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Answer Key
1. B
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45. B
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1. The Internet was originally created to transport messages more rapidly for an
increasingly sedentary and isolated population.
A) True
B) False
2. The Internet originated as a military and government project.
A) True
B) False
3. ARPAnet is a browser.
A) True
B) False
4. The Internet is a hierarchically structured and centralized network.
A) True
B) False
5. The Internet is owned and operated by the federal government, which has the power to
shut it down when necessary.
A) True
B) False
6. Computer engineer Ray Tomlinson established the “loginname@hostcomputer”
convention for e-mail addresses.
A) True
B) False
7. The introduction of microprocessors, miniature circuits made of silicon, made personal
computers possible.
A) True
B) False
8. HTML stands for “hypertext markup language.”
A) True
B) False
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9. Netscape overtook Internet Explorer as the most popular Web browser in the late 1990s.
A) True
B) False
10. In the 1990s, AOL was the top Internet service provider in the United States.
A) True
B) False
11. E-mail was one of the earliest services of the Internet.
A) True
B) False
12. By 2014, Bing had nearly 66 percent of the search engine market share.
A) True
B) False
13. Flickr is an online content community for sharing videos.
A) True
B) False
14. In a short time social media has changed the way we consume, relate to, and even
produce media.
A) True
B) False
15. Facebook is the most popular social media site on the Internet.
A) True
B) False
16. The BlackBerry was the first popular Internet-capable smartphone in the United States.
A) True
B) False
17. Apple sells 25 million tablets each year.
A) True
B) False
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18. MMORPG stands for “massively multiplayer online role–playing game.”
A) True
B) False
19. The 1996 Telecommunications Act encouraged mergers and joint ventures among phone
companies and cable operators.
A) True
B) False
20. Google is a subsidiary of YouTube.
A) True
B) False
21. Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce store.
A) True
B) False
22. Facebook uses profile information to deliver targeted and personalized ads to its users.
A) True
B) False
23. “Cookies” are files that allow a Web site owner to chart the computer user’s movements
within the Web site and collect other information about the user.
A) True
B) False
24. Most Web sites follow an “opt–in” data policy when collecting information from online
consumers.
A) True
B) False
25. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that efforts to ban indecent and obscene material on the
Web through the Communications Decency Act of 1996 were unconstitutional.
A) True
B) False
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26. The Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000 requires schools and libraries that receive
federal funds for Internet access to filter out obscene, pornographic, or harmful content Web
sites. A) True
B) False
27. Linux is an example of open-source software.
A) True
B) False
28. According to the textbook, which of the following is not a big question about the future
of the Internet?
A) Who will have access to the Internet?
B) Does copyright law apply on the Internet?
C) Will there be more video games online?
D) Should there be limits on personal data gathering?
E) Should we be allowed to share anything on the Internet?
29. What was the original motivation for developing the Internet?
A) Technical innovation
B) Entrepreneurial ambition
C) Military-government project
D) Popular demand for a more democratic medium of communication
E) Desire for a new toy or “novelty”
30. Which of the following statements about the Internet is not true?
A) One of the goals for its creation and early development was computer time-sharing.
B) It is a hierarchical network where some have the power to kick others off the
network.
C) By 2015, about 89 percent of all U.S. adults were Internet users.
D) The development of microprocessors and fiber-optic technology was necessary for
the Internet to develop into a marketable medium.
E) In its development stage, the Internet was primarily used by universities,
government research labs, and corporations involved with high-tech products.
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31. Which two developments were key to the Internet’s marketability?
A) Microprocessors and fiber-optic cable
B) ARPAnet and microprocessors
C) ARPAnet and digitization
D) E-commerce and distributed networks
E) Moore’s Law and the World Wide Web
32. The World Wide Web was developed in _______.
A) the late 1980s
B) 1993
C) the late 1990s
D) 2000
E) 2007
33. What is the difference between the Internet and the Web?
A) Both are competing computer programs; the Web is the more popular one.
B) The Internet is international; the Web is local.
C) The Internet is a system of linked computers; the Web is a system of linked
satellites.
D) The Internet is the older version of the Web.
E) None of the options are correct.
34. The data-linking feature that allows Internet users to skip directly from a highlighted
word to a related file in another computer system is called _______.
A) hypertext
B) convergence
C) spamming
D) Net shorthand
E) e-mail
35. Which invention brought the Internet to mass audiences?
A) Web browsers
B) Search engines
C) 56K modems
D) E-mail
E) Computer bulletin boards
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36. By 2015, what percentage of American households moved from dial-up to faster
broadband internet?
A) 35 percent
B) About 50 percent
C) About 81 percent
D) 95 percent
E) None of the options are correct.
