CS 401

MIDTERM PREPARATION (2025)

LECTURE WISE MCQS
Past paper by sir sharjeel
TOPIC NO 01:
1.1 Basic Computer Architecture

Q1. Which of the following is NOT a component of CPU?

(a) ALU
(b) Control Unit
(c) Registers
(d) Hard Disk
👉 Answer: (d) Hard Disk

Q2. Which bus is used to carry memory addresses?

(a) Data Bus
(b) Address Bus
(c) Control Bus
(d) System Bus
👉 Answer: (b) Address Bus

1.2 Registers

Q3. Which register holds the address of the next instruction?

(a) AX
(b) IP
(c) DS
(d) FLAGS
👉 Answer: (b) IP

Q4. The FLAGS register stores:

(a) Instructions
(b) Data
(c) Status bits like Carry, Zero, Sign
(d) Memory addresses
👉 Answer: (c) Status bits like Carry, Zero, Sign

1.3 Instruction Groups

Q5. Which instruction belongs to the data transfer group?

(a) ADD
(b) AND
(c) MOV
(d) JMP
👉 Answer: (c) MOV

Q6. Which one is a control flow instruction?

(a) OR
(b) POP
(c) CMP
(d) JMP
👉 Answer: (d) JMP

1.4 Intel iAPX88 Architecture

Q7. The Intel 8088 microprocessor has:

(a) 16-bit internal, 16-bit external bus
(b) 16-bit internal, 8-bit external bus
(c) 8-bit internal, 8-bit external bus
(d) 32-bit internal, 16-bit external bus
👉 Answer: (b) 16-bit internal, 8-bit external bus

Q8. Which unit in 8088 handles memory and I/O?

(a) ALU
(b) Execution Unit (EU)
(c) Bus Interface Unit (BIU)
(d) Control Unit
👉 Answer: (c) Bus Interface Unit (BIU)

1.5 History

Q9. Assembly language was first introduced in:

(a) 1940s
(b) 1950s
(c) 1960s
(d) 1980s
👉 Answer: (b) 1950s

Q10. In which era did high-level languages (C, Pascal) dominate programming?
(a) 1940s–1950s
(b) 1950s–1960s
(c) 1980s–1990s
(d) 2000s
👉 Answer: (c) 1980s–1990s

1.6 Register Architecture

Q11. Which register is used as a loop counter?

(a) AX
(b) BX
(c) CX
(d) DX
👉 Answer: (c) CX

Q12. AX register can be divided into:

(a) AH and AL
(b) BH and BL
(c) CH and CL
(d) DH and DL
👉 Answer: (a) AH and AL

1.7 Our First Program

Q13. Which DOS interrupt is used to print a string?

(a) 20h
(b) 21h
(c) 09h
(d) 10h
👉 Answer: (b) 21h

Q14. Which instruction is used to terminate a program in assembly (DOS)?

(a) INT 10h
(b) INT 20h
(c) INT 21h (AH = 4Ch)
(d) HLT
👉 Answer: (c) INT 21h (AH = 4Ch)
1.8 Segmented Memory Model

Q15. In 8086/8088, one segment size is:

(a) 16 bytes
(b) 64 KB
(c) 1 MB
(d) Unlimited
👉 Answer: (b) 64 KB

Q16. The formula for physical address is:

(a) Segment + Offset
(b) Segment × 10h + Offset
(c) Segment ÷ Offset
(d) Segment – Offset
👉 Answer: (b) Segment × 10h + Offset

TOPIC NO 02:
Basic Concept

1. An addressing mode in assembly language specifies:

(a) How an instruction is decoded
(b) How the effective address of the operand is calculated ✅
(c) How many operands are required
(d) The size of the instruction

Data Declaration

2. Which directive is used to define a 16-bit word in assembly language?

(a) DB
(b) DW ✅
(c) DD
(d) DS
3. Which of the following defines an array of 4 bytes?
(a) arr DB 1,2,3,4 ✅
(b) arr DW 1,2,3,4
(c) arr DD 1,2,3,4
(d) arr DS 4
Direct Addressing

4. In direct addressing mode, the operand’s address is:

(a) Stored in a register
(b) Specified directly in the instruction ✅
(c) Obtained from stack
(d) Computed as register + displacement

Size Mismatch Errors

5. Which of the following is invalid due to size mismatch?

(a) MOV AX, [1234h]
(b) MOV AL, [BX]
(c) MOV AX, BL ✅
(d) MOV SI, [2000h]

