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GCSE
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Paper 2 Computing concepts
Thursday 25 May 2023 Afternoon Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
Materials For Examiner’s Use
• There are no additional materials required for this paper. Question Mark
• You must not use a calculator.
1–6
Instructions 7
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Use pencil only for drawing. 8
• Answer all questions.
9–10
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided.
• If you need extra space for your answer(s), use the lined pages at the end of 11
this book. Write the question number against your answer(s). 12
• Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want to 13
be marked.
14
Information 15
• The total number of marks available for this paper is 90. 16
Advice TOTAL
For the multiple-choice questions, completely fill in the lozenge alongside the appropriate answer.
CORRECT METHOD WRONG METHODS
If you want to change your answer you must cross out your original answer as shown.
If you wish to return to an answer previously crossed out, ring the answer you now wish to select as
shown.
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Answer all questions in the spaces provided. box
0 1 . 1 The number base 2 is called binary.
Shade one lozenge to show which number base is called hexadecimal.
[1 mark]
A 6
B 8
C 10
D 16
0 1 . 2 Shade two lozenges to show the statements that are true about hexadecimal.
[2 marks]
A Hexadecimal can represent a greater range of numbers than binary.
B Hexadecimal is easier for people to read than binary.
C Hexadecimal is faster for a computer to process than binary.
D Hexadecimal is more accurate than binary.
E Hexadecimal takes less space in RAM than binary.
F Hexadecimal takes less time to type than binary.
0 2 . 1 Convert the decimal number 171 into binary.
[1 mark]
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0 2 . 2 Convert the hexadecimal number 2D into binary. box
You should show your working.
[2 marks]
Answer
0 3 Add together the following three binary numbers and give your answer in binary.
[2 marks]
0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
+ 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1
0 4 Convert 16 000 000 bits to megabytes (MB).
You should show your working.
[2 marks]
Answer MB
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0 5 Describe the binary shift that would be used to divide a binary number by four. box
[1 mark]
0 6 . 1 When a sound wave is converted to a digital form it is sampled. The sampling rate is
measured in hertz (Hz).
Define the term hertz.
[1 mark]
0 6 . 2 A sampling rate of 20 000 Hz and a sample resolution of four bits is used to make a
digital recording of a sound that lasts 50 seconds.
What is the minimum file size of the recording in megabytes (MB)?
You should show your working.
[3 marks]
Answer MB 15
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ANSWER IN THE SPACES PROVIDED
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0 7 . 1 The term pixel is short for Picture Element. box
Define the term pixel.
[1 mark]
0 7 . 2 Figure 1 shows a 5 pixel x 5 pixel image. A minimum colour depth of two bits is
needed to store the image.
Figure 1
Explain how the image in Figure 1 can be represented as a bitmap.
[3 marks]
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0 7 . 3 A 10 pixel x 10 pixel image contains five different colours. box
Calculate the minimum file size, in bits, of this image when represented as a bitmap.
You should show your working.
[2 marks]
Answer bits
0 7 . 4 A black and white image has been compressed using run length encoding (RLE).
The first bit in each byte of the bit pattern represents the colour and the remaining
seven bits of the byte represent the number of pixels in the run.
The image has a run of 60 black pixels followed by a run of 30 white pixels and is
represented by the bit pattern shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2
0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0
Using the same RLE method, give the bit pattern for a black and white image that has
a run of 64 white pixels followed by a run of 15 black pixels.
Write your answer in Table 1.
[2 marks]
Table 1
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0 8 . 1 Define the term hardware. box
[1 mark]
0 8 . 2 Describe the role of each of the following components of a CPU:
[3 marks]
Clock
Control unit
Register
0 8 . 3 Give one reason why a CPU with two cores might perform faster than an equivalent
CPU with only one core.
[1 mark]
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0 8 . 4 Define the term non-volatile memory. box
[1 mark]
0 8 . 5 Give one example of a type of volatile memory in a computer system.
[1 mark]
0 8 . 6 Explain why secondary storage is required in a computer system.
[2 marks]
Turn over for the next question
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0 9 . 1 Define the term software. box
[1 mark]
0 9 . 2 Define the term system software.
[1 mark]
0 9 . 3 Define the term application software.
[1 mark]
1 0 . 1 Explain the role of main memory in the execute stage of the Fetch-Execute cycle.
[2 marks]
1 0 . 2 Describe the other two stages of the Fetch-Execute cycle.
[2 marks]
Fetch stage
Decode stage
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1 1 . 1 Complete the truth table for the XOR logic gate. box
[1 mark]
A B A XOR B
0 0
0 1
1 0
1 1
Figure 3 shows a logic circuit.
Figure 3
1 1 . 2 State the type of logic gate labelled G1 in Figure 3.
[1 mark]
1 1 . 3 Write a Boolean expression to show how the output D is calculated from the
inputs A, B and C in Figure 3.
You must use the correct symbols for the Boolean operators in your expression.
[2 marks]
4
D=
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1 2 . 1 Figure 4 shows three programs (A, B, C) that add two numbers and output the result. box
The programs are written in different programming languages.
Figure 4
A B C
x = 14 LDR R0, #14 0000 00001110
y = 3 LDR R1, #3 0001 00000011
z = x + y ADD R2, R0, R1 0110 00010000
OUTPUT(z) STR R2, 63 1010 10111111
OUT R2 1110 00000000
Identify the type of programming language used for each program shown in Figure 4
by writing A, B or C in the correct row of Table 2.
You must only use each letter once.
[2 marks]
Table 2
A, B or C
Assembly language
High-level language
Machine code
1 2 . 2 State one advantage of writing programs in assembly language instead of a high-level
language.
