Computer Vocabulary Quiz 1

An online self-grading quiz to help students prepare Computer Skills Test. Written by parent Lee Ryan, former Webmaster and retired software engineer. September 2001.

Directions: select the best computer vocabulary term for each computer definition or description below. Check your work by clicking on the "Well...How did I do?" button at the end of the quiz. 

1. Key on a keyboard that moves the cursor to the left one space at a time and, on some keyboards and most word processing software, deletes characters.  

2. A common storage device used with computers. 1. (also called a floppy disk) A 5 1/4" flexible disk, made of thin plastic and magnetically coated. It is protected by a jacket that has openings to allow the disk drive to read or write information. 2. (also called a rigid disk) A 3 1/2" floppy disk covered by a hard plastic jacket with a metal slide moved to read or write information. 

3. A display screen designed as an output device for a computer and usually composed of a Cathode Ray Tube. 

4.  A highlighted or bright (sometimes blinking) line or other mark that shows where information is being input; that is, where the next letter or character will appear. 

5. Key on a keyboard or function of word processing software that is used to insert text without deleting previously keyed text. 

6. Spacing based on inches or centimeters instead of spaces used to indent and put text into columns. 

7. To load a file from a diskette or hard drive. 

8. To store a file on diskette or hard drive for future use. 

9. The main component, or "brain," of a computer. It is the chip that performs all of the information processing.  

10. 1. The process of displaying, printing, or storing information produced by a computer. 2. The information produced by the computer, as a result of processing, that is sent to devices that display, print, or store it. 

11. To produce a copy of the document onto paper.  

12. Key on a keyboard that spaces the cursor forward one space at a time and produces a blank space when pressed. 

13. The physical equipment of a computer, such as the screen/monitor, the keyboard, the Central Processing Unit, and the storage devices. 

14. Keys on a keyboard which contain the numbers 0-9. 

15. Keys on a keyboard that move the cursor left or right, up or down. 

16. An electronic machine that can perform calculations and can process a large amount of information accurately and much more rapidly than the human brain. 

17. Program material for computers; instructions to the CPU to tell it what to do with the data it receives. 

18.   Key on a keyboard that is used to enter information into a microcomputer or to return the cursor to the beginning of a new line. 

19. A mechanical output device that can print text, and sometimes graphics, on paper. 

20. Private messages, called electronic mail, that are sent and received over a computer network. 

21. The process of entering information into a computer. 2. The information entered or put into a computer for processing. 

22. A global network of thousands of other computer networks that offers the World Wide Web, e-mail and information retrieval services to millions of people. 

23. The position of the body or of parts of the body. 

24. 1.  Key on a keyboard that is used to move the cursor directly to a tab stop. 2. a key on the keyboard that causes the cursor to jump to a specific place such as to indent paragraphs or make columns.

25. To tap or press the keys of a keyboard with a finger or thumb.