Name: ________________________

3.3 Mock paper 2018 Class: ________________________

Date: ________________________

Time: 68 minutes

Marks: 65 marks

Comments:

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1 A bit pattern is shown in the figure below.

01001110

(a) Convert the bit pattern in the figure above into decimal.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(1)

(b) Convert the bit pattern in the figure above into hexadecimal.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 3 marks)

2 A student’s answer to the question “Why is hexadecimal often used instead of binary?” is shown
in the figure below.

Because it uses fewer digits it will take up less space in a computer’s memory.

Explain why the student’s answer is incorrect.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

3 State the binary representation of the decimal number 87.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

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4 State the binary representation of the hexadecimal number CE. You must show your working.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

5 Place these three numbers into order of size (1–3 where 1 is the largest and 3 is the smallest).

Number Order (1–3)

The decimal number 12

The binary number 1110

The hexadecimal number D

(Total 2 marks)

6 State the hexadecimal representation of the decimal number 125. You must show your working.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

7 Give one reason why programmers often use hexadecimal, instead of binary, to represent
numbers.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

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8 State the denary representation of the hexadecimal number A7. Show your working.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

9 A sound file has a size of 24,000 bits. What is 24,000 bits in kilobytes?

You should show your working.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

10 Bob purchases a 4GB SD card for use as secondary storage in his phone.

Calculate how many megabytes there are in 4GB. Show your working.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

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11 Place the following quantities in order of size (1 – 4, where 1 is the smallest and 4 is the largest).

Quantity Order (1 – 4)

15 bits

3 nibbles

2 bytes

1 kilobyte

(Total 3 marks)

Complete the binary addition calculation.

12

(Total 2 marks)

Complete the binary addition calculation of three numbers.

13

(Total 2 marks)

The bit pattern below is stored in a byte.

14

(a) What bit pattern will be stored in the byte after a left binary shift of 3 places has been
performed on the bit pattern?

(1)

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 (b) If the bit pattern above represents a whole decimal number, what would be the effect on the
decimal number of performing a left binary shift of 2 places?

___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 2 marks)

Shade in one lozenge to indicate which of the statements below is the false statement.
15
A ASCII stores each character code in 7 bits.

B ASCII can only represent letters in uppercase; it does not support

lowercase.

C Character codes in ASCII are grouped together and run in

sequence.

D ASCII and Unicode use the same character codes up to character

number 127.

(Total 1 mark)

16 ASCII is a character-encoding system that uses seven bits to represent each character.
Complete the table stating the binary representation of the character g.

Character Binary Representation

f 110 0110
g

(Total 1 mark)

17 The ASCII character set uses seven bits to encode every character.

What is the total number of characters that can be encoded in ASCII?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

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 Explain the advantages of Unicode over ASCII for encoding characters.
18
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

19 Explain the possible limitations of using the ASCII character set for global communication.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 4 marks)

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 The diagram below shows a 10 x 10 pixel black and white image.
20

The image is stored as a bitmap, with the value 0 used to represent black and 1 used to
represent white.

(a) State the binary encoding of Row 6 of the image.

___________________________________________________________________
(1)

(b) The image is improved by making it a colour image with 16 different colours being used.
The resolution remains 10 x 10 pixels.

Calculate the minimum amount of memory that would be required to store the image.

Express your answer in bytes.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Final Answer: ______________ bytes

(3)

(c) State two effects of increasing the number of pixels that the image is made up of.

Effect 1: ____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Effect 2: ____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 6 marks)

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21 A bitmapped image with a colour depth of one can represent images that use two colours.

How many more colours can be represented in an image if the colour depth is increased from
one to four?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

22 Define sample resolution.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

23 One way of representing sound digitally is to take samples of the original sound.

Define sampling rate.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

24 Calculate the file size in bits for a two minute sound recording that has used a sample rate of
1000 Hertz (Hz) and a sample resolution of 5 bits.

You should show your working.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 3 marks)

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25 The table below shows four stages in converting sound into a digital form.

Show the correct order for the stages by labelling them with the numbers 1 – 4
(1 being the first stage).

Stage Order (1 – 4)

binary representation of level stored

microphone picks up sound waves

value read at specific point and rounded to a level

converted to an electrical analogue signal

(Total 3 marks)

26 Shade one lozenge which shows the true statement about run length encoding:

A It will always make a file smaller.

B It is most effective on data that appears random.

C It will not lose any of the original data.

(Total 1 mark)

27 Sound files are stored as bit patterns. Bit patterns are often compressed.

Compress the following bit pattern using run length encoding.

0000 0011 1111 1000 0000 0000 0111 1111

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 4 marks)

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28 When data is stored in a computer it is often compressed. One method that can be used to
compress text data is Huffman coding. To produce a Huffman code each character in a piece of
text is placed in a tree, with its position in the tree determined by how often the character was
used in the piece of text.

A Huffman tree for the text ZOE SAW A ZEBRA AT THE ZOO is shown in the figure below.

Using this Huffman tree the Huffman coding for the character E would be the bit pattern 110
because from the top of the tree E is to the right, then right again and then left.

