The following are typical questions that could appear in the exam paper.
Answer the questions below paying particular attention to the wording of the question.
State means simply that, you do not need to expand in any detail your answer.
Compare, Describe and Discuss means that you need to go into detail with your answer with at least a paragraph or two.
The numbers in brackets show how many marks you can get for each question. With these questions you can use any resources available to you to help you answer. You have this session and this weeks extended learning time to answer the questions. You should be ready to have your answers marked in the next session.
1. Computers are now widely used in supermarkets.
(a) State two ways in which data about the goods may be entered into the point-of-sale (POS) terminals. (2)
(b) Customers can pay for goods using credit cards. The computer checks each card. State two types of check made. (2)
(c) State three advantages of supermarkets using Point Of Sale (POS) technology. (2)
2. A bicycle company uses robots in its factory which have an arm with a paint spray can attached.
(a) State two ways in which the computer can be instructed to control the robot arm. (2)
(b) State two advantages to the company of using a robot to do the painting. (2)
(c) State two disadvantages to the company of using a robot to do the painting. (2)
3. Employees of a company have to enter 4 figure code numbers into a data handling package.
(a) State two validation checks which could be used to check that the validation of the code numbers is working. (2)
(b) If the code number was not validated, incorrect data will be entered into the database causing problems. State one example of such a problem. (2)
4. A company is going to produce a training program for nurses which involves animation and video clips. (2)
(a) State two ways the company would find out information about the requirements of the nurses when using the program. (2)
(b) State two methods the company would use to see if it was worth producing the program. (2)
(c) State what medium it would be suitable to produce the program on and give a reason why. (2)
5. State one way in which a virus will show its presence on a computer and state how it can be removed. (2)
6. A bank issues its customers with plastic cards which have a magnetic stripe on them. The cards can be used to get money from cash machines.
(a) State two items of data stored in the stripe. (2)
(b) State two ways the customer is prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash from the machines. (2)
7. Two of the features of good software are that it is free of any bugs and has a good user manual. State what other features the user would expect to find in good software. (4)
8. State four items which should be included in the user documentation of a new program. (4)
9. A museum contains millions of documents. They are going to store all the documents on a computer. Compare the suitability of using CD-ROMs or hard discs to store the data. (2)
10. Many companies use electronic conferencing to communicate with their employees around the world.
(a) Describe electronic conferencing. (3)
(b) Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic conferencing. (3)
11. Doctors write prescriptions for patients who then take them to the chemist to collect the medicine. It is decided to install a dedicated line from the computers in a doctor’s surgery to the local chemist’s computers. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of doing this. (5)
12. A club uses mail merging to send a set of letters to its members asking for the annual fee and payment for a variety of services. Describe the stage involved in mail merging. (4)
13a. A company uses electronic mail to send messages from its headquarters in London to its branches in Chicago. Describe what happens to a message after it is sent and before the people in Chicago read it with particular reference to the computers involved. (2)
13bi. Describe the disadvantage of using electronic mail with regards to security of data. (4)
13bii. Describe what measures can be taken to overcome these security problems. (1)
14. A library is considering changing its computerised system. The initial investigation has taken place and data about the old system has been collected. Describe the steps taken on the analysis and design of the new system. (5)
15. One application controls the production line for making cars. Another application is a person learning to drive in a driving simulator. Compare the features of the user interface of these two applications. (6)
16. A computer model of a bridge has been designed. Describe the stages of implementing and evaluating the computer model. (5)
17. An expert system is to be created to help workers diagnose faults in a car engine.
(a) State the two main components of an expert system. (2)
(b) Describe the design features of the user interface which is used by a car mechanic. (3)
18. Discuss with conclusions the benefits and drawbacks of using electronic ankle tagging on people convicted of a crime. (2)
Make sure you have your name on your answers. You will mark somebody else's work in the next lesson.
