MERU UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
P.O. Box 972-60200 – Meru-Kenya
Tel: 020-2069349, 061-2309217. 064-30320 Cell phone: +254 712524293, +254 789151411
Fax: 064-30321
Website: www.must.ac.ke Email:
[email protected] University Examinations 2014/2015
SUPPLEMENTARY/SPECIAL EXAMINATION FOR DIPLOMA
IN
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
CIVIL ENGINEERING
CERTIFICATE IN ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION
ECA 0001: COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
DATE: JULY 2015 TIME: 1 ½ HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer question one and any other two questions.
QUESITION ONE (30 Marks)
a) With the help of an example explain clearly the difference between operating system
software and application software. (4 marks)
b) Give two examples of:
(i) An input device (2 marks)
(ii) An output device (2marks)
c) Describe any two features of desktop publishing software that makes it more suitable for
producing magazines than word processing software. (4 marks)
d) Name any two secondary storage devices. (2 marks)
e) State two advantages of a word processor over a typewriter (2 marks)
f) Explain any two reasons why some applications are only suited to run in mainframe
computers. (4 marks)
g) A teacher has decided to increase the end semester mark of each student by 2%. If 2% is
a cell AI and student’s marks are in cells C2 to C20. Using spreadsheet explain how he
can make use of absolute cell addressing to do this. (4 marks)
h)
(i) State three advantages of buying software instead of writing one. (3 marks)
(ii) State an instance in which written software would be preferred over buying one.
(1 mark)
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i) Describe how you would use a word processor to search and replace every occurrence of
the word woman with word person. (2 marks)
QUESTION TWO (15 MARKS)
a) One of the functions of computers is to process and provide storage for information.
(i) Explain any three ways in which doctors and nurses would benefit from the use of
computers in the hospitals. (6 marks)
(ii) Explain any three ways in which a car industry would benefit the customers form
the use of computers. (6 marks)
b) Susan a student in Form 1 would like to carry out the following tasks using a keyboard.
(i) Quickly display the start menu (1 mark)
(ii) Create a blank space between two characters (1 mark)
(iii) Remove a character to the left of the cursor (1 mark)
For each of the tasks, state the appropriate key she can use to achieve her
objective
QUESTION THREE (15 MARKS)
a) Input devices can be categorized according to how they are used to enter data namely
keying devices, pointing devices, scanning devices, speech recognition devices and
digital devices. Give one example of each of the following devices.
(i) Scanning devices (2 marks)
(ii) Digital devices (2 marks)
(iii) Pointing devices (2 marks)
(iv) Scanning devices (2 marks)
(v) Speech recognition devices (2 marks)
b) Explain any five functions of an operating system (5 marks)
QUESTION FOUR (15 MARKS)
a) Choge entered the value 23455675656 in a cell of a spreadsheet. After pressing enter the
cell displayed ###########.
(i) Explain why the numbers entered were not displayed as expected (3 marks)
(ii) Suggest two things that you would do to correct the situation so that entered
numbers can be displayed as expected. (4 marks)
b) The figure below shows an extract of students data created in a spreadsheet program.
Use it to answer the question that follows:
A B C D E F G
1 STUDENT ENG MATHS CHEM TOTAL MEAN COMMENT
2 JOHN 40 43 65
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3 JAMES 70 45 45
4 MARK 90 67 78
5 JUNE 78 54 56
6
7
(i) Using cell addresses only, write a formula that would be used to obtain the following:
(I) Highest score in mathematics
(II) Lowest score in English
(III) Total score for John
(IV) Mean score for June (8 marks)
QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)
a) The following is a description of a computer a school intends to buy
1.2 GHZ PROCESSOR
512 MB OF RAM
1.2 GB HARDDIST
DVD ROM
Explain the meaning of
(i) 1.2 GHZ (2 marks)
(ii) 512 MB (2 marks)
(iii) 1.2 GB (2 marks)
(iv) DVD (2 marks)
b) Distinguish between LAN and MAN network (3 marks)
c) How would you hide a ruler guide while using a desktop publisher like Microsoft
publisher? (2 marks)
d) In what way is cropping different from resizing (2 marks)
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