Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Computer Science A: Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

Following is a representative set of questions. The answer key for the Computer
Science A multiple-choice questions is on page 43. Multiple-choice scores are based on
the number of questions answered correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect
answers, and no points are awarded for unanswered questions. Because points are not
deducted for incorrect answers, students are encouraged to answer all multiple-choice
questions. Students should eliminate as many choices as they can on any questions for
which they do not know the answer, and then select the best answer among the
remaining choices.
Directions: Determine the answer to each of the following questions or incomplete
statements, using the available space for any necessary scratch work. Then decide
which is the best of the choices given and fill in the corresponding circle on the
answer sheet. No credit will be given for anything written in the examination booklet.
Do not spend too much time on any one problem
Notes:
• Assume that the classes listed in the Java Quick Reference have been imported
where appropriate.
• Assume that declarations of variables and methods appear within the context of
an enclosing class.
• Assume that method calls that are not prefixed with an object or class name and
are not shown within a complete class definition appear within the context of an
enclosing class.
• Unless otherwise noted in the question, assume that parameters in method calls
are not null and that methods are called only when their preconditions are
satisfied.

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

1. Consider the following code segment.

What is printed as a result of executing the code segment?

(a) 4 16
(b) 4 10 16
(c) 0 6 12 18
(d) 1 4 7 10 13 16 19
(e) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

2. Consider the following code segment.

    

What is printed as a result of executing the code segment?

(a) [dog, fish, cat]
(b) [dog, fish, lizard]
(c) [dog, lizard, fish]
(d) [fish, dog, cat]
(e) The code throws an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException exception.

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

3. Consider the following method.

   

Assume that a List<Integer> values initially contains the following

Integer values.
[0, 0, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 0]

What will values contain as a result of executing mystery(values) ?

(a) [0, 0, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 0]
(b) [4, 2, 5, 3]
(c) [0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 2, 5, 3]
(d) [0, 4, 2, 5, 3]
(e) The code throws an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException exception.

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

4. At a certain high school students receive letter grades based on the following
scale.
Integer Score Letter Grade
93 or above A
From 84 to 92 inclusive B
From 75 to 83 inclusive C
Below 75 F

Which of the following code segments will assign the correct string to grade
for a given integer score ?

(a) II only
(b) III only
(c) I and II only
(d) I and III only
(e) I, II, and III

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

5. Consider the following output.

1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
3 3 3
4 4
5

Which of the following code segments will produce this output?

(a) for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++)
{
for (int k = 1; k <= 5; k++)
{
System.out.print(j + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
(b) for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++)
{
for (int k = 1; k <= j; k++)
{
System.out.print(j + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
(c) for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++)
{
for (int k = 5; k >= 1; k--)
{
System.out.print(j + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
(d) for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++)
{
for (int k = 5; k >= j; k--)
{
System.out.print(j + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
(e) for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++)
{
for (int k = j; k <= 5; k++)
{
System.out.print(k + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

6. A car dealership needs a program to store information about the cars for sale. For
each car, they want to keep track of the following information: number of doors
(2 or 4), whether the car has air conditioning, and its average number of miles
per gallon. Which of the following is the best object-oriented program design?
(a) Use one class, Car, with three instance variables:
int numDoors, boolean hasAir, and
double milesPerGallon.
(b) Use four unrelated classes: Car, Doors, AirConditioning, and
MilesPerGallon.
(c) Use a class Car with three subclasses: Doors, AirConditioning, and
MilesPerGallon.
(d) Use a class Car, with a subclass Doors, with a subclass
AirConditioning, with a subclass MilesPerGallon.
(e) Use three classes: Doors, AirConditioning, and MilesPerGallon,
each with a subclass Car.

7. Consider the following declarations.

public interface Shape
{
int isLargerThan(Shape other);
// Other methods not shown
}
public class Circle implements Shape
{
// Other methods not shown
}

Which of the following method headings of isLargerThan can be added to the

declaration of the Circle class so that it will satisfy the Shape interface?
I. public int isLargerThan(Shape other)
II. public int isLargerThan(Circle other)
III. public boolean isLargerThan(Object other)

(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) III only
(d) I and II only
(e) I, II, and III

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Questions 8–9 refer to the following incomplete class declaration.

public class TimeRecord

{
private int hours;
private int minutes; // 0 < minutes < 60
/** Constructs a TimeRecord object.
* @param h the number of hours
* Precondition: h > 0
* @param m the number of minutes
* Precondition: 0 < m < 60
*/
public TimeRecord(int h, int m)
{
hours = h;
minutes = m;
}

/** @return the number of hours

*/
public int getHours()
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

/** @return the number of minutes

* Postcondition: 0 < minutes < 60
*/
public int getMinutes()
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

/** Adds h hours and m minutes to this TimeRecord.

