YEAR 10 COMPUTING TIME: 1h 30min

Computing – Year 10 – 2019 of 12

DEPARTMENT FOR CURRICULUM,

LIFELONG LEARNING AND EMPLOYABILITY

Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes

Educational Assessment Unit

Annual Examinations for Secondary Schools 2019

YEAR 10 COMPUTING TIME: 1h 30min

Name: _____________________________________ Class: _______________

Directions to candidates:

Answer ALL questions in Section A and Section B on this paper.

The use of a flow chart template is permitted.

Calculators are NOT allowed.

Good English and orderly presentation are important.

For office use only:

QUES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Paper

Total

Course

Work

Final

Mark

MAX 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 15 15 85% 15% 100%

MARK

of 12 Computing – Year 10 – 2019

Section A

A local IT company has developed a computerized system for a newly-opened supermarket.

1. The supermarket has an e-POS system.

a. What does e-POS stand for? [1]

b. Suggest one reason an e-POS system may be advantageous for the

client. [1]

c. In the code of the e-POS system, which of the following would you

expect to be used in each of the situations below? [3]

stockNumber+=x;

stockNumber-=x;

x+=stockNumber; x-=stockNumber;

stockNumber++; stockNumber++1;

stockNumber--; stockNumber--1;

i. When x items are sold:

ii. When x items are added to stock:

iii. When an item is returned:

2. The supermarket has a ‘Loyalty Scheme’ that awards clients 10 points for

every Euro spent. Clients can then exchange points for cash discounts.

a. Shortly after implementation, it was noted that the Loyalty Scheme is

not functioning as intended. When a client exchanges points for cash discounts, the discount is given but the client’s points are not deducted. (Tick [ ] the appropriate answer)

i. This is probably due to a: [1]

Syntax error

Logic error

Runtime error

ii. Explain your answer in part [i] [1]


iii. One thing the developers could have done to avoid this issue is:

(Tick [ ] the appropriate answer)

[1]

Have a more extensive test plan.

Make sure the program runs before distributing it.

Have produced a better feasibility report.

b. While working on fixing this issue, developers refer to their

documentation.

i. Which of the following types of documentation should they consult? (Tick [ ] the appropriate answer)

[1]

Technical Documentation

User Manual

ii. Name two things you expect to find in this documentation. [1]

3. To access the POS system, the cashier must log

in using a unique username and password as an identification measure.

a. This application includes a method called enterCode() which is used to check if the

user has entered the correct password. This method is declared as shown below:

boolean enterCode(){

}

Answer TRUE or FALSE: [2]

i. This method returns a boolean value.

ii. This method accepts one parameter.

b. DRAW the flowchart of the method enterCode() which:

Asks the user to enter the password

Checks if the password is correct or not

Returns True or False accordingly

[3]


Flowchart here

4. A smartwatch is a wearable digital device in the form of a wristwatch. Nowadays, smartwatches are bringing more

and more health features to our wrist.

One such feature is fall-detection, a feature which can detect if you trip and fall.

a. What type of input device do you expect the smartwatch to use to detect a fall?

(Tick as appropriate)

[1]

Speaker

Accelerometer Sensor

Microphone

b. Name one other fitness or health-related feature you can expect to find on a modern smartwatch.

[1]

c. NAME and briefly DESCRIBE one other use of technology in the medical field.

[2]

d. Mention one way in which records stored in the smartwatch can be transferred to the laptop.

[1]


5. The smartwatch comes with various pre-installed software, including the

Operating System, a Stopwatch, a Calendar and an Alarm app.

a. Categorize these software as System Software or Application

Software.

[2]

Application Software

System Software

Operating System

Stopwatch

Calendar

Alarm

b. Would you expect a GUI or a CLI type of interface on a smartwatch? Briefly explain why.

[1]

c. The user can also download other apps to use on the smartwatch.

Before downloading the software, the user is generally asked to agree to an EULA.

i. What does EULA stand for? [1]

ii. Briefly explain the purpose of EULA. [1]

6. This smartwatch uses an S4 processor chip. The manufacturing company

states that this chip offers twice the speed of the previous generations.

a. Processor performance is partly determined by the available cache memory. Explain the role of cache memory in determining processing

power.

[1]

b. The S4 chip has a 64-bit dual core processor. The company’s previous smartwatch used 32-bit chips. Explain how you expect the

performance of the S4 chip to have improved over the previous generation.

[1]


c. Explain the role that the following terms have in determining a CPU’s

performance:

i. Address space [1]

ii. Clock Speed [1]

d. Name one other factor that determines a better system’s performance.

[1]

7. CPUs perform mathematical and logical operations to execute instructions.

A CPU performs an Arithmetic Shift Left (ASL) on a register holding the

following bit pattern: 00110111 2

a. Show the contents of the register above after an ASL.

(working space)

[1]

b. What is the decimal value of the

original number in the register? [1]

c. What is the decimal value of the

number after an ASL? [1]

d. What is the effect of an ASL? [1]

e. What is the effect of a Right Shift

operation? [1]


8. Ms. Portelli, an English teacher, uses a VLE to administer online tests.

a. What does VLE stand for? [1]

b. Name one other use of a VLE besides the one mentioned above. [1]

c. Name and describe another use of computers in education. [1]

d. In Malta, students have free access to Microsoft 365 package.

Name two apps/services suitable for students that this package

offers.

