Exam practice
Every question from the end of every unit, with hints and answers to open. After you check an answer, mark how you did, and come back to the ones you didn’t get.
12 questions
Unit 5 · Internet and Social Media
1. Write the full forms of the following abbreviations
a. ARPANET b. HTML c. SMTP d. DNS e. ISP f. HTTPS
Answer
- a.ARPANET: Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
- b.HTML: Hypertext Markup Language
- c.SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
- d.DNS: Domain Name System
- e.ISP: Internet Service Provider
- f.HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
3. Write short answers to these questions
What is the internet? Write two of its uses.
Answer
The internet is a global communication system made of thousands of computer networks joined together, a network of networks, through which computers anywhere in the world can exchange data.
Uses (any two): communication by email, messages, voice and video calls; finding information on the web, for study and news; online services such as banking, shopping, booking tickets and government forms; entertainment (videos, music, games); online learning.
What is the WWW? List the components of the WWW.
Answer
The World Wide Web (WWW) is the collection of interlinked hypertext documents and multimedia content on the internet, opened with a web browser. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989.
Its components: web pages (written in HTML) and websites; hyperlinks joining them; web servers that store and send pages; web browsers that fetch and display them; URLs, the address of each page; and HTTP/HTTPS, the protocols browsers and servers use.
What is a web browser? Give an example.
Answer
A web browser is a program that finds web pages on servers, interprets their HTML and CSS, and displays them, so that we can view and use the web and follow links. Examples: Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox.
Write some examples of online meeting platforms.
Answer
Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams; also Webex, Jitsi Meet, and the video calls of messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Viber and Messenger.
What are web protocols? List some examples of web protocols.
Answer
Web protocols are sets of rules that computers follow to communicate on the internet: how data is organized, sent and received, so that it moves efficiently, safely and reliably between browsers and servers.
Examples: HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), HTTPS (HTTP Secure), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), DNS (Domain Name System), TCP/IP.
Write some uses of email.
Answer
- Personal communication: sharing news, invitations, congratulations and sympathy with family and friends.
- Education: asking teachers questions, sending homework, getting notices and results.
- Business: communicating with customers, suppliers and investors; sending bills and receipts.
- Marketing: sending offers, newsletters and surveys.
- Entertainment: getting updates from favorite artists and fan clubs.
- Official use: applications, appointments, signing up for accounts.
4. Write long answers to these questions
Define search engine. What are the uses of search engines? Explain with an example.
Answer
A search engine is a web service that finds information on the internet from keywords given by the user, and shows a list of matching pages, the most relevant first. Examples: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Baidu.
How it works: its crawler programs visit pages and follow links; it builds an index of which words are on which pages; when you search, it looks up your keywords in the index and ranks the matching pages by relevance.
Uses:
- finding information and answers quickly (a definition, a fact, news);
- finding learning materials: notes, videos, PDFs, past questions;
- finding images, videos, maps, news and products;
- finding a website when you don’t know its address;
- narrowing results with operators: quotes for a phrase, - to leave out a word, site: for one website, filetype: for one kind of file.
Example: a student who needs CDC’s model questions as a PDF types model questions site:gov.np filetype:pdf into Google; it lists PDF files from Nepal’s government websites, and she opens the one from moecdc.gov.np.
Explain the concept of remote login.
Answer
Remote login is a process in which a user on one computer, the local computer, logs in over a network to another computer, the remote computer, and uses it as if sitting in front of it: running its programs, using its files and services.
How it works: both computers run a remote-access program. The user’s keystrokes and mouse clicks are sent over the internet to the remote computer; the remote computer does the processing; a picture of its screen, with the result, is sent back to the local computer. The person at the remote computer must allow the connection, by an address and a password or by accepting it.
Examples: AnyDesk and TeamViewer (remote desktop); SSH (a secure command-line login used for servers).
Uses: fixing someone’s computer without traveling; working from home on an office computer; managing servers in data centers; teaching.
Care: allow connections only from people you know; never install a remote-access app because a stranger asks, a common trick for stealing money.
Write the differences between HTTP and HTTPS.
Answer
| HTTP | HTTPS |
|---|---|
| Hypertext Transfer Protocol | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure |
| sends data as plain text, which others can read on the way | encrypts data, so only the browser and the server can read it |
| doesn’t prove the website’s identity | the server proves its identity with a certificate |
| addresses start with http:// | addresses start with https:// |
| the browser shows “Not secure” | the browser shows a padlock or similar sign |
| uses port 80 | uses port 443 |
| unsafe for passwords and payments | used for logins, payments and private data |
What is social media? List the uses of social media with examples.
Answer
Social media are online platforms where people create, share and interact with content and communicate with each other in real time, forming an online community. Examples: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, WhatsApp.
Uses:
- staying in touch with family and friends, near and abroad (Messenger, WhatsApp video calls);
- sharing photos, videos and news (Instagram, Facebook);
- learning: lessons, tutorials and educational channels (YouTube);
- business and marketing: shops selling and advertising through their pages;
- careers: finding jobs and showing skills (LinkedIn);
- news and real-time updates: road conditions, exam notices, weather;
- social causes: raising help for flood victims, finding blood donors;
- self-expression: showing talents in music, art and writing.
Used well, with privacy settings, care before posting and checking before sharing, it connects people; used badly, it can spread misinformation and harm health and studies.
Define blog. Write the advantages and disadvantages of blogging.
Answer
A blog is a website like an online journal, where a person or group shares thoughts, experiences or information on a topic in dated entries called posts, the newest first, and readers can comment.
Advantages:
- improves writing and communication skills;
- shares knowledge and helps others;
- builds a record of one’s work, useful for further study and jobs;
- connects people with the same interests, through comments and sharing;
- free and easy to start (Blogger, WordPress);
- can earn money through ads and sponsors once it has many readers.
Disadvantages:
- needs time and effort regularly;
- may get few readers, especially at first;
- personal information may be exposed;
- may attract rude or hurtful comments that must be managed;
- anyone can write a blog, so wrong information can spread;
- using others’ text, photos or music without permission breaks copyright.