* @param h the number of hours
* Precondition: h > 0
* @param m the number of minutes
* Precondition: m > 0
*/
public void advance(int h, int m)
{
hours = hours + h;
minutes = minutes + m;
/* missing code */
}
// Other methods not shown
}

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

8. Which of the following can be used to replace /* missing code */ so that advance
will correctly update the time?
(a) minutes = minutes % 60;
(b) minutes = minutes + hours % 60;
(c) hours = hours + minutes / 60;
minutes = minutes % 60;
(d) hours = hours + minutes % 60;
minutes = minutes / 60;
(e) hours = hours + minutes / 60;

9. Consider the following declaration that appears in a class other than TimeRecord.

TimeRecord[] timeCards = new TimeRecord[100];

Assume that timeCards has been initialized with TimeRecord objects.

Consider the following code segment that is intended to compute the total of all
the times stored in timeCards.
TimeRecord total = new TimeRecord(0,0);
for (int k = 0; k < timeCards.length; k++)
{
/* missing expression */ ;
}

Which of the following can be used to replace /* missing expression */ so that

the code segment will work as intended?
(a) timeCards[k].advance()
(b) total += timeCards[k].advance()
(c) total.advance(timeCards[k].hours,
timeCards[k].minutes)
(d) total.advance(timeCards[k].getHours(),
timeCards[k].getMinutes())
(e) timeCards[k].advance(timeCards[k].getHours(),
timeCards[k].getMinutes())

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

10. Consider the following instance variable and method.

private int[] arr;

/** Precondition: arr contains no duplicates;

* the elements in arr are in ascending order.
* @param low an int value such that 0 < low < arr.length
* @param high an int value such that low - 1 < high < arr.length
* @param num an int value
*/
public int mystery(int low, int high, int num)
{
int mid = (low + high) / 2;
if (low > high)
{
return low;
}
else if (arr[mid] < num)
{
return mystery(mid + 1, high, num);
}
else if (arr[mid] > num)
{
return mystery(low, mid − 1, num);
}
else // arr[mid] == num
{
return mid;
}
}

What is returned by the call mystery(0, arr.length − 1, num)?

(a) The number of elements in arr that are less than num
(b) The number of elements in arr that are less than or equal to num
(c) The number of elements in arr that are equal to num
(d) The number of elements in arr that are greater than num
(e) The index of the middle element in arr

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Questions 11–12 refer to the following information.

Consider the following instance variable nums and method findLongest with
line numbers added for reference. Method findLongest is intended to find the
longest consecutive block of the value target occurring in the array nums;
however, findLongest does not work as intended.

For example, if the array nums contains the values [7, 10, 10, 15, 15, 15, 15, 10,
10, 10, 15, 10, 10], the call findLongest(10) should return 3, the length of the
longest consecutive block of 10s.

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

11. The method findLongest does not work as intended. Which of the following
best describes the value returned by a call to findLongest ?
(a) It is the length of the shortest consecutive block of the value target
in nums.
(b) It is the length of the array nums.
(c) It is the number of occurrences of the value target in nums.
(d) It is the length of the first consecutive block of the value target in nums.
(e) It is the length of the last consecutive block of the value target in nums.

12. Which of the following changes should be made so that method findLongest
will work as intended?
(a) Insert the statement lenCount = 0;
between lines 2 and 3.
(b) Insert the statement lenCount = 0;
between lines 8 and 9.
(c) Insert the statement lenCount = 0;
between lines 10 and 11.
(d) Insert the statement lenCount = 0;
between lines 11 and 12.
(e) Insert the statement lenCount = 0;
between lines 12 and 13.

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

13. Consider the following instance variable and method.

private int[] numbers;

/** Precondition: numbers contains int values in no particular order.

*/
public int mystery(int num)
{
for (int k = numbers.length − 1; k >= 0; k−−)
{
if (numbers[k] < num)
{
return k;
}
}
return -1;
}

Which of the following best describes the contents of numbers after the
following statement has been executed?

int m = mystery(n);

(a) All values in positions 0 through m are less than n.

(b) All values in positions m+1 through numbers.length-1 are less than n.
(c) All values in positions m+1 through numbers.length-1 are greater than
or equal to n.
(d) The smallest value is at position m.
(e) The largest value that is smaller than n is at position m.

