(THEORY)
PAPER 1
OCT. /NOV. KCSE 2003
INSTRUCTION TO CANDIDATES
Answer question 16 and any other three questions from section B
All answer should be written in the spaces provided on the question paper.
KCSE 2003 COMPUTER STUDIES
SECTION A (40 MARKS)
Answer all the questions in this section
1.Computer systems are built from three types of physical components: processors,memories and 1/O devices.
a) State two tasks of a processor (2 mks)
b)State function of 1/O devices (1 mk)
2. Threats to the safety of computer systems take many forms such as: white-collar crime, natural disasters, vandalism and carelessness.Give on way as to how each of these forms of threats can be controlled. 2 mks)
3.a) Explain the term nibbles as used in data representation in computers
b)Perform the following binary arithmetic giving the answers in decimal notation. (3 mks)
i)1110.01111 + 11010001 .011
ii) 1001011.011 - 111.111
4 a) Distinguish between machine and assembly language (2mks)
b) State the type of translator necessary for a program written in: (2mks)
i) High level language
ii)Assembly language
5. Briefly explain the purpose of the following types of program documentation: (3mks)
a) User manual
b) Reference guide
c) Quick reference guide
6. State any two features of a user-friendly program. (2mks)
7 a) Distinguish between labels and formulae with respect to spreadsheets (2mks)
b) Consider the entries in the cells below.
Cell |
B2 |
B3 |
C10 |
C11 |
C13 |
Entry |
200 |
100 |
B2 |
B3 |
C10 |
State the value displayed in cell C13 (2 mks)
8.List three differences between wide area Networks (WAN) and Local Area Networks (LAN) (3mks)
9. Study the flowchart segment below and state the last value printed from the flowchart. (2 mks)
10. a) What is an expert system (1mk)
b)State any two components of an expert system (2mks)
11. give two reasons why optical disks are better storage media compared to floppy diskettes (2mks)
12.What are the Dos commands used for the following? (2mks)
a) Changing directories
b) Viewing directories
c) Renaming directories
d) Deleting a directory
13. Distinguish between copying and moving text (2mks)
14. a) Name two methods of paper orientation (1mk)
b)Name two keys used to delete text in a document (1 mk)
15.Name two features a Database package (2mks)
SECTION B (60 MKS)
Answer question and any other three questions from this section
16. Study the flowchart below and answer the questions that follow.
a)Write a high-level language program for the above flowchart (7mks)
b)List the outputs of the flowchart above (5 mks)
c) Modify the flowchart so that it adds up all its outputs and displays the sum obtained (3mks)
17. A computer specification has the following details:
a) What is meant by
i) 1.44 MB floppy disk drive?
ii)20 GB hard disk?
iii) 17” SVGA monitor
b) Which operating system might be pre-installed in this computer and why? (2mks)
c) List three multimedia components (3 mks)
d) i) what is meant by computer aided manufacture? (2 mks)
ii) Give two examples of computer aided design software. (2mks)
18. a)Give three examples of network software (3mks)
b)List any three items that may be referred to as data terminal equipment in a network (3 mks)
c)Briefly explain the following terms as used in networking (4mks)
i) Remote communication
ii)Distributed processing
d) State three advantages and two disadvantages of mesh network topology. (5mks)
19. a) a company has decided to computerize their operations. They have decided to purchase package instead of developing their own programs. Give three advantages and two disadvantages of this approach. 5mks)
b) i) explain why a value such as 611233444555 may be displayed as ######### When typed in a cell of a spreadsheet (2mks)
ii) How can the problem in b (i) above be corrected? (2mks)
c) With reasons, briefly describe the most appropriate type of printer output device for the output of: (6mks)
i) Customer invoices on multi-part stationery
ii) Letters to customers
iii)Detailed engineering designs
20. a) Distinguish between the following pair of terms (6mks)
i) Data verification and data validation
ii)Data encryption and passwords