Unix Exam Guide

The Introduction to Unix course has two examinations:  a Mid-term exam and a Final exam.  Each exam is open only for a limited period of days; please visit the Assignment Schedule page to reach the exam during that time.  The exams require your CATE user name and password.

The Mid-term exam covers the subjects in Labs 1 through 6.  The final exam is comprehensive, including some topics from the beginning of the course, although it places emphasis on topics since the mid-term.  Both tests consist of 40 multiple-choice questions (each with at most five answer choices) randomly drawn from a test bank.

Once you begin the test, you must finish it within three hours. The test will not close after the third hour, but you may receive a reduced score if you take more than three hours to finish. However, most students finish the test in about an hour.

You may not close the test and come back to it: you'll get a different test, and your previous entries will be lost. Furthermore, whenever you open the test, the CATE system adds a time-stamped entry to your record, which your instructor can see. Therefore, if you close the test without submitting it, please contact your instructor to explain.

Even if you submitted the test more than once, only the first submission's score counts. (This is the opposite of your lab assignments, where only your last submission counts, as long as it came in before the deadline.)

Please send questions or comments to the unix-intro message list, with your section number in the Subject line.  If you have personal questions, such as about your scores or grades, please e-mail your instructor privately.