[2]

9. To generate the tests, Ms. Portelli uses a readily-available test-generator

app called ‘Quiz Maker’.

a. Mention TWO reasons why Ms. Portelli opted for a readily-available

app rather than a tailor-made app.

[2]

b. Which application would Ms. Portelli use to:

i. create and upload audio-visual material that will help her

students study at home.

[1]

ii. keep track of student marks and mark statistics. [1]

iii. edit photos for uploading on the school page. [1]


10. Quiz Maker, the test-generator app mentioned in question 9, keeps record

of the students’ details and marks using arrays.

Answer the following questions according to this snippet of code:

String[] nameArray = new String[20];

int[] markArray = new int[20];

a. What is the maximum number of records that can be stored for every test generated?

[1]

b. Complete the code snippet shown below that calculates and displays

the average of all marks in the array.

[4]

for (int i=0; _____; i++) {

int total = total + ________________;

}

_________ average = total/20;

System.out.println (“The average is ” + __________);

11. Computers store and process binary numbers.

a. What will be the output after passing the bit pattern 1001 1111 through a NOT gate?

[1]

b. The result of part [a] is said to be the one’s complement. What needs

to be done to obtain the two’s complement?

[1]

c. Two’s complement numbers are used in the subtraction of binary numbers. Use two’s complement to subtract 27 from 55 (5510-2710) showing your result in binary.

[2]

Working here:

Answer: _________________

d. What is the largest two’s complement number that can be stored in an 8-bit register?

[1]


Section B

12. Car factories make use of CAD-CAM systems in their car production lines.

a. What does CAD-CAM stand for? [1]

b. Explain TWO advantages of using CAD-CAM in the industry. [2]

c. A robotic arm is used to install the car windscreen. The robotic arm is

controlled by a 6-bit signal. Each bit in the signal activates some component of the robotic arm when that bit is set to 1.

Bit Function

Bit 0 Move arm up

Bit 1 Move arm down

Bit 2 Move arm in

Bit 3 Move arm out

Bit 4 Apply force to stabilize windscreen in place

Bit 5 Activate vacuum suckers to lift windscreen

i. What happens when the following bit pattern is entered? [1]

Bit 0 Bit 1 Bit 2 Bit 3 Bit 4 Bit 5

1 0 0 1 0 0

ii. What happens when the system receives the value 2410? [2]

Bit 0 Bit 1 Bit 2 Bit 3 Bit 4 Bit 5

iii. Why is 7510 an invalid entry in this system? [1]


d. The system allows the user to enter commands using a keyboard. When

decimal numbers are keyed into the system, an app is used to convert them to binary.

One of the classes used in this system is called Converter, as shown in the source code below:

class Converter{

int decimalNumber;

public void readDecNumber(){

System.out.println ("Enter number in decimal");

decimalNumber = Keyboard.readInt();

}

public void convertToBinary(){

int binaryNumber = 0;

int[] bits = new int[5];

int c = 0;

for(int i = 0; i<5; i++){

bits[i] = 0;

}

do{

bits[c] = decimalNumber%2;

decimalNumber = (int)decimalNumber/2;

c++;

} while (decimalNumber!= 0);

}

}

i. What kind of error will occur if the user enters a fractional value,

such as 29.35, in variable decimalNumber?

[1]

ii. Consider the following lines of code in method convertToBinary():

do{

bits[c] = decimalNumber%2;

decimalNumber = (int)decimalNumber/2;

c++;

} while(decimalNumber!=0);

A. Identify: [3]

A looping structure:

Data typecasting:

Incrementing variable by 1:


B. Explain the function of this piece of code. [1]

iii. When a decimal number is converted to binary, it is then displayed

on a screen. Complete method displayBinary () below to output

the binary number.

[3]

void displayBinary(){

for (int ____; ____; ____) {

System.out.print(bits[i]);

}

} [1 mark for each missing part]

13. The robotic arm, as mentioned in question 12, should not be allowed to

receive conflicting commands. For example, move arm up and move arm down cannot be activated at the same time. Conflicting bits should result in

a ‘1’ in the error bit.

a. Complete the truth table showing bit 0 to bit 3 only. [3]

Bit 0

(Arm Up)

Bit 1

(Arm Down)

Bit 2

(Arm In)

Bit 3

(Arm Out)

Error

(Output)

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 1

0 0 1 0 0

0 0 1 1 1

0 1 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 0

0 1 1 0 0

0 1 1 1

1 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 1

1 0 1 0 0

1 0 1 1

1 1 0 0

1 1 0 1

1 1 1 0 1

1 1 1 1 1

b. Suggest how the error bit can be used to output a message to the user indicating a conflicting command.

[1]


c. What is the role of logic circuits? [1]

d. Give the Truth Table, the Symbol and Boolean Expression of the OR gate. [3]

(Truth Table)

(Symbol)

(Expression)

e. Draw the Logic Circuit to represent the truth table for the robotic arm,

with inputs Bit 0, Bit 1, Bit 2, Bit 3 and output Error.

[3]

f. Extract the Boolean Expression for your answer in part [e]. [1]

g. If certain safety features are not implemented, robotic machines can pose safety issues to individuals working in the factory. Suggest a safety feature that could be implemented in this system to avoid such

issues.

[1]

h The company is replacing its current system with one that incorporates

more safety features. This system is being implemented in a few months’ time.

Suggest a suitable changeover method and give a reason for your answer.

[2]

System Changeover:

Reason:

YEAR 10 COMPUTING TIME: 1h 30min

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