The character Z is represented by the bit pattern 010 because from the top of the tree Z is to the
left, then right and then left.

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(a) Using the Huffman code in the figure above, complete the table to show the Huffman
coding for the characters O, SPACE and B.

Character Huffman coding

SPACE

(3)

(b) Using Huffman coding the text ZOE SAW A ZEBRA AT THE ZOO can be stored in 83 bits.

Calculate how many additional bits are needed to store the same piece of text using ASCII.
Show your working.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(3)
(Total 6 marks)

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Mark schemes

1 (a) Mark is for AO2 (apply)

1 mark: 78;
1

(b) All marks AO2 (apply)

1 mark: 4;
1 mark: E;

Maximum 1 mark: If final answer not correct.

2
[3]

2 All marks AO1 (understanding)

1 mark: The answer is incorrect because number will be represented using binary in a
computer’s memory;
1 mark: so it will take up the same amount of memory space;
[2]

3 101 0111;

I. Leading zeros
[1]

4 1100 1110;

If answer given is 11001110 then reward any attempt at working;

If the answer given is not 11001110 then a maximum of 1 mark can be awarded for any of
the following working out stages:

• C or E (but not both) are converted to an incorrect binary representation but are then
combined with the other correct representation. For example C is converted
incorrectly to 1001 but E is converted correctly to 1110 and the answer given is
10011110;
• C is converted to a denary number other than 12 and / or E is converted to a denary
number other than 14 but both of the denary numbers are correctly converted to
binary.
• The candidate has attempted to multiply 16 by 12 and 1 by 14 but has then
incorrectly converted the result into binary (through either an initial multiplication error
or binary conversion error but not both).
[2]

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5 1 mark for one correct row;
Both marks for all three correct rows;

Number Order (1 – 3)

The decimal number 12 3

The binary number 1110 1

The hexadecimal number D 2

R. if duplicate numbers have been used

[2]

6 7D;

If there is no hexadecimal answer then do not reward any working;

If the answer given is 7D then reward any attempt at working;

If the hexadecimal answer given is not 7D then a maximum of 1 mark can be awarded
for any of the following working out stages:

• convert to binary 0111 1101

• convert each of their nibbles to hex
A. if incorrect bit pattern is converted to its corresponding hex value
• show division of 125 by 16 giving the quotient and remainder;
[2]

7 1 mark each for any correct answer.

Examples include:
Hexadecimal is easier (for humans) to read (than binary);
Hexadecimal is easier to convert (to binary) than denary;
Numbers are displayed in a more compact way (in hexadecimal than in binary);
It is quicker to type in (hexadecimal numbers than binary numbers);
It is more accurate to type in (hexadecimal numbers than binary numbers);

R. anything that implies less memory is used.

[1]

8 1 mark for correct answer: 167

1

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 1 mark for working (award any correct method), eg:
A −> 10 x 16 −> 160
160 + 7 −> 167
Or
A7 −> 10 (first nibble) 7 (second nibble) −> 1010 0111 −> 1+2+4+32+128
−> 167
1
[2]

9 2 marks for AO2 (apply)

2 marks if the answer given is 3 KB (I. no units);

If the answer is incorrect award then:

1 mark for for performing a division by 8, evidenced by answer or method being shown;
1 mark for performing a division 1000, evidenced by answer or method being shown;

MAX 1 if answer is incorrect.

A. if students have used 1024 instead of 1000.

[2]

10 1 mark for AO1 (recall) and 1 mark for AO2 (apply)

1000 × 4 // 4000;;

1 mark for AO1: identifying that there are 1000 megabytes in a gigabyte;
1 mark for AO2: multiplying by 4;

A. 1024 × 4 // 4096;;

Maximum 1 mark: If final answer not correct.

[2]

11 1 mark if 1 number correct.

2 marks if 2 numbers correct.
3 marks if all 4 numbers correct.
The correct order is: 2, 1, 3, 4.

Quantity Order (1 – 4)

15 bits 2

3 nibbles 1

2 bytes 3

1 kilobyte 4

[3]
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 2 marks for AO2 (apply)
12
1 mark: First four bits of answer are 1001
1 mark: Last four bits of answer are 0101

[2]

2 marks for AO2 (apply)

13
1 mark: First four bits of answer are 1101
1 mark: Last four bits of answer are 0001

[2]

(a) Mark is for AO2 (apply)

14
10100000;
1

(b) Mark is for AO1 (knowledge and understanding)

Multiplied by 4;
1
[2]

Mark is for AO1 (knowledge and understanding)

15
1 mark: B ASCII can only represent letters in uppercase; it does not support lowercase.

Award 0 marks if more than one lozenge shaded in

[1]

16 110 0111.
R. if more than 7 bits used (e.g. 0110 0111).
[1]

17 128 (characters) // 27 (characters);

[1]

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 2 marks for AO1 (knowledge and understanding)
18
1 mark: Unicode can represent more characters;
1 mark: from the list:

• This allows alphabets with a large number of characters to be represented (accept

examples)
• Special symbols can be represented
• Each symbol code can be used for just one symbol so is unambiguous (in contrast to ASCII
where different versions exist for different countries)
[2]

19
ASCII is a 7-bit character set so can include at most 27 / 128 different characters. These
128 characters represent mainly just the Latin alphabet (accept English) and so this means
that the characters of many other alphabets (accept languages) cannot be represented.