37. Today’s major ISPs include all except which of the following?
A) Verizon
B) Comcast
C) AT&T
D) Google
E) Time Warner Cable
38. The Huffington Post is a leading _______.
A) mash-up video
B) Wiki Web site
C) fundraising tool
D) MMORPG
E) blog
39. Which of the following statements about Wiki Web sites is true?
A) The posting of information to Wiki Web sites is closely guarded and controlled by a
small group of people.
B) Wiki Web sites peaked in the early 1990s, but are now irrelevant.
C) The most notable example of a Wiki Web site is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia
that is mostly written by users.
D) Information on Wiki Web sites is highly reliable and always accurate.
E) All of the options are correct.
40. Content communities on the Web include which of the following?
A) FanFiction.net
B) YouTube
C) Flickr
D) Vimeo
E) All of the options are correct.
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41. According to the textbook, what is the most popular social networking site?
A) Twitter
B) Google+
C) MySpace
D) Facebook
E) eBay
42. What is the operating system of choice for hackers?
A) Linux
B) Chrome
C) Internet Explorer
D) MS Edge
E) Solaris
43. Second Life is an example of a(n) _______.
A) smartphone
B) virtual social world
C) Web browser
D) ISP
E) Wiki Web site
44. According to the textbook, which of the following technological advances have
contributed to the rise of media convergence?
A) The development of wireless networks, making it easier for people to access the
Internet almost anywhere
B) Broadband Internet connections, which improved the multimedia capabilities of
computers
C) The development of Internet-capable cell phones
D) The rise of the personal computer industry in the mid-1970s
E) All of the options are correct.
45. Which one of the following is an example of media convergence?
A) The tendency of news media to focus on local stories
B) The use of tablets to access different forms of traditional media, like books and
movies
C) The theory that there are more and more media outlets
D) The way media coverage tends to follow a mob mentality in reporting
E) The idea that every media format will eventually be replaced by another
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46. Which one of the following statements about media convergence is not true?
A) Consumers can now access television shows, newspapers, and books on their
computers.
B) Convergence took off at the same time as the rise of the personal computer industry
in the 1970s.
C) Consumers now have the ability to access Internet-distributed content through their
television sets.
D) Consumers often use more than one device to access media content.
E) All of the options are correct.
47. Which one of the following statements about Apple’s iPad is true?
A) It solely functions as a device for reading e-books.
B) It has been Apple’s fastest-growing product line, and newer versions include things
like cameras, thinner devices, watches, and faster graphics.
C) The Apple iPad will probably not have any competition from other
companies/devices in the near future.
D) The iPad functions like a larger iPod shuffle.
E) You have to attach a mouse and keyboard to the iPad in order to use it.
48. By 2016, about how many apps were available for Apple devices?
A) 35,000
B) 100,000
C) 375,000
D) 750,000
E) 1,600,000
49. Apple’s response to which of the following established the new media economics?
A) Napster
B) Facebook
C) Google+
D) AOL
E) All of the options are correct.
50. Hypertext inventor Tim Berners-Lee published an article in 2001 that introduced the idea
of the _______.
A) World Wide Web
B) voice recognition assistant
C) Semantic Web
D) ISP
E) smartphone
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51. While no one owns the Internet, some businesses have had commercial success
controlling parts of the Internet experience. Which of the following endeavors has/have been
commercially successful?
A) Providing physical access to the Internet through phone, cable, and satellite links
B) Selling advertising space on the Internet
C) Designing and providing programs that allow users to network with others over the
Internet
D) Designing and running directories and search engines
E) All of the options are correct.
52. Yahoo!’s business method has been to make itself an all-purpose entry point, or
_______, to the Internet
A) ISP
B) algorithm
C) Web browser
D) portal
E) search engine
53. Why did AOL begin losing customers in the early 2000s?
A) It didn’t provide instant messaging.
B) It couldn’t keep up with the advent of broadband Internet connections.
C) It didn’t screen out pornographic sites.
D) It merged with Time Warner.
E) It merged with Google.
54. Which statement about the business model of Google is true?
A) Google makes the majority of its money from subscription fees.
B) Google makes the majority of its money from pay-per-click advertisements.
C) Google is a nonprofit organization dedicated to universal access to information.
D) The majority of Google’s revenue comes from selling its cloud-based word
processing program.
E) None of the options are correct.
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55. Which of the following statements about targeted advertising is not true?
A) It is a passing fad because it is unpopular with advertisers and generates very little
revenue.
B) It is a big part of the revenue of sites like Google and Facebook.
C) Some versions read your e-mail messages to find key words that trigger specific
ads.
D) It may undermine the role of search engines to provide neutral access to
information.
