6 ICT applications

1 Maira owns a company that wishes to advertise their products and services. She has decided
on three possible methods:

» paper-based advertising (posters and newsletters)

» computer-based advertising (using their own website)
» multimedia advertising in local shopping malls.

a Give three advantages of using all three methods.

Paper-based advertising:

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

Computer-based advertising:

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

Multimedia advertising in a local shopping malls:

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

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 6 ICT applications

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

b Maira frequently goes overseas on marketing visits. She uses VoIP to keep in touch
with her main office.

i What is meant by VoIP?

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

ii Name two devices needed for VoIP.

1  ..................................................................................................................................................................

2  ..................................................................................................................................................................

iii Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using VoIP.

Advantage: .................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

Disadvantage: ............................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 A set of traffic lights at a Y-junction is to be modelled on a computer.

Before modelling can be carried out, there is a need to collect data at the Y-junction. This data
would then be input into a computer.

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 6 ICT applications

a Describe three pieces of data that would need to be collected for this model.

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

b Give three reasons why modelling is carried out.

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

c The diagram shows five computer modelling applications on the left and five reasons why
modelling is carried out on the right. Draw lines to match each application to the best reason
why it would be modelled.

Car driving simulation Cost of building the real thing is too

expensive

Climate change simulation Some real situations are too dangerous to

humans

Model the loading on a new It takes too long to get results back from the
bridge real thing

Chemical reaction involving Almost impossible to do the tasks for real

toxic chemicals

Under sea exploration Easier and safer to make changes to a model

rather than the real thing

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 6 ICT applications

3 Robots are used in many factories.

Indicate with a tick (✓) which of the following are disadvantages to the management
of a company using robots in their factory.
Reasons Disadvantage? (✓)
Robots have difficulty in doing ‘one off’ tasks
Management can move factories anywhere in
the world
Using robots can lead to unemployment
Robots manufacture more items per hour than
humans
All items produced using robots are identical
The set up and maintenance of robots is
expensive

4 A customer of Hodder Bank would like to check the balance on their bank account.

The customer decides to use the local ATM and inserts their debit card into the ATM.

Hodder Bank

1234 5678 9012

01/09 12/12

a Describe the computer processing that takes place at the ATM once the customer inserts
their card.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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 6 ICT applications

b During the customer’s request for a current balance, the bank’s computer will carry out
a number of processes to enable the customer to see their balance.

Describe these processes.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

5 a The following diagram shows the components that make up an expert system. The parts
have been labelled 1 to 5.

Name these five parts.

22

1 3 5

1  
.......................................................................................................................................................................

2  
.......................................................................................................................................................................

3  
.......................................................................................................................................................................

4  
.......................................................................................................................................................................

5  
.......................................................................................................................................................................

b Faults in TVs can be identified using expert system diagnostics.

Describe how an expert system is used to carry out the diagnostics.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

c Give three other uses of expert systems.

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

d Describe how a new expert system could be tested to ensure the results produced
are correct.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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 6 ICT applications

6 Seven statements are shown below. Each statement is either true or false.

Tick (✓) one of the boxes, next to each statement, to indicate whether it is true or false.
Statement True (✓) False (✓)
The making of prosthetic limbs is one example of an expert system application
One of the disadvantages of expert systems is that the results are inconsistent
Expert systems are not infallible
An explanation system provides the user with the reasons why an expert system came
to its final conclusion
The rules base acts like a search engine in an expert system
The knowledge base in an expert system is made up of objects and attributes
When setting up an expert system, the first task is to gather information from
knowledgeable sources

7 A car with registration number ABC 123 enters a car park. The car park uses ANPR.

a Explain what is meant by ANPR?

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b There are ten stages used by ANPR to recognise a car entering and leaving the car park.
These ten stages are listed below, but are in the wrong order.

By placing the numbers 1 to 10 next to each stage, put them into the correct order.
Stage order Stage
Algorithms are used to locate and isolate the number plate from the camera image
The text string is stored in a database
The motorist returns to the car park and makes payment after inserting his ticket into
the machine
A sensor detects a vehicle and sends a signal to the microprocessor to instruct the
camera to capture an image of the front of the vehicle
The motorist drives to the entrance barrier and the ANPR system reads the number
plate on the vehicle and checks the database for the number plate
Brightness and contrast of the number plate is adjusted so that the characters can be
clearly read
If the number plate is recognised and payment has been made, the exit barrier is raised
Once all the checking is done, the car park entrance barrier is raised and the motorist is
issued with a ticket showing date and time of entry
The motorist drives up to the entrance to the car park.
Each character on the number plate is then recognised using OCR; the characters are
converted into a text string

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 6 ICT applications

8 Give three uses of a geographic information system (GIS).

1 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

..............................................................................................................................................................................