1 mark for each underlined point.

MAX 4
[4]

(a) Mark is for AO2 (apply)

20
1011111011;
1

(b) 3 marks for AO2 (apply)

If the correct answer (50) is shown and there is some working then award all 3 marks.

If the answer is incorrect then award up to 2 working marks for:

• Multiplying 10 x 10;
• Multiplying by 4;
• Dividing by 8;
3

(c) 2 marks for AO1 (knowledge and understanding)

The image will take up more memory;

The image can include more detail // it will be possible to zoom in on the image further
before it becomes pixelated;
2
[6]

21 Mark is for AO2 (apply)

1 mark: 14;
[1]

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22 All marks for AO1 (recall)

1 mark: Number of bits;

1 mark: used to represent a sample;
[2]

23 All marks for AO1 (recall)

1 mark: number of samples taken;

1 mark: per second; A. alternative time periods eg minute
[2]

24 3 marks for AO2 (apply)

3 marks if the answer given is 600,000 bits (I. no units);

If the answer is incorrect award then:

1 mark for converting 2 minutes into 120 seconds;

1 mark for showing multiplication of the number of seconds (I. if not correct) by 1000 by 5
(A. multiplying just by 5000);
[3]

25 1 mark if 1 stage correct

2 marks if 2 stages correct
3 marks if all 4 stages correct
The correct stages are:
4, 1, 3, 2
[3]

26 Mark is for AO1 (understanding)

C (It will not lose any of the original data) only;

If more than one lozenge shaded then mark is not awarded

[1]

27 4 Marks for AO2 (apply)

Mark as follows:
1 mark for each correct frequency-value pair up to a maximum of four;

The correct answer is:

6 0, 7 1, 12 0, 7 1

A. equivalent symbols such as (6,0), (7,1) etc

A. if frequency and value are the other way around, ie 0 6, 1 7, etc
[4]

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28 (a) All marks AO2 (apply)

Character Huffman coding

O 111

SPACE 10

B 00110

Mark as follows:

1 mark per correct response

3

(b) 1 mark for AO1 (understanding) and 2 marks for AO2 (apply)

7; * 26; = 182
182 − 83; = 99

//

8; * 26; = 208
208 − 83; = 125

Mark as follows:
1 mark for AO1: identifying number of bits used to represent an ASCII character;
1 mark for AO2: multiplying by 26;
1 mark for AO2: subtracting 83 from their answer for the number of bits used to
represent the ASCII version of the text; A. Incorrectly calculated number of bits used
for ASCII version
Maximum 1 mark: for correct answer with no working out shown
3
[6]

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Examiner reports

3 Over three quarters of candidates were able to convert the decimal number 87 into binary. As in
previous questions of this type some candidates chose to give their answer with leading zero(es)
whereas other candidates just provided the 7 bits necessary; in either case candidates would
have been rewarded with the mark.
Of those candidates who attempted the question, but were incorrect, many either started their
binary number ‘placeholders’ at 0 and not 1 or alternatively wrote out the binary number with the
1 placeholder to the left and the placeholders extending from left to right instead of right to left.

4 This question proved more difficult for candidates with slightly less than half getting the full two
marks (marks were awarded for working if one incorrect conversion was carried forward – see
the mark scheme for details). Some candidates converted the number to denary instead of binary
and others multiplied C (12) by 16, added E (14) and then converted this to binary; the simplest
form of translation is to take each hexadecimal digit and convert that to the corresponding 4-bit
binary number.

5 In this question over two thirds of candidates ordered the three numbers correctly and many
papers showed annotations that students had made to assist them. A typical mistake that
appears frequently with hexadecimal digits is for A to be converted to 11 and not 10 and for the
subsequent hexadecimal numbers to be one more than they should.

6 Only 40% of candidates gained full marks for this question when asked to convert from decimal
to hexadecimal. About 1 in 5 candidates received one mark for working here and the mark
scheme lists how this mark can be awarded. It would appear that most of the errors in translation
were made when converting the remainder of 13 to the hexadecimal digit D.

7 This question was generally answered well although we would advise candidates to be specific
when answering questions like this.

11 Almost three quarters of candidates received full marks showing a good knowledge of bit
units.

16 This is a relatively simple question if candidates are aware of the way that ASCII encodings
increment alphabetically (ie the code for ‘g’ is one more than the code for ‘f’). A good
working knowledge of binary numbers would also mean that candidates would realise they
only have to change the least significant bit from a 0 to a 1 to get the correct answer.

17 This question was only answered correctly by a quarter of candidates. Many students gave
incorrect answers such as ‘7’ or ‘1000000’ which shows a lack of understanding of bits as
placeholders however the number ‘127’ was a common but incorrect answer.

25 Almost all candidates received at least one mark for this question with the majority gaining full
marks.
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