E) It may turn search engines into ad brokers.
56. What is spyware and what does it do?
A) It is a way for the government to figure out if you are accessing pornography
online.
B) It was software developed by the Defense Department’s Advanced Research
Projects for spying on Russia.
C) It is a computer program that lets you access secret information from sources like
WikiLeaks.
D) It is a computer program that is secretly bundled with other software that allows
someone to collect private information.
E) None of the options are correct.
57. Which of the following is not a threat to privacy of personal information on the Internet?
A) Government surveillance
B) Data mining
C) Cookies
D) Digital archiving
E) Online fraud
58. Which of the following best describes an “opt–in” Internet policy?
A) A policy that assumes a Web site has the right to collect and share your information
B) A policy of inserting spyware on unsuspecting computers
C) A policy whereby consumers have to give their consent before a Web site can
collect any browsing history data
D) A policy favored by marketers and data-mining corporations
E) A policy of tricking search engines into including Web sites in their search results
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59. The law that grants sweeping powers to law-enforcement agencies to intercept
individuals’ online communications, including e-mail messages and browsing records is the
_______.
A) Communications Decency Act
B) Telecommunications Act.
C) USA PATRIOT Act
D) Child Online Protection Act
E) Children’s Internet Protection Act.
60. A form of Internet identity theft involving phony e-mail messages asking customers to
update their credit card numbers, account passwords, and other personal information is called
_______.
A) spamming
B) data-mining
C) targeting
D) open sourcing
E) phishing
61. What does the term digital divide refer to?
A) The ability of the rich to have access to the latest information technology while the
poor do not
B) The length of time it takes for messages to travel between two continents
C) The competition between software companies
D) The programming gap between using a Microsoft operating system and a system
like Linux
E) The difference in quality between an analog and a digital recording
62. According to the American Library Association, what are the limitations of trying to
protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet?
A) It’s annoying to have to disable the filters every time an adult wants to access that
material.
B) There is no way to filter out all illegal content but still allow access to
constitutionally protected materials.
C) Current filtering software doesn’t block enough material.
D) There isn’t enough federal funding for all schools and libraries to have the filtering
software.
E) There are no limitations.
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63. Which of the following statements about Linux software is true?
A) It’s free.
B) Many people have contributed to its development.
C) It is most often found on operating servers rather than PC desktops.
D) It was established by Linus Torvalds in 1991.
E) All of the options are correct.
64. Designed by the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, the
original Internet was called _________________________.
65. _________________________ is made of thin glass bundles that transmit thousands of
messages simultaneously via laser light.
66. Invented in the 1980s, the _________________________ is the most popular part of the
Internet and is essentially the navigation system for it.
67. HTML stands for “hypertext _________________________ language.”
68. Web navigation software packages such as Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer are
known as _________________________.
69. ISP stands for Internet _________________________ provider.
70. Although email remains a standard for business-related text communications in the
digital era, it has been surpassed in popularity by ________________________, which enables
typed conversations in real time. Instant messages are less formal and more conversational, and
the style sparked a number of now-common abbreviations, including OMG, LOL, and LMAO.”
71. _________________________ contain articles in chronological, journal-like form, often
with reader comments and links to other articles on the Web.
72. YouTube is an example of an online video _________________________ community.
73. The Kindle Fire and iPad are examples of touchscreen _________________________.
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74. Apple’s voice-recognition software, Siri, is an example of the
_________________________.
75. The socioeconomic disparity between those who do and those who do not have access to
digital technology and media such as the Internet is sometimes referred to as the
_________________________.
76. Written code that creates Web pages and links is called _____.
77. _____ are thin glass bundles capable of transmitting thousands of messages.
78. Facebook is an example of a(n) _____.
79. The _____is the most frequently visited region of the Internet.
80. A(n) _____ is a procedure whereby Web sites ask for your explicit permission before
they can collect browsing history or other data.
81. The _____ were an FCC plan twice rejected by federal courts.
82. AOL is an example of a(n) _____.
83. _____ is a term that describes the gap between the information “haves” and “have–nots.”
84. Name a group that worked to establish the early Internet. Explain the motivation for
developing the Internet.
85. Many experts agree that one of the major characteristics that make the Internet unique is
that it cannot be centrally controlled. Explain why and how this came about.
86. What are the key issues involving ownership and control of the Internet?
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87. Briefly describe how digital communication has progressed from e-mail.
88. What is social media? Give at least three examples.
89. Briefly explain how the converging of media content on the Internet, from movies to
books to music, came about.
90. Why do consumer advocates tend to favor the “opt–in” policy and marketers the
“opt–out” policy for the collection of browsing history data?
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Answer Key
1. B
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45. B
90.