UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS

International General Certificate of Secondary Education

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 0418/01

Paper 1
Specimen Paper 2007

2 Hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No additional materials are required.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write in dark blue or black pen in the spaces provided on the Question Paper.
You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs, music or rough working.
Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid.

Answer all questions.

At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

This document consists of 16 printed pages.

© UCLES 2005 [Turn over

 2

1 Name the devices A, B, C, D and E using the words from the list.

A B C

D E

Bar Code Reader CD Rom Drive Digital Camera DVD

Floppy Disk Joystick Keyboard Memory Stick

Modem Mouse Touchpad Trackerball

A B

C D

[5]

2 Tick true or false next to each of these statements.

True False

A control program is used to produce a business letter

Spreadsheets can be used to produce business accounts

Using computers for long periods of time is good for your back

Magnetic stripe readers are used for reading data from bank cheques

CD ROMs hold more data than DVD ROMs

[5]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 3

3 Give three features of a graphical user interface.

Feature 1

Feature 2

Feature 3

[3]

4 Ring two items which are used to store data.

Buzzer CD ROM Monitor

Mouse Floppy disc Scanner

[2]

5 Complete each sentence below using one item from the list.

bar code DVD ROM floppy disc

keyboard magnetic stripe magnetic tape

monitor laser printer zip disc

(a) Data about the details of a tin of beans is stored on the tin using a

(b) Data about a bank account is stored on a credit card on a

(c) A full system backup of 40GB would be made using a

(d) High quality permanent output can be produced using a

[4]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 4

6 A floor turtle can use the following instructions:

INSTRUCTION MEANING

FORWARD n Move n mm forward

BACKWARD n Move n mm backward

LEFT t Turn left t degrees

RIGHT t Turn right t degrees

PENUP Lift the pen

PENDOWN Lower the pen

REPEAT n Repeat the following instructions n times

END REPEAT Finish the REPEAT loop

10 60 10 30

50 50

30 60

Finish
Start

Complete the set of instructions to draw these shapes by filling in the blank lines.

PEN DOWN

LEFT 90

FORWARD 30

[5]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 5

7 RAM and ROM are types of storage.

(a) Describe what is meant by RAM and ROM.

1 RAM

[2]

2 ROM

[2]

(b) Give one way a computer uses RAM.

[1]

8 Michael wishes to make a copy of his Geography coursework which is stored on the school
computer system. He wants to take it home to finish it for homework.

He can borrow a CD RW from school but he has a 128 Mb memory stick of his own.

(a) Give two advantages of using the CD RW.

[2]

(b) Give two advantages of using the memory stick.

[2]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 6

9 Complete the following sentences using the output devices listed below.

Graph plotter Laser printer Dot matrix printer

(a) A garage using multi-part stationery with carbon copies would need a

(b) An architect’s office producing house plans using A0 size paper would use a

(c) A student printing out coursework needing high quality printouts would use a

[3]

10 A manager of the head office of a large company has decided to spend money on linking all its
computers into an intranet.

(a) What is an intranet and what would be the benefits to the head office of having one?

[3]

(b) The manager would like her workers to have access to the Internet. She is told that she will
need a modem. What does a modem do and why is it needed?

[3]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 7

(c) Give two items the workers will need to type into a computer in order to log on to the
network.

[2]

(d) The benefit of being connected to the Internet is that information can be sent from head
office to the different branches. Some of this information will need to be encrypted.

1. What is meant by encryption?

[2]

2. Explain why encryption is needed.

[2]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 8

11 A company has asked a customer to sign and send a confidential document immediately. The
customer decides not to use post but can’t decide whether to send the document by fax or email
attachment.

(a) Give one advantage of using a fax.

[1]

(b) Give two disadvantages of using a fax.

[2]

12 The manager of a car showroom uses a database to store data about cars he sells. This is part of
the database.

Make Model Size of engine Registration Price (€)

Opel Vectra 1.8 VSE 648 19000
Opel Zafira 2.0 BFK 297 29000
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 SB A5526 15000
Volkswagen Polo 1.2 DD B4978 11000
Volkswagen Jetta 1.6 B G8347 19000
Renault Megane 1.4 1233 CD 33 17000
Renault Clio 1.2 6289 XF 54 11000

(a) How many records are there in this part of the database?