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

14. Consider the following method.

/** @param x an int value such that x >= 0

*/
public void mystery(int x)
{
System.out.print(x % 10);
if ((x / 10) != 0)
{
mystery(x / 10);
}
System.out.print(x % 10);
}

Which of the following is printed as a result of the call mystery(1234)?

(a) 1234
(b) 4321
(c) 12344321
(d) 43211234
(e) Many digits are printed due to infinite recursion.

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

15. Consider the following two classes.

public class Dog

{
public void act()
{
System.out.print("run ");
eat();
}
public void eat()
{
System.out.print("eat ");
}
}
public class UnderDog extends Dog
{
public void act()
{
super.act();
System.out.print("sleep ");
}
public void eat()
{
super.eat();
System.out.print("bark ");
}
}

Assume that the following declaration appears in a class other than Dog.

Dog fido = new UnderDog();

What is printed as a result of the call fido.act() ?

(a) run eat
(b) run eat sleep
(c) run eat sleep bark
(d) run eat bark sleep
(e) Nothing is printed due to infinite recursion.

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

16. Consider the following recursive method.

public static int mystery(int n)

{
if (n <= 1)
{
return 0;
}
else
{
return 1 + mystery(n / 2);
}
}

Assuming that k is a nonnegative integer and m = 2k, what value is returned as a

result of the call mystery(m) ?
(a) 0
(b) k
(c) m
m
(d) +1
2
(e) k + 1
2

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

17. Consider the following instance variable and method.

private int[] array;

/** Precondition: array.length > 0

*/
public int checkArray()
{
int loc = array.length / 2;
for (int k = 0; k < array.length; k++)
{
if (array[k] > array[loc])
{
loc = k;
}
}
return loc;
}

Which of the following is the best postcondition for checkArray ?

(a) Returns the index of the first element in array array whose value is
greater than array[loc]
(b) Returns the index of the last element in array array whose value is greater
than array[loc]
(c) Returns the largest value in array array
(d) Returns the index of the largest value in array array
(e) Returns the index of the largest value in the second half of array array

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

18. Consider the following methods.

public void changer(String x, int y)

{
x = x + "peace";
y = y * 2;
}

public void test()

{
String s = "world";
int n = 6;
changer(s, n);

/* End of method */
}

When the call test() is executed, what are the values of s and n at the
point indicated by /* End of method */ ?

s n
(a) world 6
(b) worldpeace 6
(c) world 12
(d) worldpeace 12
(e) peace 12

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

19. Consider the following code segment.

int[][] mat = new int[3][4];

for (int row = 0; row < mat.length; row++)
{
for (int col = 0; col < mat[0].length; col++)
{
if (row < col)
{
mat[row][col] = 1;
}
else if (row == col)
{
mat[row][col] = 2;
}
else
{
mat[row][col] = 3;
}
}
}

What are the contents of mat after the code segment has been executed?
(a) {{2, 1, 1},
{3, 2, 1},
{3, 3, 2},
{3, 3, 3}}
(b) {{2, 3, 3},
{1, 2, 3},
{1, 1, 2},
{1, 1, 1}}
(c) {{2, 3, 3, 3},
{1, 2, 3, 3},
{1, 1, 2, 3}}
(d) {{2, 1, 1, 1},
{3, 2, 1, 1},
{3, 3, 2, 1}}
(e) {{1, 1, 1, 1},
{2, 2, 2, 2},
{3, 3, 3, 3}}

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

20. Consider the following method.

/** Precondition: arr contains only positive values.

*/
public static void doSome(int[] arr, int lim)
{
int v = 0;
int k = 0;
while (k < arr.length && arr[k] < lim)
{
if (arr[k] > v)
{
v = arr[k]; /* Statement S */
}
k++; /* Statement T */
}
}

Assume that doSome is called and executes without error. Which of the
following are possible combinations for the value of lim, the number of times
Statement S is executed, and the number of times Statement T is executed?

Value of Executions of Executions of

lim Statement S Statement T
I. 5 0 5
II. 7 4 9
III. 3 5 2

(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) III only
(d) I and III only
(e) II and III only

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

21. Consider the following instance variable, arr, and incomplete method,
partialSum. The method is intended to return an integer array sum such that
for all k, sum[k] is equal to arr[0] + arr[1] + ... + arr[k]. For
instance, if arr contains the values { 1, 4, 1, 3 }, the array sum will
contain the values { 1, 5, 6, 9 }.
private int[] arr;
public int[] partialSum()
{
int[] sum = new int[arr.length];
for (int j = 0; j < sum.length; j++)
{
sum[j] = 0;
}
/* missing code */
return sum;
}

The following two implementations of /* missing code */ are proposed so that

partialSum will work as intended.