Register Indirect

6. Which registers can be used in register indirect addressing mode?

(a) AX, CX, DX, BX
(b) SI, DI, BX, BP ✅
(c) CS, DS, SS, ES
(d) None of these

Register + Offset

7. The instruction MOV AL, [BX+05h] belongs to:

(a) Immediate addressing
(b) Register indirect
(c) Register + displacement ✅
(d) Indexed

Segment Association

8. By default, data is fetched from which segment?

(a) CS
(b) SS
 (c) DS ✅
(d) ES
9. Which instruction uses segment override?
(a) MOV AL, [BX]
(b) MOV AL, ES:[BX] ✅
(c) MOV AX, BX
(d) MOV AL, 05h

Address Wraparound

10. If the calculated address goes beyond FFFFFh in 8086, it will:

(a) Halt the program
(b) Cause an error
(c) Wrap around to 00000h ✅
(d) Access ROM only

Summary & Mixed

11. Which of the following is an immediate addressing example?

(a) MOV AX, 1234h ✅
(b) MOV AX, [1234h]
(c) MOV AX, [BX]
(d) MOV AX, BX
12. Which addressing mode allows access using base + index + displacement?
(a) Register indirect
(b) Indexed
(c) Based-indexed ✅
(d) Direct

TOPIC NO 03:
Branching Basics

1. In Assembly, branching means:

(a) Executing instructions line by line
(b) Changing the normal flow of execution ✅
(c) Storing data in registers
(d) Accessing memory locations
2. Which instruction is used for unconditional branching?
(a) CMP
(b) LOOP
 (c) JMP ✅
(d) TEST
3. Conditional branching is based on:
(a) Registers only
(b) Memory addresses
(c) Flags (Zero, Carry, Sign) ✅
(d) Segment overrides

Comparison & Conditions (CMP, TEST)

4. CMP AX, BX does:

(a) Subtracts BX from AX and stores result
(b) Adds AX and BX
(c) Compares AX and BX by subtracting (result not stored) ✅
(d) Multiplies AX and BX
5. After CMP AX, BX, if AX = BX, then:
(a) ZF = 1 ✅
(b) ZF = 0
(c) CF = 1
(d) OF = 1

Conditional Jumps

6. Which jump executes if operands are equal?

(a) JNE
(b) JNZ
(c) JE ✅
(d) JL
7. Instruction JL Label means:
(a) Jump if AX = BX
(b) Jump if less ✅
(c) Jump if not equal
(d) Jump if greater
8. Which instruction is used for looping?
(a) CMP
(b) LOOP ✅
(c) JMP
(d) MOV

Unconditional Jump
 9. The JMP instruction:
(a) Jumps only when ZF = 1
(b) Always jumps ✅
(c) Never jumps
(d) Depends on CX

Relative Addressing

10. Relative addressing in jumps means:

(a) Jump to a fixed absolute address
(b) Jump based on offset relative to current IP ✅
(c) Jump within another segment
(d) Jump only if condition true

Types of Jump

11. The range of a short jump is:

(a) -128 to +127 bytes ✅
(b) -255 to +255 bytes
(c) -64 to +63 bytes
(d) -512 to +511 bytes
12. A far jump changes:
(a) Only IP
(b) Only CS
(c) CS and IP ✅
(d) DS and SS

Sorting Example

13. In bubble sort, which instruction is mainly used for comparing two values?
(a) MOV
(b) CMP ✅
(c) LOOP
(d) TEST
14. In sorting, conditional jump (e.g., JBE) is used to:
(a) Always swap values
(b) Compare and swap only if needed ✅
(c) Skip loop iterations always
(d) Increment counter only
 TOPIC NO 04:
4.1 Multiplication Algorithm

1. Multiplication by a power of 2 in binary can be done using:

(a) Addition
(b) Subtraction
(c) Left shift
(d) Right shift
Answer: (c) Left shift
2. Which algorithm is faster for multiplication?
(a) Repeated addition
(b) Shift-and-add method
(c) Repeated subtraction
(d) Division method
Answer: (b) Shift-and-add method

4.2 Shifting and Rotations

3. SHL instruction in assembly is equivalent to:

(a) Division by 2
(b) Multiplication by 2
(c) Subtraction
(d) Rotate left
Answer: (b) Multiplication by 2
4. In SAR (Shift Arithmetic Right), the vacant positions are filled with:
(a) 0s
(b) 1s
(c) Sign bit
(d) Carry flag
Answer: (c) Sign bit
5. Which of the following preserves all bits (no loss)?
(a) SHL
(b) SHR
(c) SAR
(d) ROL / ROR
Answer: (d) ROL / ROR

