Creative Development
Data
Algorithms and Programming
Computer Systems and Networks
Impact of Computing
100
Three students in different locations are collaborating on the development of an application. Name a strategy to facilitate collaboration among the students.
Possible answers:
Having all three students participate in frequent video chat sessions to discuss ideas about the project and to provide feedback on work done so far
Having all three students use an online shared folder to contribute and discuss components to be considered for use in the application
Having all three students work in a shared document that each can edit to provide comments on the work in progress
100
A color in a computing application is represented by an RGB triplet that describes the amount of red, green, and blue, respectively, used to create the desired color. A selection of colors and their corresponding RGB triplets are shown in the following table. Each value is represented in decimal (base 10).
What is the binary RGB triplet for the color indigo?
(01001011, 00000000, 10000010)
100
A teacher is writing a code segment that will use variables to represent a student’s name and whether or not the student is currently absent. What two variables would the teacher need for the code segment, and what are their types?
A string variable named studentName and a Boolean variable named isAbsent
100
Explains how data is typically assembled in packets for transmission over the Internet.
Each packet contains data to be transmitted, along with metadata containing information used for routing the data.
100
A chain of retail stores uses software to manage telephone calls from customers. The system was recently upgraded. Customers interacted with the original system using their phone keypad. Customers interact with the upgraded system using their voice.
The upgraded system (but not the original system) stores all information from the calling session in a database for future reference. This includes the customer’s telephone number and any information provided by the customer (name, address, order number, credit card number, etc.).
What is one potential benefit of storing the information from each calling session in a database?
The company can analyze the calling session data and thereby make better business decisions.
200
DineOutHelper is a mobile application that people can use to select a restaurant for a group meal. Each user creates a profile with a unique username and a list of food allergies or dietary restrictions. Each user can then build a contact list of other users of the app.
A user who is organizing a meal with a group selects all the members of the group from the user’s contact list. The application then recommends one or more nearby restaurants based on whether the restaurant can accommodate all of the group members’ allergies and dietary restrictions.
Suppose that Alejandra is using DineOutHelper to organize a meal with Brandon and Cynthia.
What data is provided by Alejandra that is needed for DineOutHelper to recommend a restaurant for the group?
Example:
- Each group member’s list of food allergies or dietary restrictions
- Alejandra’s geographic location
200
A user wants to save a data file on an online storage site. The user wants to reduce the size of the file, if possible, and wants to be able to completely restore the file to its original version. What type(s) of compression should the user use?
Compressing the file using a lossless compression algorithm before uploading it
200
Assume that both lists and strings are indexed starting with index 1.
The list wordList has the following contents.
["abc", "def", "ghi", "jkl"]
Let myWord be the element at index 3 of wordList. Let myChar be the character at index 2 of myWord. What is the value of myChar ?
"h"
200
What does it mean that routing on the Internet is fault-tolerant?
It has the ability to provide data transmission even when some connections have failed
200
A city government is attempting to reduce the digital divide between groups with differing access to computing and the Internet. Name an activity likely to be effective in this purpose.
Holding basic computer classes at community centers
Providing free wireless Internet connections at locations in low-income neighborhoods
Requiring that every city school has computers that meet a minimum hardware and software standard
300
In the following procedure, the parameter max is a positive integer.
What documentation should appear with the printNums procedure? (Specifically, what would it say?)
Prints all positive odd integers that are less than or equal to max.
300
A group of students take hundreds of digital photos for a science project about weather patterns. Each photo file contains data representing the level of red, green, and blue for each pixel in the photo. The file also contains metadata that describes the date, time, and geographic location where the photo was taken. Name a potential use of the metadata.
Determining the chronological order of the photos
Determining whether two photos were taken at the same location on different days
300
The code fragment below is intended to display "odd" if the positive number num is odd.
What would you put as the <MISSING CONDITION> so that the code fragment will work as intended?
(num MOD 2) = 1
300
A computer has two processors that are able to run in parallel. The table below indicates the amount of time it takes either processor to execute four different processes. Assume that none of the processes is dependent on any of the other processes.
A program is used to assign processes to each of the processors. How should the program assign the four processes to optimize execution time?
Processes W and Z should be assigned to one processor, and processes X and Y should be assigned to the other processor.
300
A mobile game tracks players’ locations using GPS. The game offers special in-game items to players when they visit real-world points of interest. How could bias occur in the game?
Points of interest may be more densely located in cities, favoring players in urban areas over players in rural areas.
400
A program is created to perform arithmetic operations on positive and negative integers. The program contains the following incorrect procedure, which is intended to return the product of the integers 
and 
.
A programmer suspects that an error in the program is caused by this procedure. Under when will the procedure NOT return the correct product?
When the values of 
is positive and the value of 
is negative.
When the values of 
and 
are both negative.
400
The owner of a clothing store records the following information for each transaction made at the store during a 7-day period.
- The date of the transaction
- The method of payment used in the transaction
- The number of items purchased in the transaction
- The total amount of the transaction, in dollars
Customers can pay for purchases using cash, check, a debit card, or a credit card.
How would you find the total amount of items purchased on a given date?
The total number of items purchased on a given date can be determined by searching the data for all transactions that occurred on the given date and then adding the number of items purchased for each matching transaction.
400
Consider the following procedures for string manipulation.
Assume that the string oldString contains at least 4 characters. A programmer is writing a code segment that is intended to remove the first two characters and the last two characters from oldString and assign the result to newString.
For example, if oldString contains "student", then newString should contain "ude".
Write a code segment that can be used to assign the intended string to newString.
newString ← substring(oldString, 3, len(oldString) - 4)
tempString ← substring(oldString, 3, len(oldString) - 2)
newString ← substring(tempString, 1, len(tempString) - 2)
400
A local router is configured to limit the bandwidth of guest users connecting to the Internet. What is the result of this configuration as compared to a configuration in which the router does not limit the bandwidth?
Guest users will be restricted in the maximum amount of data that they can send and receive per second.
400
A small team of wildlife researchers is working on a project that uses motion-activated field cameras to capture images of animals at study sites. The team is considering using a “citizen science” approach to analyze the images. Why is such an approach is considered useful for this project?
The image analysis is likely to take a longer time for the research team than for a distributed group of individuals.
500
A company that develops mobile applications wants to involve users in the software development process. Name a benefit of having users participate.
Example:
Users can provide feedback that can be used to incorporate a variety of perspectives into the software.
500
An online store uses 6-bit binary sequences to identify each unique item for sale. The store plans to increase the number of items it sells and is considering using 7-bit binary sequences. How many more items can be stored as a result of using 1 more bit?
2 times as many items can be uniquely identified.
500
Write a Boolean expression equivalent to the expression
500
How is fault tolerance in a network is achieved?
By providing multiple paths between devices, enabling routing to occur even in the presence of a failed component
500
A researcher wants to publish the results of a study in an open access journal. What is a direct benefit of publishing the results in this type of publication?
The researcher can allow the results to be easily obtained by other researchers and members of the general public.