2 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

..............................................................................................................................................................................

3 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

..............................................................................................................................................................................

9 Global positioning satellites (GPS) are used to help motorists navigate to a given location.

Indicate (✓) which of the following are true and which are false statements about GPS.
Statements True (✓) False (✓)
The sat nav in the car sends signals to the GPS satellites giving the car’s location
If the maps are not up to date, the driver can be given incorrect instructions
The satellites move round the Earth keeping track of all the cars
The sat nav system installed in the car has state of the art timing systems
The system can estimate the time of arrival of the car at its destination
Paper maps have been scanned in so that the route shows up on the sat nav
screen in the car

10 Seven statements are shown on the left and ten ICT terms are shown on the right.

Draw lines to connect each statement to the correct ICT term.

Continuous transmission of video or audio files over the internet; Buffering
there is no need to download and save files first

Video conference
Temporary storing of files (during streaming) to compensate for
difference in download speeds and playback speeds
Computer assisted
learning
Method used to talk to people over the internet using a computer’s
internal microphone and speakers Bio-inks

Media streaming
Creation of a model of a real system in order to study the behaviour of
the system
Simulation
Electromechanical device, equipped with sensors, which can automatically
do different tasks by using programming and various end effectors Modelling

Computer-based systems used to assist in the academic teaching of Voice over Internet
students Protocol

Robot
Liquids used in 3D inkjet printers which are used to produce layers
and layers of artificial living tissue Biometrics

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11 A student gave the following statements about a number of ICT terms. Explain why the
student’s statements are incorrect in all five cases.

a ‘Near field communication requires two devices to be in contact with each other for at
least 5 seconds.’

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b ‘OMR can convert characters which are handwritten into an electronic form which can be input
directly into a word processor.’

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

c ‘Passive RFID tags are simply chips with their own power source, which enables them to
be used in livestock tracking.’

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

d ‘Satellite navigation systems rely on global positioning satellites transmitting the car’s
coordinates to an on-board computer system in the car.’

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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e ‘To transmit telephone conversations around the world, sound waves are sent to global
satellites which retransmit amplified sound signals back to a receiver dish on the Earth.’

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

12 Which ICT terms are being described below?

a Computer system that allows us to map, model, query and analyse vast amounts of data
according to their location.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b Devices used to read a chip and antenna embedded in a passport by providing the chip with
sufficient energy to broadcast its data.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

c A series of randomly generated numbers which change every time a payment transaction is
made using a smartphone payment app.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

d The electronic transfer of sums of money between accounts by interacting with websites
to pay bills, buy items, check accounts, and so on.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

e Software developed to mimic the expertise and knowledge of a number of learned sources,
such as people, books and the internet.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

f The simulation of a real life situation in order to study its behaviour.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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13 A city area is built up around a large river. The city is prone to flooding at certain times of the
year. A computer-controlled flood barrier (which uses sensors to measure the flow of water and the
river depth) is to be built upstream of the city. The developers of this flood barrier used computer
modelling to decide where to place the barrier to reduce the risk of flooding.
Area of city to
be protected

KEY
Proposed flood barrier Flow of water

a Give three reasons why computer models were used to simulate flooding of the river,
and how the proposed flood defence system would work.

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

3 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

b Prior to this flood barrier being built, a manual system was used to detect flooding of the
river upstream. This required people to be stationed on the river banks at various points.

Explain why using a computer-controlled flood barrier system is better than the manual
system.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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c Describe what data would need to be collected to allow the computer model to simulate
the flooding of the city and how it would be used to decide where to build the barrier.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

d Give two disadvantages of using a simulation to model the flooding of the river.

1 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

2 ........................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................
  

14 An expert system is being used to diagnose illnesses in patients.

a Describe what you might expect to see in the user interface.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b Describe how the expert system would make a diagnosis.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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 6 ICT applications

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

c What outputs would you expect to see in the expert system?