4.3 Multiplication in Assembly

 6. Which instruction is used for unsigned multiplication?
(a) IMUL
(b) MUL
(c) DIV
(d) IDIV
Answer: (b) MUL
7. In MUL BL, the result is stored in:
(a) AX
(b) AL
(c) BL
(d) DX
Answer: (a) AX

4.4 Extended Operations

8. After 8-bit division using DIV, the quotient is stored in:

(a) AH
(b) AL
(c) AX
(d) DX
Answer: (b) AL
9. The instruction used to extend sign for signed division is:
(a) SAR
(b) CBW / CWD
(c) IMUL
(d) IDIV
Answer: (b) CBW / CWD

4.5 Bitwise Logical Operations

10. Which operation is used to clear specific bits?

(a) OR
(b) AND
(c) XOR
(d) NOT
Answer: (b) AND
11. Which bitwise operation is used to toggle bits?
(a) OR
(b) AND
(c) XOR
(d) NOT
Answer: (c) XOR
 12. Which instruction inverts all bits of a register?
(a) XOR
(b) NOT
(c) AND
(d) OR
Answer: (b) NOT

4.6 Masking Operations

13. Which operation would you use to set a particular bit to 1?

(a) AND Masking
(b) OR Masking
(c) XOR Masking
(d) NOT Masking
Answer: (b) OR Masking
14. To clear the lower 4 bits of AL, which mask is correct?
(a) AND 0Fh
(b) AND F0h
(c) OR 0Fh
(d) XOR FFh
Answer: (b) AND F0h
15. Which masking is used for bit toggling?
(a) AND Masking
(b) OR Masking
(c) XOR Masking
(d) NOT Masking
Answer: (c) XOR Masking

TOPIC NO 05:
1. Subroutines

Q1. A subroutine is also called:

(A) Function
(B) Procedure
(C) Routine
(D) All of these
✅ Answer: D

Q2. Which instruction is used to call a subroutine?

(A) RET
(B) CALL
(C) PUSH
(D) JMP
✅ Answer: B

Q3. The main benefit of subroutines is:

(A) Avoids code repetition
(B) Makes program modular
(C) Easier debugging
(D) All of these
✅ Answer: D

2. Program Flow

Q4. Normal program flow is:

(A) Sequential
(B) Random
(C) Reverse
(D) None of these
✅ Answer: A

Q5. Which instruction is used to return control from subroutine?

(A) CALL
(B) RET
(C) JMP
(D) LOOP
✅ Answer: B

Q6. In the example:

MOV AX, 5
CALL SQUARE

After execution, AX will contain:

(A) 5
(B) 10
(C) 25
(D) 0
✅ Answer: C

3. Our First Subroutine

Q7. The subroutine DOUBLE doubles the value in AX. If AX = 6 before CALL DOUBLE, then after
return AX = ?
(A) 6
(B) 12
(C) 36
(D) 0
✅ Answer: B

4. Stack

Q8. The stack works on principle of:

(A) FIFO
(B) LIFO
(C) FILO
(D) None
✅ Answer: B

Q9. Which pair of instructions are used to store/retrieve from stack?

(A) MOV / ADD
(B) PUSH / POP
(C) CALL / RET
(D) INC / DEC
✅ Answer: B

5. Saving and Restoring Registers

Q10. Why do we save registers in a subroutine?

(A) To speed up program
(B) To protect register values from being lost
(C) To clear memory
(D) To load constants
✅ Answer: B

Q11. If registers are not restored before RET:

(A) No effect
(B) Main program may lose important values
(C) Stack will be empty
(D) Program runs faster
✅ Answer: B

6. Parameter Passing Through Stack

Q12. Parameters are passed to subroutines through:
(A) Registers only
(B) Memory only
(C) Stack
(D) Code Segment
✅ Answer: C

Q13. In the given example, pushing 5 and calling SQUARE returns:

(A) 5
(B) 10
(C) 25
(D) Error
✅ Answer: C

7. Local Variables

Q14. Local variables in assembly are stored in:

(A) Code segment
(B) Registers
(C) Stack
(D) Data segment
✅ Answer: C

Q15. What happens to local variables after subroutine returns?

