Multiple Choice Questions & Answers on Operating System Process Management

1. What is the main function of the command interpreter?

a) to get and execute the next user-specified command

b) to provide the interface between the API and application program

c) to handle the files in operating system

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: to get and execute the next user-specified command

2. What is an operating system?

a) collection of programs that manages hardware resources

b) system service provider to the application programs

c) interface between the hardware and application programs

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: all of the mentioned

3. Which one of the following is not true?

a) kernel is the program that constitutes the central core of the operating system

b) kernel is the first part of operating system to load into memory during booting

c) kernel is made of various modules which can not be loaded in running operating system

d) kernel remains in the memory during the entire computer session

Answer: kernel is made of various modules which can not be loaded in running operating system

4. To access the services of operating system, the interface is provided by the ___________

a) System calls

b) API

c) Library

d) Assembly instructions

Answer: System calls

5. Which one of the following error will be handle by the operating system?

a) power failure

b) lack of paper in printer

c) connection failure in the network

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: all of the mentioned

6. Which facility dynamically adds probes to a running system, both in user processes and in the kernel?

a) DTrace

b) DLocate

c) DMap

d) DAdd

Answer: DTrace

7. In Operating Systems, which of the following is/are CPU scheduling algorithms?

a) Round Robin

b) Shortest Job First

c) Priority

d) All of the mentioned

Answer: All of the mentioned

8. The OS X has ____________

a) monolithic kernel

b) hybrid kernel

c) microkernel

d) monolithic kernel with modules

Answer: hybrid kernel

9. Which one of the following is not a real time operating system?

a) VxWorks

b) QNX

c) RTLinux

d) Palm OS

Answer: Palm OS

10. If a process fails, most operating system write the error information to a ______

a) log file

b) another running process

c) new file

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: log file

11. If all processes I/O bound, the ready queue will almost always be ______ and the Short term Scheduler will have a ______ to do.

a) full, little

b) full, lot

c) empty, little

d) empty, lot

Answer: empty, little

12. Which of the following do not belong to queues for processes?

a) Job Queue

b) PCB queue

c) Device Queue

d) Ready Queue

Answer: PCB queue

13. Which of the following does not interrupt a running process?

a) A device

b) Timer

c) Scheduler process

d) Power failure

Answer: Scheduler process

14. What will happen when a process terminates?

a) It is removed from all queues

b) It is removed from all, but the job queue

c) Its process control block is de-allocated

d) Its process control block is never de-allocated

Answer: It is removed from all queues

15. What is a long-term scheduler?

a) It selects processes which have to be brought into the ready queue

b) It selects processes which have to be executed next and allocates CPU

c) It selects processes which heave to remove from memory by swapping

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: It selects processes which have to be brought into the ready queue

16. When the process issues an I/O request __________

a) It is placed in an I/O queue

b) It is placed in a waiting queue

c) It is placed in the ready queue

d) It is placed in the Job queue

Answer: It is placed in an I/O queue

17. What is a medium-term scheduler?

a) It selects which process has to be brought into the ready queue

b) It selects which process has to be executed next and allocates CPU

c) It selects which process to remove from memory by swapping

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: It selects which process to remove from memory by swapping

18. The primary distinction between the short term scheduler and the long term scheduler is __________

a) The length of their queues

b) The type of processes they schedule

c) The frequency of their execution

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: The frequency of their execution

19. In a time-sharing operating system, when the time slot given to a process is completed, the process goes from the running state to the __________

a) Blocked state

b) Ready state

c) Suspended state

d) Terminated state

Answer: Ready state

20. The only state transition that is initiated by the user process itself is __________

a) block

b) wakeup

c) dispatch

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: block

21. In a multiprogramming environment __________

a) the processor executes more than one process at a time

b) the programs are developed by more than one person

c) more than one process resides in the memory

d) a single user can execute many programs at the same time

Answer: more than one process resides in the memory

22. Suppose that a process is in “Blocked” state waiting for some I/O service. When the service is completed, it goes to the __________

a) Running state

b) Ready state

c) Suspended state

d) Terminated state

Answer: Ready state

23. The context of a process in the PCB of a process does not contain __________

a) the value of the CPU registers

b) the process state

c) memory-management information

d) context switch time

Answer: context switch time

24. Which of the following need not necessarily be saved on a context switch between processes?

a) General purpose registers

b) Translation lookaside buffer

c) Program counter

d) All of the mentioned

Answer: Translation lookaside buffer

25. What is a short-term scheduler?

a) It selects which process has to be brought into the ready queue

b) It selects which process has to be executed next and allocates CPU

c) It selects which process to remove from memory by swapping

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: It selects which process has to be executed next and allocates CPU