[1]

(b) How many fields are there in this part of the database?

[1]

(c) The records shown are to be sorted in descending order of size of engine. What will be the
registration of the first record in the database after it has been sorted?

[1]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 9

(d) Give the name of a field that contains numeric data.

[1]
(e) Identify the field type of the ‘model’ field.

[1]

(f) Which field would be the key field?

[1]

13 Many hackers have tried to infect other people’s computers with viruses.

(a) Describe what is meant by hacking.

[2]

(b) Describe what is meant by a virus.

[2]

(c) Describe how viruses can be prevented.

[2]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 10

14 Put a tick in the column which best describes the type of processing used in the following
applications.

On-line Batch Real time

Robots on a car assembly line

Producing credit card bills.

Booking a cinema seat using a computerised booking
system.
Launching a rocket to the moon
[4]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 11

15 A systems analyst has been asked by a doctor to computerise the records she keeps about her
patients. He must first of all collect information about the existing system.

(a) Name three methods he could use to collect this information.

[3]

(b) Having collected this information the systems analyst must now produce a screen input form
which the doctor’s assistant could use for typing in each patient’s details. Design a suitable
screen input form for inputting the details of one patient.

[5]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 12

(c) After the assistant has typed in the data it will need to be verified. Describe two methods of
verifying data.

[2]

(d) This data needs to be stored in a database. Describe three features of the structure of the
database that the systems analyst will need to design.

[3]

(e) Once the whole system has been designed it will need to be implemented. Describe two
methods of implementation.

[2]

(f) Write down two reasons why one of the methods you gave in (e) is better than the other.

[2]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 13

(g) After a system is implemented, it is evaluated. Give two reasons why a system should be
evaluated.

[2]

16 Workers in a car factory are paid weekly. Their pay is calculated by multiplying the number of
hours worked by the rate of pay. Tax is then deducted. Below is one record from the transaction
file which tells the computer the worker’s payroll number and how many hours they have worked.

Payroll number Hours worked

432175 42

Here is part of the master file.

Payroll number Name Rate per hour (€) Tax rate

361453 Me Te Loan 18.50 27%
295685 Mohammed Ali 15.35 27%
198564 Alan Smith 17.35 27%
432175 Jaswinder Dhillon 17.35 27%
671235 Francois Millard 16.85 27%

(a) Using these examples, describe the computer processing which will take place in order to
produce this worker’s payslip.

[5]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 14

(b) Before the transaction file is processed the data must be validated. Name and describe a
suitable validation check for the:

1 Payroll number

2 Hours worked

[4]

(c) The processing of the transaction file involves reading one record at a time. What type of
access is this called?

[1]

(d) Certain types of processing of the master file involves accessing individual records quickly.

1. Which would be the most suitable magnetic medium for storing the master file?

[1]

2. What type of access is this called?

[1]

(e) The workers also have personal information stored about them on a computer database.
Give examples of when the company would need to:

1 amend a record

2 insert a record

3 delete a record

[3]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007

 15

17 A burglar alarm system is used to detect when a burglar has entered a house. Name two sensors
which could be used to detect the burglar’s presence. For each one say how it is used to do this.

[2]

[2]

18 Environmentalists plan to test a fast flowing river for pollution. Give three advantages of using a
computer to do this rather than doing it manually.

[3]

19 Expert systems are used in mineral exploration.

(a) Name two other uses of expert systems.

[2]

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007 [Turn over

 16

(b) For one of your answers for (a), describe how such a system would be created.

[4]

20 Many banks now allow their customers to manage their accounts on-line. Discuss this
development. In your answer give the advantages and disadvantages to the bank as well as the
advantages and disadvantages to the customer.

[6]

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace all copyright holders. The publishers would be pleased to hear from anyone whose rights we have unwittingly
infringed.

University of Cambridge International Examinations is part of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department
of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2005 Specimen Paper 0418/01 2007