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

15 Consideration is being given to building a new bridge in northern Russia, within the
Arctic Circle.

Describe how modelling of a number of possible bridge designs could be carried out.
Your answer should include:

» what scenarios (for example, extreme weather) the model would need to consider
» the reasons why modelling was done
» how scale models of the actual bridge designs could be used as part of the modelling
process.

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

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 6 ICT applications

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................................

16 A company manufactures mobile phone leads. The manufacturing cost varies according to the
number of leads made/sold. The mobile phone leads are sold for $0.80 each.

Manufacturing costs are:

» 1 to 100 – $1.00 each
» 101 to 1000 – $0.50 each
» 1001 to 5000 – $0.25 each
» >5000 – $0.10 each

Therefore, if the company makes and sells 200 leads, they would sell for $160.00 (200 × $0.80)
and cost $150.00 to make (100 × $1.00 + 100 × $0.50).

A spreadsheet was used to model the manufacturing costs and sales. An input of 500 in cell D4
is being initially modelled:
A B C D E
1 1.00 100
2 0.50 1000
3 0.25 5000
4 0.10 INPUT NO. SOLD 500
5 COST OF 300.00
MANUFACTURE
6 INCOME FROM SALES 400.00
7 PROFIT/LOSS 100.00

a Describe why using a spreadsheet is a good way of modelling a financial problem such
as this one.

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b If the number of leads sold is input into cell D4, what formulas would you expect to see
in cells D5, D6 and E7?

D5: .....................................................................................................................................................................

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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D6: ......................................................................................................................................................................

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

E7: ......................................................................................................................................................................

����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

17 a Which one of the following is NOT an advantage of using websites for advertising
products and services? Circle the correct answer.
A sound/video/animation can be used

B it is possible to use hit counters to count the number of visitors to the website

C it is easy to spellcheck the website contents

D the website can be seen by a global audience

b Which one of the following does NOT have any impact on the quality of a video being
streamed to a laptop? Circle the correct answer.

A large buffer capacity C stable internet connection

B large RAM capacity in the laptop D at least 25 Mbits/second download speed

c Which one of the following is the correct meaning of VoIP? Circle the correct answer.

A volume input-output protocol C variable output integration program

B video on internet platform D voice over internet protocol

d Which one of the following is NOT an advantage of using computer models? Circle the correct answer.

A it is often safer to use a model than use the real thing

B software, such as spreadsheets, are well-known to users

C it is much easier and faster to try out various scenarios using a model

D some tasks are impossible to do in real life

e Which one of the following is an advantage to the workforce in using robots? Circle the correct answer.

A robots leave humans free to do more interesting jobs

B robots can easily replace skilled labour

C it is possible to move manufacturing overseas where labour is cheaper

D robots have greater productivity

f What term refers to a driverless vehicle? Circle the correct answer.

A automatic C augmented

B analogue D autonomous
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 6 ICT applications

18 A customer banks with bank A. They write out a cheque to pay a bill to a company that
uses bank B. There are eight stages in the clearing of the cheque. These eight stages
are shown below, but they are not written in the correct order.

By writing the numbers 1 to 8 in the boxes, put each stage into its correct order.
Stage order Stages
Cheque image and digital record are added to file of all cheques for bank A
Bank A receives data stream containing ‘request to pay’ and ‘no pay’ messages
Camera in bank B takes an image of the cheque
Central facility breaks file down into individual payment messages and also does a
payment validation

OCR software turns camera images into electronic data

Central facility routes all ‘request to pay’ and ‘no pay’ responses to bank B
Bank B sends all files to a central facility
Bank B uses electronic data to create a digital record of money to be paid, sort code of
bank A and account number of customer

19 Explain each of the following terms:

a media streaming

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b buffering

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

c subscriber identity module

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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d simulation

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

e end effector

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

f e-ticket

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

g out clearing (of a cheque)

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

h expert system

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

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i near field communication

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

j tokenisation

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

20 Explain the role of the following components in an expert system:

a rules base

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

b knowledge base

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

c inference engine

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................
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d explanation system

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

21 A cinema has an online booking system. Describe what happens when a customer visits the
cinema’s website and chooses to purchase four seats to see the film ‘Hachette – the story of
a book’. Include in your description the role of:
» the user » the website software

to ensure tickets cannot be double-booked.

..................................................................................................................................................................................

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..................................................................................................................................................................................

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