26. What is a Process Control Block?

a) Process type variable

b) Data Structure

c) A secondary storage section

d) A Block in memory

Answer: Data Structure

27. A Process Control Block(PCB) does not contain which of the following?

a) Code

b) Stack

c) Bootstrap program

d) Data

Answer: Bootstrap program

28. The state of a process is defined by __________

a) the final activity of the process

b) the activity just executed by the process

c) the activity to next be executed by the process

d) the current activity of the process

Answer: the current activity of the process

29. The number of processes completed per unit time is known as __________

a) Output

b) Throughput

c) Efficiency

d) Capacity

Answer: Throughput

30. Which of the following is not the state of a process?

a) New

b) Old

c) Waiting

d) Running

Answer: Old

31. The entry of all the PCBs of the current processes is in __________

a) Process Register

b) Program Counter

c) Process Table

d) Process Unit

Answer: Process Table

32. What is the degree of multiprogramming?

a) the number of processes executed per unit time

b) the number of processes in the ready queue

c) the number of processes in the I/O queue

d) the number of processes in memory

Answer: the number of processes in memory

33. What is the objective of multiprogramming?

a) Have a process running at all time

b) Have multiple programs waiting in a queue ready to run

c) To increase CPU utilization

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: To increase CPU utilization

34. A single thread of control allows the process to perform __________

a) only one task at a time

b) multiple tasks at a time

c) only two tasks at a time

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: only one task at a time

35. What is the ready state of a process?

a) when process is scheduled to run after some execution

b) when process is unable to run until some task has been completed

c) when process is using the CPU

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: when process is scheduled to run after some execution

36. In Unix, Which system call creates the new process?

a) fork

b) create

c) new

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: fork

37. In operating system, each process has its own __________

a) address space and global variables

b) open files

c) pending alarms, signals and signal handlers

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: all of the mentioned

38. The systems which allow only one process execution at a time, are called __________

a) uniprogramming systems

b) uniprocessing systems

c) unitasking systems

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: uniprocessing systems

39. A process can be terminated due to __________

a) normal exit

b) fatal error

c) killed by another process

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: all of the mentioned

40. What is interprocess communication?

a) communication within the process

b) communication between two process

c) communication between two threads of same process

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: communication between two process

41. A process stack does not contain __________

a) Function parameters

b) Local variables

c) Return addresses

d) PID of child process

Answer: PID of child process

42. Which system call can be used by a parent process to determine the termination of child process?

a) wait

b) exit

c) fork

d) get

Answer: wait

43. A set of processes is deadlock if __________

a) each process is blocked and will remain so forever

b) each process is terminated

c) all processes are trying to kill each other

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: each process is blocked and will remain so forever

44. The address of the next instruction to be executed by the current process is provided by the __________

a) CPU registers

b) Program counter

c) Process stack

d) Pipe

Answer: Program counter

45. The link between two processes P and Q to send and receive messages is called __________

a) communication link

b) message-passing link

c) synchronization link

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: communication link

46. What is Interprocess communication?

a) allows processes to communicate and synchronize their actions when using the same address space

b) allows processes to communicate and synchronize their actions

c) allows the processes to only synchronize their actions without communication

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: allows processes to communicate and synchronize their actions

47. Which of the following two operations are provided by the IPC facility?

a) write & delete message

b) delete & receive message

c) send & delete message

d) receive & send message

Answer: receive & send message

48. Message passing system allows processes to 

__________

a) communicate with each other without sharing the same address space

b) communicate with one another by resorting to shared data

c) share data

d) name the recipient or sender of the message

Answer: communicate with each other without sharing the same address space

49. Messages sent by a process __________

a) have to be of a fixed size

b) have to be a variable size

c) can be fixed or variable sized

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: can be fixed or variable sized

50. Which of the following are TRUE for direct communication?

a) A communication link can be associated with N number of process(N = max. number of processes supported by system)

b) A communication link is associated with exactly two processes

c) Exactly N/2 links exist between each pair of processes(N = max. number of processes supported by system)

d) Exactly two link exists between each pair of processes

Answer: A communication link is associated with exactly two processes

51. In the non blocking send __________

a) the sending process keeps sending until the message is received

b) the sending process sends the message and resumes operation

c) the sending process keeps sending until it receives a message

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: the sending process sends the message and resumes operation

52. In indirect communication between processes P and Q __________

a) there is another process R to handle and pass on the messages between P and Q

b) there is another machine between the two processes to help communication

c) there is a mailbox to help communication between P and Q

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: there is a mailbox to help communication between P and Q