(A) They remain permanently stored
(B) They are destroyed (released from stack)
(C) They become global
(D) They move to registers
✅ Answer: B

TOPIC NO 06:
1. Display Memory

Q1. In text mode, video memory segment starts at:

(A) A000h
(B) B000h
(C) B800h
(D) C000h
✅ Answer: C

Q2. Each character in display memory uses:

(A) 1 byte
(B) 2 bytes
(C) 4 bytes
(D) 8 bytes
✅ Answer: B

2. ASCII Codes

Q3. ASCII code of character 'A' is:

(A) 41h
(B) 61h
(C) 30h
(D) 50h
✅ Answer: A

Q4. ASCII code of digit '0' is:

(A) 0
(B) 48 (30h)
(C) 50 (32h)
(D) 65 (41h)
✅ Answer: B

3. Display Memory Formation

Q5. To display a character, the first byte stores:

(A) Background color
(B) ASCII code
(C) Attribute (color)
(D) Address
✅ Answer: B

Q6. The second byte of a character cell in display memory represents:

(A) ASCII code
(B) Address
(C) Attribute (color/brightness)
(D) Row number
✅ Answer: C

4. Hello World in Assembly

Q7. To display a string like “Hello”, we must:
(A) Use interrupts only
(B) Write ASCII codes + attributes into video memory
(C) Use global registers only
(D) Use stack only
✅ Answer: B

5. Number Printing in Assembly

Q8. To print number 5 on screen, we must convert it to ASCII by:

(A) Adding 20h
(B) Adding 30h
(C) Subtracting 30h
(D) No conversion needed
✅ Answer: B

Q9. If AL = 07h, what will it print?

(A) '7'
(B) ASCII Bell sound
(C) White on black color
(D) Nothing
✅ Answer: B

6. Screen Location Calculation

Q10. In 80x25 text mode, the formula to find a memory offset for row R and column C is:
(A) (R × 25 + C) × 2
(B) (R × 80 + C) × 2
(C) (R × 2 + C) × 80
(D) (R + C) × 80
✅ Answer: B

Q11. If we want to display a character at row 5, column 10, the offset will be:
(A) (5 × 80 + 10) × 2 = 820
(B) (10 × 80 + 5) × 2 = 1650
(C) (25 × 5 + 10) × 2 = 260
(D) None
✅ Answer: A

TOPIC NO 07:
Q1. Which register pair is commonly used as source and destination pointers in string
instructions?
(a) AX, BX
(b) DS:SI, ES:DI
(c) CX, DX
(d) SP, BP

✅ Answer: (b) DS:SI, ES:DI

Q2. The instruction STOSW stores data from:

(a) BX into ES:DI
(b) AX into ES:DI
(c) AL into DS:SI
(d) CX into ES:DI

✅ Answer: (b) AX into ES:DI

Q3. Which prefix is used to repeat a string instruction until CX becomes zero?
(a) LOOP
(b) REP
(c) JMP
(d) CALL

✅ Answer: (b) REP

Q4. The LODSB instruction loads a byte from:

(a) DS:SI → AL
(b) ES:DI → AL
(c) DS:SI → AX
(d) ES:DI → AX

✅ Answer: (a) DS:SI → AL

Q5. To clear the screen using STOSW, which segment is used for video memory in color text
mode?
(a) A000h
(b) B000h
(c) B800h
(d) C000h

✅ Answer: (c) B800h

Q6. The instruction SCASB is used to:

(a) Scan and replace characters
(b) Compare AL with ES:DI memory byte
(c) Copy a string from DS:SI to ES:DI
(d) Store AL at ES:DI

✅ Answer: (b) Compare AL with ES:DI memory byte

Q7. Which instruction is best for comparing two strings?

(a) MOVSB
(b) STOSB
(c) CMPSB
(d) SCASB

✅ Answer: (c) CMPSB

Q8. The LES instruction loads:

(a) ES and AX
(b) ES and BX (or any register)
(c) DS and SI
(d) ES only

✅ Answer: (b) ES and BX (or any other specified register)

Q9. If DF (Direction Flag) is cleared (CLD), string instructions process memory in which
direction?
(a) Backward (decrement SI/DI)
(b) Forward (increment SI/DI)
(c) Randomly
(d) No effect

✅ Answer: (b) Forward (increment SI/DI)

Q10. Which instruction can be used to implement screen scrolling (shifting lines upward)?
(a) LODSB
(b) MOVSW
(c) SCASB
(d) STOSB

✅ Answer: (b) MOVSW

TOPIC NO 08:
📘 MCQs – Interrupts
Q1. What does an interrupt do in a microprocessor system?
(a) Repeats the last instruction
(b) Stops CPU permanently
(c) Temporarily diverts execution to ISR
(d) Clears registers

✅ Answer: (c) Temporarily diverts execution to ISR

Q2. Which instruction is used to generate a software interrupt in assembly language?

