MAY 2019
1. Define the term peripheral
Ans) A piece of hardware / a hardware device that is externally connected or attached / remotely
connected or attached (to the computer system);
Example answer A peripheral is an external (computer) device that is connected to a computer, such
as a keyboard;
2. Identify two features of a graphical user interface (GUI).
Ans) Menus; Dialogue boxes; Windows; Icons; Pointers; Buttons;
3. Outline one method of collecting information from stakeholders concerning the requirements
for a new system.
Ans) Surveys;
(General) questions distributed to many stakeholders as a written or online document;
Interviews;
(Specific) questions asked of nominated stakeholders in an individual setting;
Direct observations;
The observer watches stakeholders performing their current tasks;
4. Outline why a prototype would be used to demonstrate the proposed system to the client.
Ans) To provide feedback on the efficiency or design of the product; To give an idea or feel of the
final product; To encourage dialogue between the developers and the client; Clients can identify
errors or omissions in the design;
5. State the hexadecimal equivalent of the following binary number:
11011111
Ans) DF
6.
Ans)
7. Outline the purpose of the memory address register (MAR) in the central processing unit (CPU)
Ans) The MAR holds the memory location of data/instructions; …that need to be accessed
(read/write) (fetch/store);
8. State the part of the central processing unit (CPU) that is responsible for carrying out
calculations.
Ans) Arithmetic and Logic Unit/ALU;
9. Compilers translate source code into object code. Identify two other operations performed by a
compiler.
Ans) Pre-processing; Lexical analysis; Parsing; Semantic analysis; Syntax analysis; Linking;
Optimisation;
10. Identify two ways that user documentation may be provided
Ans) On a CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc; Through embedded help files; Online/website; Physical/printed
media;
11. Outline one reason why protocols are used in communications between computers.
Ans) To provide a set of rules/procedures; To enable two or more different electronic
devices/computers/entities to understand each other during data transfer / enable successful
communication;
12. Identify two characteristics of a personal area network (PAN).
Ans) Smallest type of network; Consists of connected devices in close proximity to the individual
using them; Connected via Bluetooth/wireless; Suitable example: smartphone to car connection;
13. Explain how data is transmitted by packet switching.
Ans) A message/the data is broken into a number of parts; Which are sent independently; …over
the optimum route for each packet; The individual parts are reassembled at the destination;
Each packet contains the (IP) address of both the sender and recipient;
Section-B
14. A large mail order company is concerned about the security of its stored data.
(a) Describe two possible causes of data loss.
(b) Outline two backup strategies that may be used to limit data loss.
The company decides to improve its service by introducing a new user interface for its
customers and has developed this interface to the point that it needs to be tested by users who
are outside of the company.
(c) Explain why beta testing is used to gather feedback for the new user interface.
(d) Outline one consequence of not involving end-users in the design and testing stages.
(e) Identify two features that could be used to improve the accessibility of the new user
interface.
Ans)
a) Malicious activities;
An unauthorized user gaining access to data and deleting/altering it;
Natural disasters/earthquake / storm/power loss; Causing the system to crash and destroy
data;
Malware/viruses/spyware/worms; Which infiltrate and damage the data;
Human error; Accidental deletion/overwriting of files;
b) Copies of backup could be kept off-site/cloud backup; Unlikely that the other site would be
affected by the natural disaster/can be reloaded/reinstalled if needed;
Incremental backup only backs up data that has changed; Therefore, requiring less storage
capacity / can be completed more quickly than a complete backup;
Failover system/mirrored system/disk mirroring; A duplicate copy to be used in the event
the main system fails;
c) Testers outside the organization use the operating system in a “real world” setting; Enables
feedback to be given to the developers; So that the software can be
improved/corrected/debugged; Before it is finally released; “Real world” testers may find
more bugs as the system is used in ways not originally intended / tested;
d) The software may not work as expected / may not be better than the existing software /
may not meet user requirements / expectations; The software may be missing some key
features; The software may not be user friendly
e) Touch screens; Voice recognition; Text-to-speech; Braille keyboard A colour-blind option
Large font option;
15. A company that provides training for teachers plans to set up a training room in its offices with a
network of 15 computers. Each computer has 1TB of storage and 16GB of random access
memory (RAM).
(a) Identify two characteristics of RAM. b)
(b) State the purpose of persistent storage on the computers.
In order to minimize costs, the company decided only to install general application software on
the training computers.
(c) Identify two types of general application software that would be installed on the training
computers.
The company has decided to allow the teachers to use their own devices in its training room by
adding wireless networking.
(d) (i) Outline one advantage to the company of implementing this change.
(ii) Outline one disadvantage to the company of implementing this change.
(e) Describe one method of security that may be used on this wireless network.
(f) Explain why the speed of data transmission on the wireless network in the training room
may vary.
Ans) a) RAM is volatile / contents erased when power is switched off; Access speed is fast /
faster than hard drive; Data / instructions can be read from and written to it / /RAM can be
overwritten; Size is limited;
b) To store programs / files / data in a non-volatile device so it isn’t lost; Stores more data as
it has a larger capacity;
c) Word processor; Spreadsheet; Database management system; Email; Web browser;
d) (i) May save money;
Due to not having to supply all the training computers;
May be able to increase the size of the training group; Which may generate more income;
Trainees / teachers likely to be more familiar with software on own machine (and how new
training software interacts with OS / user interface); Making training sessions more
efficient / allowing trainer to concentrate on the training rather than using generic
applications; [
(ii) May cause security issues; Due to multiple users having network access from their
“unsecured” devices;
May interfere with running of training sessions; As some machines may not be compatible;
e) Encryption;
Scrambles the contents of the network transmissions so that if they are intercepted they
can’t be understood (without the decryption key);
User ID (and password);
Only allows authorized users to access the network;
Media Access Control (MAC) addresses; Unique identification codes embedded in
networkable equipment so that only authorized equipment may access the network;
Firewall; Checks traffic coming into the network and leaving the network, and can block
suspicious data
f) The speed of data transmission (on a wireless network) slows down; The further the
receiver is from the transmitter;
Passing through obstructions such as solid walls; Can slow down transmissions (on a wireless
network);
The bandwidth available for transmission on a wireless network is finite; So, transmission
speeds can be affected if the number of users on the network increases;
(c) (i) With reference to the algorithm in the flow chart, construct this algorithm in
pseudocode so that it performs the same function.
(ii) State the type of sort in the algorithm constructed in c(i).
d) Construct an algorithm fragment to output the data in the array VALUES[]
The sorting algorithm could be part of a sub-program within a larger program.
(e) Explain the benefits of using sub-programs when constructing a larger program.
Ans) (a) LIMIT;
MINIMUM;
COUNTER1;
COUNTER2;
TEMPORARY.
b)
c) i) Use of correct nested loops; Correct use of flag; Inner loop checking adjacent cells;
Values being swapped if necessary;
d) loop COUNTER from 0 to LIMIT
output VALUES[COUNTER]
end loop
e) Sub-programs contain reusable code (for use in other programs); A large programming
project can be divided into sub-programs; Different sub-programs can be constructed by
different programmers; Future maintenance is easier due to the organisation of the
large program (into sub-programs);