53. In the Zero capacity queue __________

a) the queue can store at least one message

b) the sender blocks until the receiver receives the message

c) the sender keeps sending and the messages don’t wait in the queue

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: the sender blocks until the receiver receives the message

54. Bounded capacity and Unbounded capacity queues are referred to as __________

a) Programmed buffering

b) Automatic buffering

c) User defined buffering

d) No buffering

Answer: Automatic buffering

55. The Zero Capacity queue __________

a) is referred to as a message system with buffering

b) is referred to as a message system with no buffering

c) is referred to as a link

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: is referred to as a message system with no buffering

56. In UNIX, each process is identified by its __________

a) Process Control Block

b) Device Queue

c) Process Identifier

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: Process Identifier

57. Cascading termination refers to termination of all child processes if the parent process terminates ______

a) Normally

b) Abnormally

c) Normally or abnormally

d) None of the mentioned

Answer: Normally or abnormally

58. A parent process calling _____ system call will be suspended until children processes terminate.

a) wait

b) fork

c) exit

d) exec

Answer: wait

59. With _____________ only one process can execute at a time; meanwhile all other process are waiting for the processor. With ______________ more than one process can be running simultaneously each on a different processor.

a) Multiprocessing, Multiprogramming

b) Multiprogramming, Uniprocessing

c) Multiprogramming, Multiprocessing

d) Uniprogramming, Multiprocessing

Answer: Uniprogramming, Multiprocessing

60. In UNIX, the return value for the fork system call is _____ for the child process and _____ for the parent process.

a) A Negative integer, Zero

b) Zero, A Negative integer

c) Zero, A nonzero integer

d) A nonzero integer, Zero

Answer: Zero, A nonzero integer

61. The child process can __________

a) be a duplicate of the parent process

b) never be a duplicate of the parent process

c) cannot have another program loaded into it

d) never have another program loaded into it

Answer: be a duplicate of the parent process

62. Restricting the child process to a subset of the parent’s resources prevents any process from __________

a) overloading the system by using a lot of secondary storage

b) under-loading the system by very less CPU utilization

c) overloading the system by creating a lot of sub-processes

d) crashing the system by utilizing multiple resources

Answer: overloading the system by creating a lot of sub-processes

63. The child process completes execution, but the parent keeps executing, then the child process is known as __________

a) Orphan

b) Zombie

c) Body

d) Dead

Answer: Zombie

64. Which one of the following is a synchronization tool?

a) thread

b) pipe

c) semaphore

d) socket

Answer: semaphore

65. Which process can be affected by other processes executing in the system?

a) cooperating process

b) child process

c) parent process

d) init process

Answer: cooperating process

66. If a process is executing in its critical section, then no other processes can be executing in their critical section. What is this condition called?

a) mutual exclusion

b) critical exclusion

c) synchronous exclusion

d) asynchronous exclusion

Answer: mutual exclusion

67. When several processes access the same data concurrently and the outcome of the execution depends on the particular order in which the access takes place is called ________

a) dynamic condition

b) race condition

c) essential condition

d) critical condition

Answer: race condition

68. A semaphore is a shared integer variable __________

a) that can not drop below zero

b) that can not be more than zero

c) that can not drop below one

d) that can not be more than one

Answer: that can not drop below zero

69. Mutual exclusion can be provided by the __________

a) mutex locks

b) binary semaphores

c) both mutex locks and binary semaphores

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: both mutex locks and binary semaphores

70. To enable a process to wait within the monitor __________

a) a condition variable must be declared as condition

b) condition variables must be used as boolean objects

c) semaphore must be used

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: a condition variable must be declared as condition

71. When high priority task is indirectly preempted by medium priority task effectively inverting the relative priority of the two tasks, the scenario is called __________

a) priority inversion

b) priority removal

c) priority exchange

d) priority modification

Answer: priority inversion

72. A monitor is a module that encapsulates __________

a) shared data structures

b) procedures that operate on shared data structure

c) synchronization between concurrent procedure invocation

d) all of the mentioned

Answer: all of the mentioned

73. Process synchronization can be done on __________

a) hardware level

b) software level

c) both hardware and software level

d) none of the mentioned

Answer: both hardware and software level

74. The number of processes completed per unit time is known as __________

a) Output

b) Throughput

c) Efficiency

d) Capacity

Answer: Throughput

75. Which of the following is not the state of a process?

a) New

b) Old

c) Waiting

d) Running

Answer: Old