(a) CALL
(b) INT
(c) IRET
(d) JMP

✅ Answer: (b) INT

Q3. What does the CPU push on the stack when an interrupt occurs?
(a) AX, BX, CX
(b) CS, IP, FLAGS
(c) DS, ES, BP
(d) Only IP

✅ Answer: (b) CS, IP, FLAGS

📘 MCQs – Software Interrupts
Q4. Which of the following is a software interrupt instruction?
(a) INT 21h
(b) MOV AX, BX
(c) PUSH AX
(d) RET

✅ Answer: (a) INT 21h

Q5. Software interrupts are mainly used for:

(a) Hardware testing
(b) System services like I/O and memory
(c) Only arithmetic calculations
(d) Debugging only

✅ Answer: (b) System services like I/O and memory

📘 MCQs – Hooking an Interrupt

Q6. The Interrupt Vector Table (IVT) starts at:
(a) 1000h:0000h
(b) 0000h:0000h
(c) F000h:FFF0h
(d) B800h:0000h

✅ Answer: (b) 0000h:0000h

Q7. Changing the entry of an interrupt in the IVT to point to a new routine is called:
(a) Masking
(b) Hooking
(c) Branching
(d) Nesting

✅ Answer: (b) Hooking

📘 MCQs – BIOS Interrupts
Q8. Which BIOS interrupt is used for video (display) services?
(a) INT 10h
(b) INT 13h
(c) INT 16h
(d) INT 21h

✅ Answer: (a) INT 10h

Q9. BIOS keyboard services are provided by:

(a) INT 09h
(b) INT 16h
(c) INT 20h
(d) INT 1Ah

✅ Answer: (b) INT 16h

📘 MCQs – DOS Interrupts

Q10. The main DOS interrupt for file and device services is:
(a) INT 10h
(b) INT 13h
(c) INT 16h
(d) INT 21h

✅ Answer: (d) INT 21h

Q11. To display a character on screen using DOS, we use function:

(a) AH = 01h
(b) AH = 02h
(c) AH = 09h
(d) AH = 0Eh

✅ Answer: (b) AH = 02h

Q12. Which instruction is used at the end of an interrupt service routine?
(a) RET
(b) JMP
(c) IRET
(d) CALL

✅ Answer: (c) IRET

TOPIC NO 09:
Q1. Real Time Interrupts are mainly generated by:
(a) Keyboard controller
(b) Programmable Interval Timer (PIT)
(c) Mouse driver
(d) Parallel port

✅ Answer: (b) Programmable Interval Timer (PIT)

Q2. The system timer in a PC generates interrupts how many times per second?
(a) 10
(b) 18.2
(c) 50
(d) 1000

✅ Answer: (b) 18.2

Q3. Hardware interrupts are generated by:

(a) CPU instructions only
(b) External devices via IRQ lines
(c) DOS function calls
(d) TSR programs

✅ Answer: (b) External devices via IRQ lines

Q4. When a key is pressed, the keyboard generates which interrupt?

(a) INT 08h
(b) INT 09h
(c) INT 10h
(d) INT 16h
✅ Answer: (b) INT 09h

Q5. Which assembly instruction is used to read from an I/O port?

(a) OUT
(b) MOV
(c) IN
(d) PUSH

✅ Answer: (c) IN

Q6. Which type of DOS program remains in memory even after execution ends?
(a) EXE program
(b) COM program
(c) TSR program
(d) Overlay program

✅ Answer: (c) TSR program

Q7. Which interrupt is commonly hooked by TSR programs to track timer events?
(a) INT 09h
(b) INT 1Ch
(c) INT 21h
(d) INT 10h

✅ Answer: (b) INT 1Ch

Q8. The 8253/8254 Programmable Interval Timer has how many counters?
(a) 1
(b) 2
(c) 3
(d) 4

✅ Answer: (c) 3

Q9. Which channel of PIT (8253) is used for system clock in PCs?
(a) Channel 0
(b) Channel 1
(c) Channel 2
(d) Channel 3

✅ Answer: (a) Channel 0

Q10. The base I/O address for the LPT1 parallel port is:
(a) 3F8h
(b) 2F8h
(c) 378h
(d) 60h

✅ Answer: (c) 378h

Q11. The parallel port transfers data:

(a) Serially, 1 bit at a time
(b) Parallel, 8 bits at once
(c) Only 4 bits at a time
(d) Using DMA

✅ Answer: (b) Parallel, 8 bits at once

Q12. The instruction used to send data to an output port is:

(a) IN
(b) OUT
(c) PUSH
(d) JMP

✅ Answer: (b) OUT

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