[1 mark]
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1 2 . 3 Shade one lozenge to show which statement is true about program translators. box
[1 mark]
A A compiler translates all the original program code before execution.
B Compiled code still needs the original program code to execute.
C Compiled code executes more slowly than code that is being
interpreted.
D Interpreters generate machine code directly. 4
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1 3 . 1 Describe two differences between a PAN and a WAN. box
[2 marks]
Difference 1
Difference 2
1 3 . 2 Shade two lozenges to show which statements are true about LANs.
[2 marks]
A LANs always use the Ethernet protocol.
B LANs always use wireless technology.
C LANs are usually controlled or owned by a single organisation.
D LANs connect a maximum of 150 devices.
E LANs cover one room, building or site.
1 3 . 3 State two differences between a bus topology and a star topology.
[2 marks]
Difference 1
Difference 2
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1 3 . 4 HTTP is an example of a network protocol. box
Define the term network protocol.
[2 marks]
1 3 . 5 The application layer and the transport layer are two of the layers within the
TCP/IP model.
What are the names of the other two layers of the TCP/IP model?
[2 marks]
2
10
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1 4 A teacher keeps a record of books loaned to students. box
The teacher uses a relational database containing three tables, BookCopy, Student
and Loan. Figure 5 shows some data from the tables.
Figure 5
BookCopy Student
CopyID BookTitle StudentID FirstName LastName YearGroup
HT001 HTML 4 Fun TUC004 Barry Tucker 8
PB002 Python Basics WAY002 Shania Wayneton 10
GC001 GCSE Computing KOW001 Bartek Kowalski 11
GC002 GCSE Computing AZE001 Faisal Azeez 9
GC003 GCSE Computing BAK007 Jolene Baker 11
GC004 GCSE Computing ANA002 Aisha Anand 11
GCSE Revision
RG001 OKA003 Sani Okafor 10
Guide
Loan
LoanID StudentID CopyID DepositPaid
L0001 TUC004 HT001 0.50
L0002 WAY002 GC004 2.00
L0003 KOW001 GC001 2.00
L0004 TUC004 PB002 0.75
L0005 BAK007 RG001 2.50
L0006 BAK007 GC002 2.00
L0007 OKA003 GC003 2.00
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1 4 . 1 Shade two lozenges to show which of the following statements are benefits of box
relational databases.
[2 marks]
A All the information can be stored in one table.
B Redundant data is less likely to be stored.
C Tables don’t need primary keys.
D There are less likely to be data inconsistencies.
1 4 . 2 State one field in the Loan table that is a foreign key.
[1 mark]
1 4 . 3 State the most suitable data type for the DepositPaid field in the Loan table.
[1 mark]
Question 14 continues on the next page
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Figure 5 has been included again below. box
Figure 5
BookCopy Student
CopyID BookTitle StudentID FirstName LastName YearGroup
HT001 HTML 4 Fun TUC004 Barry Tucker 8
PB002 Python Basics WAY002 Shania Wayneton 10
GC001 GCSE Computing KOW001 Bartek Kowalski 11
GC002 GCSE Computing AZE001 Faisal Azeez 9
GC003 GCSE Computing BAK007 Jolene Baker 11
GC004 GCSE Computing ANA002 Aisha Anand 11
GCSE Revision
RG001 OKA003 Sani Okafor 10
Guide
Loan
LoanID StudentID CopyID DepositPaid
L0001 TUC004 HT001 0.50
L0002 WAY002 GC004 2.00
L0003 KOW001 GC001 2.00
L0004 TUC004 PB002 0.75
L0005 BAK007 RG001 2.50
L0006 BAK007 GC002 2.00
L0007 OKA003 GC003 2.00
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1 4 . 4 Year 11 students must return their books after they have finished their GCSE exams. box
Using the database shown in Figure 5, write an SQL query that lists all the loans for
students who are in Year 11.
The query must only return:
• both names of the student
• the ID of the book borrowed
• the deposit paid.
The results must be in ascending order of the students’ last names.
[6 marks]
1 4 . 5 Barry Tucker has returned their copy of the book Python Basics.
Complete the SQL to delete the loan record for the book PB002.
[2 marks]
DELETE FROM
WHERE 12
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1 5 Wearable devices, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, have become more box
popular in recent years. This has led to an increase in the amount of personal, health-
related data being collected by technology companies.
Discuss the:
• benefits of collecting personal, health-related data using wearable devices
• data privacy issues related to the collection of personal, health-related data
• legal issues related to the collection of personal, health-related data.
[9 marks]
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1 6 . 1 Define the term cyber security. box
[2 marks]
1 6 . 2 State one type of malware.
[1 mark]
Question 16 continues on the next page
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1 6 . 3 The network manager of a new computer games company, AQAware, is configuring box
the network. They are concerned about potential cyber security threats that could
affect the company’s systems.
Discuss the potential impact of the following threats on AQAware:
• weak and default passwords
• misconfigured access rights
• unpatched and/or outdated software.
In your response you should include:
• how these threats could be exploited by an attacker
• how AQAware could protect themselves against these threats.
[9 marks]
12
END OF QUESTIONS
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Question Additional page, if required.
number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.
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Question Additional page, if required.
number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.
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Question Additional page, if required.
number Write the question numbers in the left-hand margin.
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Question Additional page, if required.
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Copyright information
For confidentiality purposes, all acknowledgements of third-party copyright material are published in a separate booklet. This booklet is published after
each live examination series and is available for free download from [Link].
Permission to reproduce all copyright material has been applied for. In some cases, efforts to contact copyright-holders may have been unsuccessful
and AQA will be happy to rectify any omissions of acknowledgements. If you have any queries please contact the Copyright Team.
Copyright © 2023 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
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