Implementation 1
for (int j = 0; j < arr.length; j++)
{
sum[j] = sum[j - 1] + arr[j];
}

Implementation 2
for (int j = 0; j < arr.length; j++)
{
for (int k = 0; k <= j; k++)
{
sum[j] = sum[j] + arr[k];
}
}

Which of the following statements is true?

(a) Both implementations work as intended, but implementation 1 is faster than
implementation 2.
(b) Both implementations work as intended, but implementation 2 is faster than
implementation 1.
(c) Both implementations work as intended and are equally fast.
(d) Implementation 1 does not work as intended, because it will cause an
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.
(e) Implementation 2 does not work as intended, because it will cause an
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.
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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

22. Consider the following declaration for a class that will be used to represent points
in the xy-coordinate plane.
public class Point
{
private int x; // x-coordinate of the point
private int y; // y-coordinate of the point

public Point()
{
x = 0;
y = 0;
}

public Point(int a, int b)

{
x = a;
y = b;
}

// Other methods not shown

}

The following incomplete class declaration is intended to extend the above class
so that points can be named.
public class NamedPoint extends Point
{
private String name; // name of point

// Constructors go here

// Other methods not shown

}

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Consider the following proposed constructors for this class.

I. public NamedPoint()
{
name = "";
}

II. public NamedPoint(int d1, int d2, String pointName)

{
x = d1;
y = d2;
name = pointName;
}

III. public NamedPoint(int d1, int d2, String pointName)

{
super(d1, d2);
name = pointName;
}

Which of these constructors would be legal for the NamedPoint class?

(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) III only
(d) I and III only
(e) II and III only

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

23. Consider a shuffle method that is intended to return a new array that contains
all the elements from nums, but in a different order. Let n be the number of
elements in nums. The shuffle method should alternate the elements from
nums[0] … nums[n / 2 – 1] with the elements from nums[n / 2] …
nums[n – 1], as illustrated in the following examples.

Example 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
nums 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
result 10 50 20 60 30 70 40 80

Example 2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
nums 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

0 1 2 3 4 5 6
result 10 40 20 50 30 60 70

The following implementation of the shuffle method does not work as intended.
public static int[] shuffle(int[] nums)
{
int n = nums.length;
int[] result = new int[n];

for (int j = 0; j < n / 2; j++)

{
result[j * 2] = nums[j];
result[j * 2 + 1] = nums[j + n / 2];
}

return result;
}

Which of the following best describes the problem with the given implementation of
the shuffle method?
(a) Executing shuffle may cause an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.
(b) The first element of the returned array (result[0]) may not have the
correct value.
(c) The last element of the returned array (result[result.length − 1])
may not have the correct value.
(d) One or more of nums[0] … nums[nums.length / 2 − 1] may have
been copied to the wrong position(s) in the returned array.
(e) One or more of nums[nums.length / 2] … nums[nums.length − 1]
may have been copied to the wrong position(s) in the returned array.
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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

24. Consider the following Util class, which contains two methods. The completed
sum1D method returns the sum of all the elements of the 1-dimensional array a.
The incomplete sum2D method is intended to return the sum of all the elements
of the 2-dimensional array m.
public class Util
{
/** Returns the sum of the elements of the 1-dimensional array a */
public static int sum1D(int[] a)
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

/** Returns the sum of the elements of the 2-dimensional array m */

public static int sum2D(int[][] m)
{
int sum = 0;

/* missing code */

return sum;
}
}

Assume that sum1D works correctly. Which of the following can replace
/* missing code */ so that the sum2D method works correctly?

I. for (int k = 0; k < m.length; k++)

{
sum += sum1D(m[k]);
}

II. for (int[] row : m)

{
sum += sum1D(row);
}

III. for (int[] row : m)

{
for (int v : row)
{
sum += v;
}
}

(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) I and II only
(d) II and III only
(e) I, II, and III

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

25. The following sort method correctly sorts the integers in elements into
ascending order.
Line 1: public static void sort(int[] elements)
Line 2: {
Line 3: for (int j = 0; j < elements.length - 1; j++)
Line 4: {
Line 5. int index = j;
Line 6:
Line 7: for (int k = j + 1; k < elements.length; k++)
Line 8: {
Line 9: if (elements[k] < elements[index])
Line 10: {
Line 11: index = k;
Line 12: }
Line 13: }
Line 14:
Line 15: int temp = elements[j];
Line 16: elements[j] = elements[index];
Line 17: elements[index] = temp;
Line 18: }
Line 19: }

