Short Course GCSE ICT Sample questions and answers
The answers given to the questions in this section are not perfect examples. They contain some of the more common mistakes made by candidates. You should read the examiners comments carefully after each question to find out where marks were lost, why they were lost and how the answer could be improved. 1. (a) Explain what is meant by the term data. (2)
Data that doesnt mean anything like 123abc.
(b) Explain what is meant by the term information. (2)
Data that means something.
(c) Tick one box next to each item in the table below to show whether it is data or information. Data (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) 04022002 4th February 2002 it is a sunny day day a it sunny is (4) AQA (NEAB) 2002 Paper 2 Tier H Comments The answer to part (a) received full marks but a better answer would have been something like: Data has no context or meaning, e.g. oncatthematsat. The answer to part (b) only received one mark because the candidate did not give a suitable example of information a better answer would have been something like: Data that has been given a meaning or context e.g. the cat sat on the mat. Part (c) gained full marks. Information
2. A garage specialises in selling second hand cars. A database is used to store information on the cars for sale. Part of the database file is shown below.
Make Audi BMW BMW Citroen Fiat Ford Ford Ford Honda Honda Nissan Peugeot Renault Rover Rover Rover Vauxhall Vauxhall Volkswagen Volkswagen Model A4 318 SE 520 SE Saxo Punto SX Focus Zetec Mondeo Scorpio Ghia Accord LS Civic Micra 306 GTi Laguna 218S 420 620 SLi Astra Estate Sintra Sharan Polo l.4E Colour Green Blue Green White Red Blue Blue Black Silver White Red Yellow Silver Grey Red Green Red Blue Green Green Number of doors 5 4 4 3 3 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 5 5 4 4 5 7 7 5 Registration number S772 FGS M223 BMW Tl25 GHB S132 HNM P56 TVB Y579 PLM M673 FRD R778 THY S454 SAN S349 JNF W789 PTE P458 RTE Sl10 BHW M12 GHR P134 HYT R230 DDE V94l XDS T652 NBF P992 HOT TJ51 TRE Price 7249 4995 12495 2450 2195 6995 985 5999 6999 2499 3999 4785 3999 999 2999 3295 5499 6999 4999 7999 Additional feature Alloys Full service history Full electric pack Full service history Electric windows Air conditioning Full service history Metallic paint Full electric pack Power assisted steering Very low mileage One owner Alloys Power assisted steering Diesel Full service history One owner One owner Low mileage Factory sun roof
(a)
Explain what is meant by the following terms. You may find it helpful to give examples. (i) Record
A collection of related fields
(ii) Field
One single part of a record
(b) (i) Which field is the key field in this database?
(2) (1)
Registration number
(ii) Explain why the field you have chosen is suitable to be used as a key field. (1)
Because this is different for every record
(c)
In order to search the database, the following commands are used. List For Equals Greater than Less than And Or
So the search List Model For Colour Equals Silver would produce the result Accord LS Laguna What would be the results of the following searches? (i) List Make For Number of doors Equals 7 (2)
Vauxhall Volkswagen
(ii) List Model, Registration number For Price Less than 2000 (2)
Mondeo
(d)
M673 FRD
Write down the instructions needed to produce the following. (i) A list of the model of cars that have a full service history as an additional feature. (2)
List Model For Additional feature = Full service history
(ii) A list of the make and model of cars, where the price of the car is between 3000 and 5000. (3)
List Make, Model For Price Greater than 3000 And Price Less than 5000
AQA 2003 Higher Tier
Comments Part (a) (i) and (ii) received one mark each. An alternative answer would have been to give examples related to the table. E.g. each row of the table shown is one complete record; the column headings show the fields so each cell is one field. Part (b) (i) received one mark. Part (ii) would also score a mark but better answer would be: Registration number is uniquely identifies each car. Part (c) (i) received one mark this is because the search results need to be on separate lines as shown in the example: Vauxhall Volkswagen In part (c) (ii) the candidate hasnt spotted the second record matching the search criteria notice that there are two marks for this part of the question so it is likely search will find two records the correct answer is: Mondeo 218S M673 FRD M12 GHR
In part (d) (i) the candidate has used = in place of equals in the search command this has lost one mark. Always be careful to use just the commands given exactly as they appear in this type of question. The correct answer would be: List Model For Additional feature equals Full service history The answer to part (d) (ii) only received one mark for the first part of the search command, List Make, Model For. The second part would not find cars with prices of exactly 3000 or 5000. To correct this the equals command needs to be used as well: List Make, Model For Price Greater than Equals 3000 And Price Less than Equals 5000 An alternative answer would be to use the Greater than/Less than commands but change the values specified for price: List Make, Model For Price Greater than 2999 And Price Less than 5001
