Calicut University 2007 Certification TES THE PRINCETON REVIEW CET 1 - Question Paper

Two of these start-ups—TeraGen and a secretive outfit called Transmeta—are subsequent the
hardware route. They have adopted a variation on the approach used by Intel to make its new
chips faster while remaining compatible with earlier microprocessors. This involves translating
the intricate instructions favoured by earlier chip designers into simpler rudimentary
instructions, called micro-operations that can be rearranged by the processor to improve
performance. TeraGen’s approach builds on this idea, but generalizes it so that the company’s
custom-built chips can translate instructions from, and hence emulate, more than 1 type of
processor at a time.
Although Transmeta has not disclosed its plans, a patent granted to the company in November
1998 suggests that it, too, is working on a processor based on generalized micro-operations. In
addition, Transmeta’s technology appears to be a hybrid. The original code is translated using
software, while the hardware handles the housekeeping associated with emulating multiple
chips at once, a trick that could enable computers to don a host of new disguises in the future.


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41. According to the author, modern computers are masters of disguise because
(a) computer hardware is ever quicker, smaller and faster
(b) a few people resent having to junk perfectly good programs
(c) modern computers either impersonate or emulate older ones
(d) none of the above



42. The passage is most likely to be
(a) the continuation of a preceding passage
(b) the continuation of a following passage
(c) the last part of a bigger passage
(d) none of the above



43. Emulation
(a) goes on inside many computers all the time
(b) provides backwards compatibility with older processes
(c) bridges the gap ranging from various processors and operating systems
(d) all of the above.



44. The word ‘emulate,’ as used in the passage, can best be changed by
(a) imitate (b) work as well or better than
(c) impersonate (d) disguise


45. What is Java, according to the passage?
(a) A software program
(b) A language that runs on a fictitious computer
(c) A computer language that enables software to run on various processors

Earning:   Approval pending.