AP CSP AP Test Study

Which of the following is an example of a phishing attack?

• Loading malicious software onto a user’s computer in order to secretly gain access to sensitive information

• Flooding a user’s computer with e-mail requests in order to cause the computer to crash

• Gaining remote access to a user's computer in order to steal user IDs and passwords

• Using fraudulent e-mails in order to trick a user into voluntarily providing sensitive information

Answer explanation

Phishing is a technique that attempts to trick a user into providing personal information. In this case, the user is tricked by a fraudulent e-mail.

To be eligible for a particular ride at an amusement park, a person must be at least 12 years old and must be between 50 and 80 inches tall, inclusive.

Let age represent a person’s age, in years, and let height represent the person’s height, in inches. Which of the following expressions evaluates to true if and only if the person is eligible for the ride?

• (age ≥ 12) AND ((height ≥ 50) AND (height ≤ 80))

• (age ≥ 12) AND ((height ≤ 50) AND (height ≥ 80))

• (age ≥ 12) AND ((height ≤ 50) OR (height ≥ 80))

• (age ≥ 12) OR ((height ≥ 50) AND (height ≤ 80))

Answer explanation

For a person to be eligible for the ride, age must be greater than or equal to 12 and height must be greater than or equal to 50 and less than or equal to 80. Therefore, all three of the conditions (age ≥ 12), (height ≥ 50), and (height ≤ 80) must be true for a person to be eligible for the ride.

What are the values of first and second as a result of executing the code segment?

• first = 100, second = 100

• first = 100, second = 200

• first = 200, second = 100

• first = 200, second = 200

Answer explanation

The variable first is initially assigned the value 100 and the variable second is initially assigned the value 200. Next, temp is assigned the value of first, which is 100. Next, second is assigned the value of temp, which is 100. Last, first is assigned the value ofsecond, which is 100. After execution, both first and second have the value 100.

Which of the following best explains the relationship between the Internet and the World Wide Web?

• Both the Internet and the World Wide Web refer to the same interconnected network of devices.

• The Internet is an interconnected network of data servers, and the World Wide Web is a network of user devices that communicates with the data servers.

• The Internet is a local network of interconnected devices, and the World Wide Web is a global network that connects the local networks with each other.

• The Internet is a network of interconnected networks, and the World Wide Web is a system of linked pages, programs, and files that is accessed via the Internet.

Answer explanation

The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses protocols to connect devices worldwide. The World Wide Web is an information system (of pages, programs, and files) that is accessible over the Internet.

A code segment is intended to display the following output.

up down down down up down down down

Which of the following code segments can be used to display the intended output?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Answer explanation

For each iteration of the outer loop, "up" is displayed once and then "down" is displayed three times. The outer loop iterates two times, so "up down down down" is displayed two times as intended.

Which of the following best exemplifies the use of multifactor authentication to protect an online banking system?

• When a user resets a password for an online bank account, the user is required to enter the new password twice.

• When multiple people have a shared online bank account, they are each required to have their own unique username and password.

• After entering a password for an online bank account, a user must also enter a code that is sent to the user’s phone via text message.

• An online bank requires users to change their account passwords multiple times per year without using the same password twice.

Answer explanation

Multifactor authentication is a method of computer access control in which a user is only granted access after successfully presenting several separate pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism. In this case, the user provided a password and showed evidence of having the phone associated with the user account.

A game is played by moving a game piece left or right along a horizontal game board. The board consists of spaces of various colors, as shown. The circle represents the initial location of the game piece.

The following algorithm indicates how the game is played. The game continues until the game is either won by landing on the red space or lost when the piece moves off either end of the board.

Step 1:Place a game piece on a space that is not red and set a counter to 0.Step 2:If the game piece is on a yellow space, move the game piece 3 positions to the left and go to step 3. Otherwise, if the game piece is on a black space, move the game piece 1 position to the left and go to step 3. Otherwise, if the game piece is on a green space, move the game piece 2 positions to the right and go to step 3.Step 3:Increase the value of the counter by 1.Step 4:If game piece is on the red space or moved off the end of the game board, the game is complete. Otherwise, go back to step 2.

If a game is begun by placing the game piece on the rightmost black space for step 1, what will be the value of the counter at the end of the game?

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Answer explanation

The game piece begins at the rightmost black space. The piece moves one space to the left to a yellow space, and the counter is incremented to 1. The piece then moves three spaces to the left to another yellow space, and the counter is incremented to 2. The piece then moves three spaces to the left to a green space, and the counter is incremented to 3. The piece then moves two spaces to the right to the red space, and the counter is incremented to 4. The algorithm terminates now that the piece is in the red space.

Which of the following best describes a direct benefit in using redundant routing on the Internet?

• Redundancy enables messages to be transmitted with as few packets as possible.

• Redundancy enables network devices to communicate with as few network connections as possible.

• Redundancy often allows messages to be sent on the network even if some network devices or connections have failed.

• Redundancy often allows messages to be sent on the network even if some network devices or connections have failed.

Answer explanation

If a particular device or connection on the Internet fails, subsequent data will be sent via a different route, if possible. This is supported by redundancy in the network.

Which of the following best explains how an analog audio signal is typically represented by a computer?

• An analog audio signal is measured as input parameters to a program or procedure. The inputs are represented at the lowest level as a collection of variables.

• An analog audio signal is measured at regular intervals. Each measurement is stored as a sample, which is represented at the lowest level as a sequence of bits.

• An analog audio signal is measured as a sequence of operations that describe how the sound can be reproduced. The operations are represented at the lowest level as programming instructions.

• An analog audio signal is measured as text that describes the attributes of the sound. The text is represented at the lowest level as a string.

Answer explanation

Analog signals are sampled digitally at discrete intervals over time. These samples, like all digital data, are represented at the lowest level as a sequence of bits.

The player controls in a particular video game are represented by numbers. The controls and their corresponding binary values are shown in the following table.

Control Binary Value

← 01000

↑ 01001

→ 01011

↓ 01111

Jump 11000

Run 11001

Pause 11011

Reset 11111

The numeric values for the controls can also be represented in decimal (base 10). What is the decimal value for the jump control?

• 3

• 12

• 24

• 48

Answer explanation

The binary value 11000 is equal to 24+23, which is equal to 24.