Lesson 1.2.1b

1.2.1b Interrupts, scheduling, OS types, BIOS, device drivers and virtual machines Quiz: OCR Computer Science, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 1.2.1b, Interrupts, scheduling, OS types, BIOS, device drivers and virtual machines: 20 multiple choice questions for the OCR Computer Science (H446), Unit 2: Software and software development, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What signal is sent by a hardware device to request immediate CPU attention?

    • Polling
    • Interrupt
    • Register trap
    • System call

  2. Where are the memory addresses of specific Interrupt Service Routines stored in memory?

    • Call stack
    • Interrupt vector table
    • Process control block
    • Stack pointer

  3. Which CPU scheduling algorithm allocates a fixed time slice to each process sequentially?

    • Round Robin
    • Shortest Job First
    • Multilevel Queue
    • First Come First Served

  4. Which non-preemptive CPU scheduling algorithm processes tasks strictly by arrival order?

    • Round Robin
    • Shortest Remaining Time
    • Multilevel Feedback
    • First Come First Served

  5. Which scheduling algorithm minimises average wait time requiring prior job length knowledge?

    • First Come First Served
    • Multi-Level Feedback
    • Round Robin
    • Shortest Job First

  6. Which scheduling algorithm dynamically adjusts process priorities across separate queues?

    • Shortest Job First
    • First Come First Served
    • Round Robin
    • Multi-level feedback queues

  7. What term describes long processes being continuously delayed because shorter processes keep arriving?

    • Thrashing
    • Deadlock
    • Paging
    • Starvation

  8. Which type of operating system must process data and deliver responses within strict, guaranteed time limits?

    • Embedded OS
    • Distributed OS
    • Multi-user OS
    • Real-Time OS

  9. Which operating system type coordinates processing power across multiple physical computers connected over a network?

    • Multi-tasking OS
    • Distributed OS
    • Single-user OS
    • Embedded OS

  10. Which operating system is designed to run dedicated control tasks inside a specific hardware device?

    • Distributed OS
    • Embedded OS
    • Batch OS
    • Multi-user OS

  11. Which operating system type allows multiple users to access and share processing resources simultaneously?

    • Embedded OS
    • Single-tasking OS
    • Distributed OS
    • Multi-user OS

  12. What diagnostic routine is executed by the BIOS when a computer system is turned on?

    • Interrupt service
    • Power-On Self-Test
    • System restore
    • Bootstrap loading

  13. Where is the BIOS firmware stored so that it remains intact when the computer turns off?

    • Cache memory
    • Hard disk drive
    • Flash ROM
    • RAM

  14. What software enables an operating system to communicate with and control a specific hardware peripheral?

    • Device driver
    • Linker
    • Virtual machine
    • Compiler

  15. What concept allows an OS to interact with hardware without knowing the specific underlying hardware details?

    • Garbage collection
    • Memory paging
    • Dynamic linking
    • Hardware abstraction

  16. What software creates a simulated environment that behaves like an independent physical computer?

    • Assembler
    • Operating system kernel
    • Virtual machine
    • Device driver

  17. What intermediate code format is generated by a compiler for execution by a virtual machine?

    • Assembly code
    • Source code
    • Bytecode
    • Machine code

  18. What is the main performance drawback of running an application inside a virtual machine?

    • Hardware damage
    • Syntax errors
    • Memory leakage
    • Execution overhead

  19. What software does the BIOS locate and load into RAM to start the OS?

    • The kernel
    • System utilities
    • The bootloader
    • Device drivers

  20. What software layer creates, manages and runs virtual machines on a host physical computer?

    • Device driver
    • Kernel
    • Hypervisor
    • BIOS

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