LFCS Essential Commands Practice Question
A user needs to view the contents of a large text file one screen at a time. Which command is best for this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse `more` and `less` because both display content one screen at a time, but `less` is the more powerful and recommended tool for interactive viewing, and the LFCS exam expects you to know that `less` is the best choice for this task.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
less file.txt
`less` is a terminal pager that allows forward and backward navigation through a file, making it ideal for viewing large text files one screen at a time. Unlike `more`, `less` supports scrolling both up and down, and it does not load the entire file into memory, which is efficient for large files.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
nl file.txt
Why it's wrong here
nl numbers lines but does not paginate output.
- ✗
more file.txt
Why it's wrong here
more is a pager but less is more feature-rich and commonly preferred.
- ✗
cat file.txt
Why it's wrong here
cat outputs the entire file at once, which is not suitable for large files.
- ✓
less file.txt
Why this is correct
less is a full-featured pager that allows scrolling up and down.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This LFCS practice question is part of Courseiva's free Linux Foundation certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the LFCS exam.