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Which of the following changes to the sort method would correctly sort the
integers in elements into descending order?
I. Replace line 9 with:
Line 9: if (elements[k] > elements[index])

II. Replace lines 15–17 with:

Line 15: int temp = elements[index];
Line 16: elements[index] = elements[j];
Line 17: elements[j] = temp;

III. Replace line 3 with:

Line 3: for (int j = elements.length − 1; j > 0; j−−)
and replace line 7 with:
Line 7: for (int k = 0; k < j; k++)
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) I and II only
(d) I and III only
(e) I, II, and III

Answers to Computer Science A Multiple-Choice Questions

1–b 6–a 11 – c 16 – b 21 – d
2–a 7–a 12 – e 17 – d 22 – d
3–d 8–c 13 – c 18 – a 23 – c
4–d 9–d 14 – d 19 – d 24 – e
5–d 10 – a 15 – d 20 – b 25 – d

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Sample Free-Response Questions

Following is a representative set of questions. Additional sample questions can be
found in the AP section of the College Board website.
Directions: SHOW ALL YOUR WORK. REMEMBER THAT PROGRAM SEGMENTS
ARE TO BE WRITTEN IN JAVA.
Notes:
• Assume that the classes listed in the Java Quick Reference have been imported
where appropriate
• Unless otherwise noted in the question, assume that parameters in method calls
are not null and that methods are called only when their preconditions are
satisfied.
• In writing solutions for each question, you may use any of the accessible methods
that are listed in classes defined in that question. Writing significant amounts of
code that can be replaced by a call to one of these methods will not receive full
credit.

1. A travel agency maintains a list of information about airline flights. Flight

information includes a departure time and an arrival time. You may assume that
the two times occur on the same day. These times are represented by objects of the
Time class.
The declaration for the Time class is shown below. It includes a method
minutesUntil, which returns the difference (in minutes) between the current
Time object and another Time object.
public class Time
{
/** @return difference, in minutes, between this time and other;
* difference is negative if other is earlier than this time
*/
public int minutesUntil(Time other)
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

// There may be instance variables, constructors, and methods that are not
// shown.
}

For example, assume that t1 and t2 are Time objects where t1 represents
1:00 p.m. and t2 represents 2:15 p.m. The call t1.minutesUntil(t2) will
return 75 and the call t2.minutesUntil(t1) will return -75.

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

The declaration for the Flight class is shown below. It has methods to access the
departure time and the arrival time of a flight. You may assume that the departure
time of a flight is earlier than its arrival time.

public class Flight

{
/** @return time at which the flight departs
*/
public Time getDepartureTime()
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

/** @return time at which the flight arrives

*/
public Time getArrivalTime()
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

// There may be instance variables, constructors, and methods that are not shown.
}

A trip consists of a sequence of flights and is represented by the Trip class. The Trip
class contains a List of Flight objects that are stored in chronological order. You
may assume that for each flight after the first flight in the list, the departure time of the
flight is later than the arrival time of the preceding flight in the list. A partial declaration
of the Trip class is shown below. You will write two methods for the Trip class.

public class Trip

{
/** The list of flights (if any) that make up this trip, stored in chronological
order */
private List<Flight> flights;

/** @return the number of minutes from the departure of the first flight to the
* arrival of the last flight if there are one or more flights in the trip;
* 0, if there are no flights in the trip
*/
public int getDuration()
{ /* to be implemented in part (a) */ }

/** Precondition: the departure time for each flight is later than the arrival
* time of its preceding flight
* @return the smallest number of minutes between the arrival of
* a flight and the departure of the flight immediately after it,
* if there are two or more flights in the trip;
* -1, if there are fewer than two flights in the trip
*/
public int getShortestLayover()
{ /* to be implemented in part (b) */ }

// There may be instance variables, constructors, and methods that are not
// shown.
}
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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

(a) Complete method getDuration below.

/ ** @return the number of minutes from the departure of the first
* flight to the arrival of the last flight if there are one or
* more flights in the trip;
* 0, if there are no flights in the trip
*/
public int getDuration()

(b) Write the Trip method getShortestLayover. A layover is the number

of minutes from the arrival of one flight in a trip to the departure of the flight
immediately after it. If there are two or more flights in the trip, the method
should return the shortest layover of the trip; otherwise, it should return ‑1.
For example, assume that the instance variable flights of a Trip object
vacation contains the following flight information.
Departure Arrival Layover
Time Time (minutes)
Flight
11:30 a.m. 12:15 p.m.
0
} 60
Flight
1:15 p.m. 3:45 p.m.
1
} 15
Flight
4:00 p.m. 6:45 p.m.
2
} 210
Flight
10:15 p.m. 11:00 p.m.
3

The call vacation.getShortestLayover() should return 15.

