Cambridge International Examinations

Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level

* 0 0 5 3 1 1 9 3 9 8 *

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 9626/13

Paper 1 Theory May/June 2017
1 hour 45 minutes
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write your Centre number, candidate number and name on all the work you hand in.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid.
DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES.

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.

Any businesses described in this paper are entirely fictitious.

This document consists of 14 printed pages and 2 blank pages.

DC (LK) 133330/4
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1 Tick the four true statements referring to the use of data types when creating a database.

Boolean is a data type representing either of two states.

Text fields cannot contain numbers.

Numeric fields cannot contain text.

Integer is a numeric data type used for storing decimal numbers.

Date is a data type which can be used for storing images.

The real number data type is used for fields containing whole numbers only.

The numeric data type can be subdivided into different types of number.

The alphanumeric data type can contain punctuation marks.

The text data type is the easiest type of data to validate.

Currency must be stored as text.

[4]

2 Tick the four true statements relating to the use of normalisation when organising the attributes
and tables of a relational database.

A table that has not got a unique key can still be in first normal form.
Normalisation does not attempt to eliminate storing the same data in more than one
table.
Normalisation involves breaking down a table into less redundant, smaller tables.

A table is in first normal form if it contains no repeating groups.

A table is in second normal form if it is in first normal form and, additionally, does
not have a composite primary key.
A table in first normal form must use all the relationships, one-to-one, one-to-many
and many-to-one.
A database is in third normal form if it is in second normal form and each table has
no non-key attributes that depend upon other non-key attributes.
A third normal form table can still have non-key attributes dependent on other
non-key attributes.
Third normal form tables can still have non-key fields that do not depend on the
primary key.
Every table in a relational database must have a foreign key.
[4]

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3 A CD-ROM encyclopaedia is considered to be a static information source whereas a website

encyclopaedia is considered to be a dynamic information source.

Explain the differences between static and dynamic information sources.

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4 Sheila has just become manager of the ticketing department in an airport. She uses computers to
accept payments and check passengers’ passports.

(a) Evaluate the input devices which Sheila might use, including their specific use in this system.

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(b) Sheila stores all the records of her transactions and lists of passengers from each flight on a
hard disk. She is considering replacing her hard disk drive with a solid state drive (SSD).
Evaluate the use of a hard disk drive compared with an SSD.

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5 Below is an extract from a spreadsheet showing the wages paid in one week to a group of workers.
Any hours worked over 40 count as overtime. Overtime is paid at 1.5 times the normal rate.

A B C D E F G H
1
Overtime
Hours worked Hours overtime Rate per hour Wage paid this
Worker’s name Job type earned this
this week worked paid week
2 week
3
4 Johan Braun Labourer 45 5 $13.00 $97.50 $617.50
5 Lisa Moran Skilled 40 $18.00 $720.00
6 Chi Li Labourer 40 $13.00 $520.00
7 Susan Armstrong Labourer 46 6 $13.00 $117.00 $637.00
8 Luqman Hisham Labourer 39 $13.00 $507.00
9 Kanda Demir Semi-skilled 40 $15.50 $620.00
10 Paul Strong Labourer 43 3 $13.00 $58.50 $578.50
11 Shoba Purushothaman Semi-skilled 48 8 $15.50 $186.00 $806.00
12 Kulap Kaya Semi-skilled 40 $15.50 $620.00
13 Tony Fernandes Skilled 40 $18.00 $720.00
14 Halim Saad Semi-skilled 51 11 $15.50 $255.75 $875.75
15
Workers working
16 overtime 5
17

(a) Write down the formula which should be used in cell C16 in order to display the number of
workers who worked overtime.

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You can use the space below for any working you need.

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(b) Write down the formula which should be used in cell D4 in order to display the number of
Hours overtime worked for Johan Braun. The formula should be in a form that can be easily
replicated and should leave the cell blank if no overtime has been worked.

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You can use the space below for any working you need.

(c) Write down the formula which should be used in cell F4 in order to display the amount of
money earned for working overtime for Johan Braun. The formula should be in a form that
can be easily replicated and should leave the cell blank if no overtime has been worked.

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You can use the space below for any working you need.

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6 In a recent BBC news bulletin it was reported:

The BBC has obtained exclusive figures from the financial ombudsman that show there have
been nearly 100 complaints about “vishing” in the past three months.

Describe what is meant by:

(i) phishing.

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(ii) vishing.

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7 Many people use computers to access services provided by the internet.

(a) Explain what is meant by the internet.

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(b) Describe six of the services that are provided by the internet.

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8 A recording company has produced a video of one of its famous singers. The video has been
given to John to edit so that it will have a fully professional look. The soundtrack has been sent
separately to the video file.
Describe how John would use the following features of video editing software.

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9 Bruce works from home but is able to access company data using a virtual private network (VPN).

Describe the benefits and drawbacks for Bruce of using a VPN.

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10 A school marks all its exams out of 100.

It has recently introduced a system of positive marking for students in years 12 and 13 whereby
students will be awarded 10 marks for just sitting the exam and then, as normal, will be awarded
further marks for correct answers.
After the papers have been marked, the school secretary will enter the marks into a student
database together with the year the student is in and their date of birth, which must be entered in
the form dd/mm/yyyy. It is acceptable for data to be omitted for certain students.

Apart from type check or length check, describe four different validation checks which should be
carried out on the data to help prevent mistakes occurring.

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11 A manager of a small business wants to update her computer system. When considering which
software to use, she has to choose between custom written software and off-the-shelf software.

Describe what is meant by these two types of software.

(a) Custom written:

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(b) Off-the-shelf:

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12 Below is part of a spreadsheet Deirdre has created to show her company’s profits.

A B C D E F G
1 DIY Inc.
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3 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
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5 1st quarter $135,000 $146,000 $158,000 $162,000 $154,000
6 2nd quarter $142,000 $149,000 $161,000 $167,000 $157,000
7 3rd quarter $138,000 $150,000 $159,000 $163,000 $151,000
8 4th quarter $129,000 $141,000 $146,000 $148,000 $147,000
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10 Total profits $544,000 $586,000 $624,000 $640,000 $609,000
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Describe, giving reasons, the most appropriate type of graph or chart for displaying:

(i) the company’s profits, throughout 2016 showing comparisons of each quarter.

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(ii) the company’s profits, showing the trend for all four quarters in each year from 2012 to 2016.

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© UCLES 2017 9626/13/M/J/17