Year 1 Theory Exam 2002 1 Hrs Answer All Questions.

1. a) Name the TWO main components of the Central Processing Unit b) For the 2 components named in part (a) discuss their main functions. c) Give 1 difference between PROM and EPROM d) What is Half Duplex transmission ? (2 marks) (2 marks) (1 mark) (2 marks)

2. a) You have saved a file on diskette. You later find that although you see the file listed you cannot open the file from the diskette. Give one possible reason for this problem. (1 mark) b) One of the things done in a high level format is the creation of a File Allocation Table (FAT) What is the purpose of a file Allocation Table? (1 mark) c) Explain how a fixed head system on a hard disk pack unit can reduce the access time for the device. (2 marks) d) With reference to a hard disk arrangement, give the difference between a track and a cylinder. (1 mark) e) A disk system has 6 disk surfaces, with one moving head for each surface. A certain track has 10 sectors forming a ring, each sector carrying K byte. How many i. bytes are there in each K byte sector? ii. K bytes are there in the entire cylinder. (1 mark) (1 mark)

3. a) An old 30 pin memory module (SIMM) was capable of providing 1 byte at a time to the CPU. A 32-bit machine would require 4 of these to work together in a single bank. Explain why this is so. (2 marks) b) Integers are good for representing discrete data. Real numbers and floating point values are good for representing continuous data. Explain these statements. (2 marks) 4. a) Explain why magnetic tape is a serial access medium . b) Explain why a floppy disk is considered a direct access medium . c) What is microfilm? (1 mark) (1 mark) (1 mark)

5. a) Give 2 applications for the use of an Optical Mark Reader (OMR) b) Give 2 meanings of the abbreviation OCR c)

(1 mark) (2 marks)

Explain why a monitor screen specified as 1024 x 768 is expected to give a clearer picture than one specified as 640 x 480. (1 mark) d) Give 1 advantage and 1 disadvantage of a touch screen as compared to the use of a mouse (2 marks) e) Give 1 difference between custom software and customized software (1 mark)

6 a) Using 8 bit binary representation, give the i) ii) iii) iv) binary conversion for the decimal number 10 (1 ) ones complement representation for the decimal number NEGATIVE 10 (1 ) twos complement representation for the decimal number NEGATIVE 10 (1 ) sign-and-magnitude representation for the decimal number NEGATIVE 10 (1 )

c) Using even parity with an 8 bit data byte, where the leftmost bit is to be used as the parity bit, which of the following are valid patterns?

i) ii) iii) iv)

00000000 00000011 00000010 10000001

(2 marks) Give

7. a) Merles basic computer system has a monitor, keyboard, system unit, mouse and modem. 2 additional devices that would enhance each of the following: i) Game playing ii) Teleconferencing iii) Presenting a report

8. a) Give 2 reasons why someone would join a newsgroup (2 marks) b) Give the meaning of the following abbreviations and for each case explain the purpose i) HTML ii) FTP iii) CADD (6 marks) 9. a) A large company offers free transportation or a transport allowance to its employees. For this purpose it has prepared a list of names and addresses of employees. In those areas with many persons needing transport, the company provides transportation. i) ii) Besides names and address, give 1 other item of information that might be desirable in this case. (1 mark) Explain 1 way in which the information collected here might be misused (1 mark)

b) A foreign university keeps records of past student performance on a computer database. The entire building is destroyed by fire along with the records. Give 2 methods that might have been used to allow record keeping to continue . (2 marks) 10. a) Explain the term electronic eavesdropping. b) In the case of an encrypted file, what is the purpose of a password? c) Give 2 typical responsibilities of a net work manager (1 mark) (2 marks) (2 marks)

SECTION 3 PROGRAMMING ATTEMPT ALL QUESTIONS 11. Write an algorithm or program to read in 2 numbers and find the average of the numbers. marks) (5

12. Write a program to names and prices of 100 items and print the names of those items with prices less than $50. (6 ) 13. A concert organizer wants to charge different entrance prices as follows. Males over the age of 15 yrs pay $50 while females over the age of 15 pay $40. Females 15 yrs old or younger pay $20 while the males 15 yrs old or younger pay $30. No person under 2 yrs is allowed. Write a program or algorithm to read the name, age and sex of EACH patron, and for EACH person, to print out the name and entrance fee. The program must stop when it encounters a person named END 14. (a) Copy and complete the following trace table, for the algorithm given. (Note there are seven lines to be traced in the algorithm. ) (4 marks) X 1 2 Y 2 Z 3 4

The Algorithm: X=1 Y=2 Z=3 Z=Z+X X=Z-X Y=Z+Y Z=Y-Z Y=YX-Z PRINT X, Y, Z (b) What is finally printed by the algorithm? (1 mark)