Which statement correctly describes the difference between text and binary files?

• A. Text files store unreadable data.
• B. Binary files store text data as characters.
• C. Text files store readable characters; binary files store data as bytes.
• D. Text files can be opened only with specialized editors.

Answer: (C)

The key idea is how data is stored and how that affects readability. Text files are designed to hold readable characters using a character encoding like ASCII or UTF-8, so you can view and edit their contents directly in a normal text editor. Binary files, on the other hand, store data as raw bytes; those bytes may represent anything from numbers to images, and aren’t meant to be read as text without special software to interpret them.

That makes the statement that text files store readable characters and binary files store data as bytes the best description. The other options misstate readability, how binary data is stored, or what tools are needed to open text files.