Complete method getShortestLayover below.

/** Precondition: the departure time for each flight is later than the arrival
* time of its preceding flight
* @return the smallest number of minutes between the arrival of a
* flight and the departure of the flight immediately after it, if
* there are two or more flights in the trip;
* -1, if there are fewer than two flights in the trip
*/
public int getShortestLayover()

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

2. Consider the following incomplete StringUtil class declaration. You will write
implementations for the two methods listed in this class. Information about the
Person class used in the replaceNameNickname method will be presented in
part (b).

public class StringUtil

{
/** @param str a String with length > 0
* @param oldstr a String
* @param newstr a String
* @return a new String in which all occurrences of the substring
* oldstr in str are replaced by the substring newstr
*/
public static String apcsReplaceAll(String str,
String oldStr,
String newStr)
{ /* to be implemented in part (a) */ }

/** @param str a String

* @param people a list of references to Person objects
* @return a copy of str modified so that each occurrence of a first
* name in people is replaced by the corresponding nickname
*/
public static String replaceNameNickname(String str,
List<Person>
people)
{ /* to be implemented in part (b) */ }

// There may be methods that are not shown.

}

(a) Write the StringUtil method apcsReplaceAll, which examines a

given String and replaces all occurrences of a designated substring with
another specified substring. In writing your solution, you may NOT use
the replace, replaceAll, or replaceFirst methods in the Java
String class.
The following table shows several examples of the result of calling
StringUtil.apcsReplaceAll(str, oldstr,0 newstr).

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

str oldstr newstr String returned Comment

"to be "to" "2" "2 be or not Each occurrence
or not 2 be" of "to" in the
to be" original string has
been replaced by
“2”
"advanced "math" "science" "advanced No change,
calculus" calculus" because the string
"math" was not in
the original string
"gogogo" "go" "gone" "gonegonegone" Each occurrence
of "go" in the
original string has
been replaced by
"gone"
"aaaaa" "aaa" "b" "baa" The first
occurrence of
"aaa" in the
original string has
been replaced by
"b"

Complete method apcsReplaceAll below.

/** @param str a String with length > 0
* @param oldstr a String
* @param newstr a String
* @ return a new String in which all occurrences of the substring
* oldstr in str are replaced by the substring newstr
*/
public static String apcsReplaceAll(String str,
String oldStr,
String newStr)

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

(b) The following Person class contains information that includes a first (given) name
and a nickname for the person.

public class Person

{
/** @return the first name of this Person */
public String getFirstName()
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

/** @return the nickname of this Person */

public String getNickname()
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

// There may be instance variables, constructors, and methods not shown.

}

Write the StringUtil method replaceNameNickname, which takes a string and

a list of Person objects that contain first names and a corresponding nicknames.
The method is to replace all names by their nicknames in the given string. The list of
Person objects is processed in order from lowest index to highest index. In writing
your solution, you may NOT use the replace, replaceAll, or replaceFirst
methods in the Java String class.

For example, assume the following table represents the data contained in the list
people.

getFirstName() getNickname()
0 "Henry" "Hank"
1 "Elizabeth" "Liz"
2 "John" "Jack"
3 "Margaret" "Peggy"

Assume also that String str represents the following string.

"After Henry drove Elizabeth to dinner in Johnson City, Henry

paid for an appetizer and Elizabeth paid for dessert."

The call StringUtil.replaceNameNickname(str, people) should return the

following string:

"After Hank drove Liz to dinner in Jackson City, Hank paid for
an appetizer and Liz paid for dessert."

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

In writing your solution, you must use the method apcsReplaceAll

specified in the StringUtil class. Assume that apcsReplaceAll works
as specified, regardless of what you wrote in part (a).
Complete method replaceNameNickname below.
/** @param str a String
* @param people a list of references to Person objects
* @return a copy of str modified so that each occurrence of a first
* name in people is replaced by the corresponding nickname
*/
public static String replaceNameNickname(String str,
List<Person> people)

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

3. Consider the hierarchy of classes shown in the following diagram.

Note that a Cat “is-a” Pet, a Dog “is-a” Pet, and a LoudDog “is-a” Dog.