3. A school has decided to extend its computer network. The Headteacher uses software to help him work out the cost. His first attempt is given below.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
A Item to be bought
B Unit cost
C No. to buy 40 40 2 1 2 40 40
D Total cost before discount 15 960.00 3 600.00 900.00 250.00 8 000.00 2 000.00 6 800.00
E Discount
F Total cost after discount 14 364.00 3 240.00 900.00 250.00 7 600.00 1 700.00 5 440.00 33 494.00
Computer 15 monitor Laser printer Colour printer Electronic whiteboard Network points Software licences
399.00 90.00 450.00 250.00 4 000.00 50.00 170.00
10% 10% 0% 0% 5% 15% 20% Total
(a)
Tick one box to show which type of software package has been used. Tick one box Spreadsheet Desk Top Publishing Communications CAD (1)
(b)
State the formulas which would be contained in the following cells. (i) D4 (ii) F4 (iii) F12
= B4 x C4 = D4 x 0.9 = SUM (F4:F10)
(3)
(c)
Tick one box to show which word describes the data in the highlighted cell C5. Tick one box Text Numeric Formula Date
(1) (d) The Headteacher has only 30 000 to spend. He can reduce the cost to less than 30 000 by reducing the number of software licences he buys. Why would this not be a sensible thing for him to do? (1)
Because he could be sued
(e) Tick three boxes to show the advantages to the Headteacher of using this software package to help him work out the cost, rather than using a calculator and paper.
Tick three boxes only Easier to edit The computers will arrive faster He will get a bigger discount Changes are automatically re-calculated in the totals Time can be saved by replication of cells He does not need to do any work
(3) (f) Describe two possible disadvantages to the Headteacher of using this software package to help him work out the cost rather than using a calculator and paper. (2)
He needs to buy the spreadsheet software The computer could crash
AQA (NEAB) 2001 Paper 1 Tier H
Comments The answer to part (a) is correct and received one mark. The answer to part (b) (i) did not receive a mark because the candidate used the x symbol for multiplication rather than the * symbol. This is a common mistake virtually all spreadsheet packages use a * for multiplication other than this the formula is correct. The answer to part (b) (ii) did not receive for the same reason as part (b) (i). The candidate has also written 4D instead of D4 this is another common mistake in spreadsheet questions and would have lost the mark here even if the * symbol had been used. The answer to part (c) did not receive a mark because the candidate has ticked two boxes. The tick for numeric is correct but cant be given a mark because of the extra tick in the first box. The answer to part (d) is not correct. The school must have a licence for every copy of the software used or they will be breaking copyright law. The consequence of this would be a fine the school would not be sued. The answer to part (e) is correct and received three marks. The answer to part (f) received one mark for the first point. The second point would have received a mark if the candidate had gone on to explain the consequence of the computer crashing. A better answer would have been: If the computer crashed he could lose his work. Other possible answers here could be: he might not know how to use a computer; he might not know how to use a spreadsheet; it could be quicker to do this particular task by hand rather than set up a spreadsheet. 4. Describe three rights given to data subjects by the 1998 Data Protection Act. (3)
Get a copy of any data held about them. Have data deleted. Get compensation for problems caused by any wrong data.
AQA 2003 Short Course Higher Tier
Comments This answer received 2 out of 3 marks. The second point Have data deleted is not correct a data subject can only have data deleted if it is incorrect. A better answer would have been: Have any incorrect data corrected or deleted. Other possible answers are: prevent the processing of data that could result in personal distress; prevent the data from being used for direct marketing; prevent automated decisions being made based on data held about them; ask the Data Protection Commissioner to investigate if they feel any of the principles of information handling have not been followed.
5. A GCSE Examination Board has started to redesign its Coursework Cover sheet for candidates. The first attempt at the form is shown below. Coursework Cover Sheet (GCSE) Syllabus Subject Name of Centre
Candidates surname Other names
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION OF COURSEWORK SOURCES OF ADVICE AND INFORMATION
(a)
Tick three boxes to show which of the following features or a word processing package could be used to improve the layout of the form. Tick three boxes only Line spacing Alteration of margins Mail merging Spell checking Change text size Saving (3)
(b)
Describe three other features of word processing package which could be used to further improve the presentation of the form. Give an example of how each feature may be used. Feature 1: Example: Feature 2: Example: Feature 3: Example: (6)
(c)
The examination board is not happy with the order of the lines given below.
TITLE OR DESCRIPTION OF COURSEWORK
SOURCES OF ADVICE AND INFORMATION
It wants to change the layout of these lines to: SOURCES OF ADVICE AND INFORMATION TITLE OR DESCRIPTION OF COURSEWORK Describe a good way for them to do this using the word processing package. (3) AQA (NEAB) 2001 Short Course Tier H
