1. Computers are divided into generations according to a number of improvements in ___.
A. operating systems C. input devices
B. logic circuitry D. application software
2. ___ marks the beginning of the so-called first-generation computers.
A. The Analytical Engine C. ENIAC
B. The Difference Engine D. The Harvard Mark II
3. As long as computers were tied down to vacuum tube technology, they could only be ___.
A. large, heavy, costly C. enormous, lightweight, expensive
B. huge, heavy, cheap D. small, inexpensive, powerful
4. Germanium transistors ___ the electrical signals that operated the computer.
A. produced and eliminated C. generated and controlled
B. consumed and heated D. devised and developed
5. During the 1970s, computers were big machines requiring thousands of ___.
A. electromechanical relays C. separate transistors
B. vacuum tubes D. integrated circuits
6. Mass-produced minicomputers built by such companies as Digital Equipment Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Company were used in ___.
A. higher schools C. scientific research institutes
B. small businesses D. secondary schools and at homes
7. The third-generation computers could perform many data processing operations in ___.
A. milliseconds C. nanoseconds
B. microseconds D. picoseconds
8. In the 1970s, more and more people could afford to buy computers because ___.
A. the IC was invented C. the computers became faster and reliable
B. the price of computers fell D. all people became computer-literate
9. In the beginning of the 1980s, ___ was introduced.
A. IC C. VLSI
B. LSIC D. IBM
10. The term "fifth-generation computers" was devised by the Japanese to describe ___.
A. the intelligent computers they wanted to build by the mid-1990s.
B. artificial intelligence
C. the application of natural languages for inputting data
D. ultra-large-scale integration technologies