The class Pet is specified as an abstract class as shown in the following

declaration. Each Pet has a name that is specified when it is constructed.
public abstract class Pet
{
private String name;

public Pet(String petName)

{ name = petName; }

public String getName()

{ return name; }

public abstract String speak();

}

The subclass Dog has the partial class declaration shown below.

public class Dog extends Pet

{
public Dog(String petName)
{ /* implementation not shown */ }

public String speak()

{ /* implementation not shown */ }
}

(a) Given the class hierarchy shown above, write a complete class declaration for
the class Cat, including implementations of its constructor and method(s).
The Cat method speak returns "meow" when it is invoked.

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

(b) Assume that class Dog has been declared as shown at the beginning of
the question. If the String dog-sound is returned by the Dog method
speak, then the LoudDog method speak returns a String containing
dog-sound repeated two times.
Given the class hierarchy shown previously, write a complete class
declaration for the class LoudDog, including implementations of its
constructor and method(s).

(c) Consider the following partial declaration of class Kennel.

public class Kennel

{
private List<Pet> petList;

/** For every Pet in the kennel, prints the name followed by
* the result of a call to its speak method, one line per Pet.
*/
public void allSpeak()
{ /* to be implemented in part (c) */ }

// There may be instance variables, constructors, and methods that are

// not shown.
}

Write the Kennel method allSpeak. For each Pet in the kennel,
allSpeak prints a line with the name of the Pet followed by the result of
a call to its speak method.
In writing allSpeak, you may use any of the methods defined for any of
the classes specified for this problem. Assume that these methods work as
specified, regardless of what you wrote in parts (a) and (b).

Complete method allSpeak below.

/** For each Pet in the kennel, prints the name followed by
* the result of a call to its speak method, one line per Pet.
*/
public void allSpeak()

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

4. This question involves manipulation of one-dimensional and two-dimensional

arrays. In part (a), you will write a method to shift the elements of a one-
dimensional array. In parts (b) and (c), you will write methods to shift the
elements of a two-dimensional array.

(a) Consider the following incomplete ArrayUtil class, which contains a

static shiftArray method.

public class ArrayUtil

{
/** Shifts each array element to the next higher index, discarding the
* original last element, and inserts the new number at the front.
* @param arr the array to manipulate
* Precondition: arr.length > 0
* @param num the new number to insert at the front of arr
* Postcondition: The original elements of arr have been shifted to
* the next higher index, and arr[0] == num.
* The original element at the highest index has been
* discarded.
*/
public static void shiftArray(int[] arr, int num)
{ /* to be implemented in part (a) */ }

// There may be methods that are not shown.

}

Write the ArrayUtil method shiftArray. This method stores the

integer num at the front of the array arr after shifting each of the original
elements to the position with the next higher index. The element originally at
the highest index is lost.

For example, if arr is the array {11, 12, 13, 14, 15} and num is
27, the call to shiftArray changes arr as shown below.

Before call 0 1 2 3 4
arr: 11 12 13 14 15

After call 0 1 2 3 4
arr: 27 11 12 13 14

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Complete method shiftArray below.

/** Shifts each array element to the next higher index, discarding the
* original last element, and inserts the new number at the front.
* @param arr the array to manipulate
* Precondition: arr.length > 0
* @Param num the new number to insert at the front of arr
* Postcondition: The original elements of arr have been shifted to
* the next higher index, and arr[0] == num.
* The original element at the highest index has been
* discarded.
*/
public static void shiftArray(int[] arr, int num)

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

(b) Consider the following incomplete NumberMatrix class, which represents

a two-dimensional matrix of integers. Assume that the matrix contains at
least one integer.

public class NumberMatrix

{
private int[][] matrix;

/** Constructs a number matrix. */

public NumberMatrix(int[][] m)
{ matrix = m; }

/** Shifts each matrix element to the next position in row-major order
* and inserts the new number at the front. The last element in the last
* row is discarded.
* @param num the new number to insert at the front of matrix
* Postcondition: The original elements of matrix have been shifted to
* the next higher position in row-major order, and
* matrix[0][0] == num.
* The original last element in the last row is discarded.
*/
public void shiftMatrix(int num)
{ /* to be implemented in part (b) */ }

/** Rotates each matrix element to the next higher position in row-major
* order.
* Postcondition: The original elements of matrix have been shifted
* to the next higher position in row-major order, and
* matrix[0][0] == the original last element.
*/
public void rotateMatrix()
{ /* to be implemented in part (c) */ }

// There may be instance variables, constructors, and methods that are not
// shown.
}

Write the NumberMatrix method shiftMatrix. This method stores

a new value num into the two-dimensional array matrix after shifting
the elements to the next higher position in row-major order. The element
originally at the last position in row-major order is lost.

