Internet & Networks: How the Web Really Works: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. What does HTML stand for?
- A. High Transfer Machine Language
- B. Home Tool Markup Language
- C. HyperText Markup Language
- D. Hyperlink Text Management Language
Answer: HyperText Markup Language
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) describes the structure of a web page — its headings, paragraphs, links and images. It works alongside CSS, which controls how the page looks, and JavaScript, which makes it interactive.
2. In 'IP address', what does 'IP' stand for?
- A. Internal Program
- B. Internet Protocol
- C. Information Packet
- D. Interface Port
Answer: Internet Protocol
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a numeric label that identifies a device on a network so that data can reach it. The older IPv4 system uses 32-bit addresses — about 4.3 billion in total — so the newer IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses to provide vastly more.
3. What is the main job of DNS (the Domain Name System)?
- A. Blocking computer viruses
- B. Storing your passwords
- C. Compressing large files
- D. Translating domain names into IP addresses
Answer: Translating domain names into IP addresses
DNS works like the internet's phone book: when you type a name such as example.com, it looks up the matching numeric IP address so your browser can connect. Without it, we would have to remember strings of numbers for every website.
4. What does Wi-Fi use to carry data between your device and the router?
- A. Radio waves
- B. Infrared light
- C. Sound waves
- D. Electric current through wires
Answer: Radio waves
Wi-Fi sends data using radio waves, most commonly in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands. Its technical standards belong to the IEEE 802.11 family.
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5. Which protocol encrypts your connection to a website, often shown by a padlock icon in the browser?
- A. FTP
- B. SMTP
- C. HTTPS
- D. Telnet
Answer: HTTPS
HTTPS is the secure version of HTTP: it uses TLS encryption so that others on the network cannot read or alter what you send, such as passwords. FTP is an older protocol for transferring files, and Telnet is an old, unencrypted remote-login protocol.
6. What is SMTP mainly used for?
- A. Streaming video
- B. Assigning IP addresses
- C. Displaying web pages
- D. Sending email
Answer: Sending email
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) carries email from your mail app to a mail server and between servers. To read or download messages from a server, mail apps use other protocols such as IMAP or POP3.
7. What type of network connects computers within a small area, such as a single home, school or office building?
- A. LAN
- B. WAN
- C. MAN
- D. VPN
Answer: LAN
A LAN (Local Area Network) covers a small area such as a home or office, while a WAN (Wide Area Network) spans cities or even countries. The internet itself is the largest WAN of all — a network of networks.
8. Which device directs data packets between different networks, such as your home network and the internet?
- A. Hub
- B. Router
- C. Repeater
- D. Monitor
Answer: Router
A router reads the destination address on each data packet and decides where to send it next, linking separate networks together. A hub, by contrast, simply copies incoming data to every connected device, and a repeater only boosts a weakening signal.
9. In email, what does 'CC' stand for?
- A. Carbon copy
- B. Common contact
- C. Copy content
- D. Computer copy
Answer: Carbon copy
'CC' means carbon copy, a term borrowed from the days when typists used carbon paper to make duplicates of letters. Everyone can see who was CC'd, but recipients added under 'BCC' (blind carbon copy) stay hidden from the others.
10. On 1 January 1983, ARPANET permanently switched to which set of protocols — a date often called the 'birthday' of the internet?
- A. HTTP/HTML
- B. SMTP/POP3
- C. TCP/IP
- D. USB/HDMI
Answer: TCP/IP
TCP/IP, designed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, lets very different networks exchange data in a common way, which made a worldwide 'network of networks' possible. TCP breaks data into packets and checks that they arrive correctly, while IP handles addressing and routing.