Abstraction & Simulations Review

Taken as a whole, is a physical computer low-level or high-level?

• Low-level, because the computer processes the lowest-level form of software

• High level, because the computer contains many lower-level components such as the CPU

• High-level because the computer is capable of utilizing higher-level programming languages

• Neither, as it is not software

Which of the following has the lowest level of hardware abstraction?

• Transistors

• Computer chips

• Motherboard

• Computer

Order the following programming languages from low-level language to high-level language: COBOL, Python, Machine Code

A theme park wants to create a simulation to determine how long it should expect the wait time at its most popular ride. Which of the following characteristics for the virtual patrons would be most useful? Select two answers.

• Food preference- denotes the type of food that a patron prefers to eat (e.g. chicken, burgers, salads)

• Ride-preference- denotes whether a patron prefers roller coasters, other thrill rides, gentle rides or no rides

• Walking preference- denotes whether a patron is willing to walk in between rides

• Ticket type- denotes whether the patron has a single-day pass, a multi-day pass, or an annual pass

Suppose that an environmentalist wanted to understand the spread of invasive species. What would be a benefit of doing this with a simulation, rather than real life?

• The species used in the simulation could be designed to mimic many different species at once.

• The species created could be quickly tested in multiple environments to better understand how its spread is affected by environmental factors.

• The simulation could be run much more quickly than in real life.

• All of the above.