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

For example, if m1 is a reference to a NumberMatrix object, then the call

m1.shiftMatrix(48) will change the values in matrix as shown below.

Before call After call

0 1 2 0 1 2
0 13 14 15 0 48 13 14
1 16 17 18 1 15 16 17
2 19 20 21 2 18 19 20
3 22 23 24 3 21 22 23

In writing shiftMatrix, you must call the shiftArray method in

part (a). Assume that shiftArray works correctly regardless of what you
wrote in part (a).
Complete method shiftMatrix below.

/** Shifts each matrix element to the next position in row-major order
* and inserts the new number at the front. The last element in the last
* row is discarded.
* @param num the new number to insert at the front of matrix
* Postcondition: The original elements of matrix have been shifted
* to the next higher position in row-major order, and
* matrix[0][0] == num.
* The original last element in the last row is discarded.
*/
public void shiftMatrix(int num)

(c) Write the NumberMatrix method rotateMatrix. This method rotates

all the elements to the next position in row-major order. The element
originally at the last position is stored in the first position of the matrix.
In writing rotateMatrix, you must call the shiftMatrix method in
part (b). Assume that shiftMatrix works correctly regardless of what
you wrote in part (b).
Complete method rotateMatrix below.

/** Rotates each matrix element to the next higher position in row-major
* order.
* Postcondition: The original elements of matrix have been shifted to
* the next higher position in row-major order, and
* matrix[0][0] == the original last element.
*/
public void rotateMatrix()

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Suggested Solutions to Free-Response Questions

Note: There are many correct variations of these solutions.
Question 1
(a)

public int getDuration()

{
if (flights.size() == 0)
{
return 0;
}

Time depart = flights.get(0).getDepartureTime();

Time arrive = flights.get(flights.size() - 1).getArrivalTime();
return depart.minutesUntil(arrive);
}

(b)

public int getShortestLayover()

{
if (flights.size() < 2)
{
return -1;
}

int shortest = getDuration();

for (int k = 1; k < flights.size(); k++)
{
Flight flight1 = flights.get(k - 1);
Flight flight2 = flights.get(k);
Time arrive = flight1.getArrivalTime();
Time depart = flight2.getDepartureTime();
int layover = arrive.minutesUntil(depart);
if (layover < shortest)
{
shortest = layover;
}
}

return shortest;
}

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

Question 2

(a)
Iterative version:

public static String apcsReplaceAll(String str,

String oldStr,
String newStr)
{
String firstPart = "";
String lastPart = str;
int pos = lastPart.indexOf(oldStr);
while (pos >= 0)
{
firstPart += lastPart.substring(0, pos);
firstPart += newStr;
lastPart = lastPart.substring(pos + oldStr.length());
pos = lastPart.indexOf(oldStr);
}
return firstPart + lastPart;
}

Recursive version:

public static String apcsReplaceAll(String str,

String oldStr,
String newStr)
{
int pos = str.indexOf(oldStr);
if (pos < 0)
{
return str;
}
else
{
String firstPart = str.substring(0, pos);
String restOfStr = str.substring(pos + oldStr.length());
String lastPart = apcsReplaceAll(restOfStr, oldStr, newStr);
return firstPart + newStr + lastPart;
}
}

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 Sample Questions for Computer Science A

(b)

public static String replaceNameNickname(String str,

List<Person> people)
{
for (Person p : people)
{
str = apcsReplaceAll(str, p.getFirstName(), p.getNickname());
}
return str;
}

Question 3
(a)

public class Cat extends Pet

{
public Cat(String petName)
{ super(petName); }

public String speak()

{
return "meow";
}
}

(b)

public class LoudDog extends Dog

{
public LoudDog(String petName)
{ super(petName); }

public String speak()

{
return super.speak() + super.speak();
}
}

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Sample Questions for Computer Science A

(c)

public void allSpeak()

{
for (Pet a : petList)
{
System.out.println(a.getName() + a.speak());
}
}

Question 4
(a)

public static void shiftArray(int[] arr, int num)

{
for (int k = arr.length − 1; k > 0; k−−)
{
arr[k] = arr[k - 1];
}

arr[0] = num;
}

(b)

public void shiftMatrix(int num)

{
for (int[] row: matrix)
{
int temp = row[row.length − 1];
ArrayUtil.shiftArray(row, num);
num = temp;
}
}

(c)

public void rotateMatrix()

{
shiftMatrix(matrix[matrix.length − 1][matrix[0].length − 1]);
}

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