Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 2 exam with 18 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: Which of the following commands is used on a Linux system to display the current working directory's full pathname to th. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- Which of the following commands is used on a Linux system to display the current working directory's full pat…
- Which command is used in the Linux terminal to change the permissions of a file?
- Samantha works in the human resource department in an open floorplan office. She is concerned about the possi…
- Which of the following commands is used on a Linux system to list the currently running processes on a system?
- An attacker is using a precomputed table of values to attempt to crack your Windows password. What type of pa…
- Employees frequently experience slow loading or errors on websites previously visited without issue. IT suppo…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. Which of the following commands is used on a Linux system to display the current working directory's full pathname to the screen?
Answer: C. pwd
The pwd command displays the present working directory path on a Linux system. The chown and chmod commands are used to change file ownership and permissions, while passwd changes user account passwords.
Q2. Which command is used in the Linux terminal to change the permissions of a file?
Answer: D. chmod
The chmod command modifies file and directory permissions in Linux. The chown command changes file ownership, pwd displays the current directory, and sudo executes commands with root privileges.
Q3. Samantha works in the human resource department in an open floorplan office. She is concerned about the possibility of someone conducting shoulder surfing to read sensitive information from employee files while accessing them on her comput…
Answer: B. Privacy screen
A privacy filter narrows the monitor viewing angle so bystanders cannot easily read the screen, directly countering shoulder surfing. Hardware tokens and biometric locks protect access but do not stop someone from looking at an active display.
Q4. Which of the following commands is used on a Linux system to list the currently running processes on a system?
Answer: C. ps
The ps command lists currently running processes along with their process IDs and resource usage. The kill command terminates processes, ls lists directory contents, and grep searches text, so they do not provide the active process list.
Q5. An attacker is using a precomputed table of values to attempt to crack your Windows password. What type of password attack is this?
Answer: A. Rainbow table
A rainbow table uses a precomputed database of hashes to reverse cryptographic hash functions quickly. Brute-force and dictionary attacks generate hashes in real-time, making them much slower than using a precomputed lookup table.
Q6. Employees frequently experience slow loading or errors on websites previously visited without issue. IT support suspects cached data is causing conflicts. Which browser setting should IT instruct employees to adjust?
Answer: D. Regularly clear the browser cache to remove stored temporary data.
Clearing the browser cache removes conflicting temporary files that prevent previously visited websites from loading properly. Updating the browser or blocking unknown scripts improves security but does not resolve stored cache corruption.
Q7. Which of the following is an online storage solution provided by Apple that natively works with macOS and iOS devices?
Answer: A. iCloud
iCloud is Apple's proprietary cloud storage service natively integrated into macOS and iOS for syncing data. OneDrive and Google Drive are first-party solutions for Microsoft and Google, while Dropbox is a popular third-party alternative.
Q8. A user reports that after logging into their Windows 11 computer, they are met with a black screen and a movable cursor. They add that no desktop icons or taskbar are visible. Which of the following is the best initial method for attemptin…
Answer: C. Restart the Windows Explorer process using Task Manager
Restarting the Windows Explorer process quickly restores the desktop shell without altering system state. Since the cursor remains active, monitor connections are fine, making driver reinstalls or system restores premature and unnecessarily disruptive.
Q9. Dion Training wants to provide governance for the length, complexity, and expiration requirements for its user's knowledge-based authentication factors. Which of the following policies should this be documented within?
Answer: C. Password policy
A password policy directly governs knowledge-based authentication factors by defining complexity, length, and expiration rules. Acceptable use policies govern how employees utilize company resources, while an asset management policy tracks inventory.
Q10. Which of the following is used to communicate data and preferences to child processes within a script or batch file?
Answer: C. Environmental variables
Environment variables are used to pass configuration data and system preferences to child processes within scripts. Regular variables only store temporary values locally, whereas comments are ignored by the interpreter entirely during execution.
Q11. Eduardo has jailbroken his iPhone to install third-party apps that are otherwise unavailable on the official App Store. After doing so, he begins experiencing frequent crashes and notices an unfamiliar app with administrative permissions…
Answer: A. Restore the device to factory settings to remove the jailbreak
Restoring the device to factory settings completely removes the jailbreak and reinstates official iOS security protections. Simply revoking app permissions is insufficient because jailbreaking bypasses built-in system security restrictions entirely, leaving the device compromised.
Q12. A network technician must allow HTTP traffic from the Internet over port 80 to an internal server running HTTP over port 81. Which of the following is this an example of?
Answer: D. Port forwarding
Port forwarding maps an external port to a different internal port and IP address. Static NAT simply maps a public IP address to a private IP address one-to-one, whereas dynamic DNS updates name records and does not translate ports.
Q13. Your mother says there is something wrong with her computer, but unfortunately, she doesn't know how to fix it. She asks if you can remotely connect to her computer and see if you can fix it. Which of the following technologies would BEST…
Answer: D. RDP
Remote Desktop Protocol provides a graphical interface so you can fully interact with a remote Windows desktop. Secure Shell only provides a text-based command-line interface, which is less helpful for troubleshooting general operating system issues visually.
Q14. You are helping to set up a backup plan for your organization. The current plan states that all of the organization's Linux servers must have a daily backup conducted. These backups are then saved to a local NAS device. You have been asked…
Answer: D. Attempt to restore to a test server from one of the backup files to verify them
Performing a test restoration to a non-production server is the only definitive way to verify backup integrity. Setting up scripts to retry failed jobs only ensures the backup completes, while copying files off-site provides redundancy but not validity.
Q15. Which of the following is a primary advantage of the Android operating system compared to iOS?
Answer: B. It allows users to install apps from third-party sources
Android allows users to freely install applications from third-party sources through sideloading. iOS strictly limits installations to the official App Store unless the device is jailbroken, making Apple's ecosystem much more restrictive by design.
Q16. A user cannot change their iPad display from landscape to portrait when they are on the home screen. Which of the following is MOST likely the reason for this issue?
Answer: A. Autorotate is disabled
The autorotate feature being disabled prevents the screen orientation from switching between portrait and landscape modes. You can easily toggle this by accessing the Control Center and tapping the rotation lock icon.
Q17. Which of the following features allows a Linux server to provide file-sharing services to a company's Windows 10 workstations?
Answer: A. Samba
Samba enables cross-platform file and print sharing between Linux servers and Windows workstations. Yum is a package manager used for software installation, while Pathping is a Windows utility used to diagnose network routing issues.
Q18. Which of the following will prevent unauthorized people from changing the boot order or boot from an unauthorized operating system?
Answer: B. BIOS password required
A BIOS or UEFI password prevents unauthorized users from entering the firmware to change the boot order. While Secure Boot ensures only trusted operating systems load, it does not physically stop someone from changing the boot sequence.
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