of the followings is NOT the work of the North Bridge chip?
A. control interaction with memory
B. control the PCI bus
C. control all AGP activities
D. manage the basic forms of I/O
Answer
D

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 5 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
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Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L01Q019)
Which of the following statements is NOT a correct description of the PCI bus?
A. It works in 33MHz.
B. It has access to memory.
C. It can be configured both as 32-bit and 64-bit buses.
D. It uses all active paths to transmit both address and data signals.
Answer
A

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 6 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
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Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

Conventional Questions

(U04C02L02Q001)
(a) State the components of a CPU. (3 marks)
(b) Briefly describe how the control unit works. (4 marks)
(c) State the four types of registers. (4 marks)
Answers
(a) A CPU consists of Control Unit (1), Arithmetic and Logic Unit (1) and registers.
(1)
(b) The control unit uses a program counter to keep track of the sequence of
instructions that is supposed to be executed. (1)
Using this counter as a guide, the control unit retrieves each instruction in
sequence from RAM and places it in a special instruction register. (1)
The control unit then interprets the instruction by an instruction decoder to find
out what needs to be done. (1)
According to its interpretation, the control unit sends signals to the bus to fetch
data from RAM, and to the ALU to perform a process. (1)
(c) Memory Address Register (1) / Memory Data Register (1) / Instruction Register
(1) / Processor Status Register (1)

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 7 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
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Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L02Q002)
(a) (i) What are registers? (1 mark)
(ii) Write down TWO registers in the control unit. (2 marks)
(b) (i) What is the function of an instruction? (1 mark)
(ii) What is instruction cycle? (1 mark)
(iii) List the FOUR steps of an instruction cycle. (4 marks)
(c) Briefly describe a complete machine cycle on executing instructions. (3 marks)
Answers
(a) (i) Registers are high speed storage units with specific storage capacities. (1)
(ii) Program counter (1) and instruction register (1)
(b) (i) An instruction tells the computer to perform a specific arithmetic, logical or
control operation. (1)
(ii) Instruction cycle refers to the process in which a computer executes a single
instruction. (1)
(iii) Fetch instruction. (1) Increment program counter by 1 for next fetch. (1)
Interpret instruction. (1) Execute instruction. (1)
(c) A complete machine cycle includes the following three stages:
Fetching – the process of obtaining a program instruction or data item from
memory (1)
Decoding – the process of translating instructions into commands the computer
can execute (1)
Executing – the process of carrying out the command (1)

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 8 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
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Chapter 2 The CPU and the Main Board Question Bank

(U04C02L02Q003)
(a) (i) How does the word size affect the performance of CPU? (2 marks)
(ii) Give an example of a (i). (1 mark)
(b) (i) Briefly describe the term “cache” and state its function. (2 marks)
(ii) How does the cache capacity affect the performance of a CPU? (1 mark)
(c) (i) Briefly describe the term “clock rate”. (2 marks)
(ii) How does the clock rate affect the performance of a CPU? (1 mark)
(d) Briefly describe the term “pipelining”. (2 marks)
Answers
(a) (i) A computer with a large word size can process more data in each instruction
cycle than a computer with a small word size. (1)
Processing more data in each cycle contributes to increased performance.
(1)
(ii) For example, the first microcomputers contained 8-bit microprocessors, but
today's faster computers contain 32-bit or 64-bit microprocessors. (1)
(b) (i) Cache is special high-speed memory that gives the CPU more rapid access
to data. (1)
The cache ensures that data is immediately available whenever the CPU
requests it. (1)
(ii) More cache means faster processing. (1)
(c) (i) The clock rate, which is set by the system clock, is the number of operations
that the computer can carry out in a given period. (1)
It determines the speed at which the CPU can execute an instruction and,
therefore, limits the number of instructions that the CPU can complete
within a specific amount of time. (1)
(ii) Higher clock rate means faster processing. (1)
(d) Pipelining is a technology that enables the processor to begin executing an
instruction before it completes the previous instruction. (2)

Computer & Information Technology for HKCEE 9 © Pearson Education Asia Limited 2004
(Module B)