COMPUTER PAPER ONE QUESTIONS FROM SYLLABUS APPLICATIONS

WORD PROCESSING

1. What is word processing? This is the process of creating, formatting, editing, saving and
printing any form of written material.
(a) Define a word processor. This is an application which helps one to create, format,
edit, save and print any form of written material.
(b) List any three examples of word processors. Microsoft Word, Abi word, Word
Perfect, Word Pad, Microsoft Write, Kingsoft Writer etc
(c) Identify any two features of a word processor (an application software) interface.
Ribbon, work area, title bar, scroll bars, ruler, task pane, cursor, interactive icons.
(d) Write five characteristics of word processors. Word wrap, Automatic pagination,
Mail merge, header and footers, table of contents, etc
(e) Give four functions of word processors. Used in Editing text, Used in Creating
tables,
Used in formatting data, Used in inserting photographs in a document, correcting
spelling and grammar, Creating Web pages, analyzing data using graphs/charts,
used to count words, paragraphs in a document.
(f) Explain four reasons why a word processor is preferred to using a typewriter in an
office. A word processor produces neat work unlike a typewriter, A word processor
has formatting features like bolding, word Art and others unlike a typewriter, a word
processor is silent unlike a typewriter which is noisy, a word processor can cut,
copy and insert unlike a typewriter, a word processor can delete and backspace
unlike a typewriter.
(g) List any four documents which can be produced using a word processor in an
office. Time tables, memos, circulars, notes, minutes for the meeting, etc
(h) State four tools you can use to emphasize text in a word processor.– Bold, - Italics, -
high lighting – Text effects e.g. shadows, Word Art, Changing font colour
(i) Define the term mail merge in word processing. A feature in word processing which
is used to send a similar letter to multiple recipients.
(j) Explain the three components of mail merge.– Main document containing the main
message and controls the merge. – Data source document showing details of recipients. –
The merged document which is a result of the merge.
(k) Give three advantages of mail merge. – The company can write and send one
standard letter - It saves time and efforts of typing several letters – Formatting and
editing/changes can easily be done.
(l) Mention any four display views in which the user can view his work in a word
processor.– Read mode - Print layout mode – Outline mode – Draft mode –Web layout
mode (m)Give any four Navigation tools for a word document.

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 (n) Which short cuts are used to perform the following functions during word
processing
- Select All -Ctrl + A - Align Left Ctrl + L
- Bold - Ctrl + B - Align Right Ctrl + R
- Italics - Ctrl + I - Justified Ctrl + J
- Cut - Ctrl + X - Align Center Ctrl + E
- Copy - Ctrl + C
- Underlining - Ctrl + U
- Paste - Ctrl + V
(o) Give one function performed by the following buttons on the keyboard.
- Enter button – Enter key takes the cursor to the next line
- Space bar- Space bar creates a space between words in a sentence
- Delete key- This key removes a character to the right of the cursor
- Backspace key- Backspace key removes a character to the left of the cursor
- Ctrl key- This is a special button which together with other keys performs several
functions e.g Ctrl + A selects the entire text
- Esc. Key -This key cancel an issued command or it closes a currently opened
dialog box.
- Shift key - Which other key performs other functions or when pressed the
keyboard can type second function characters e.g. Shift + a will produce Letter A
- Function keys. Function keys are used to perform special functions in a
computer. They can be pressed alone or in a group with other buttons. E.g F1
displays help in the application and F12 helps the user to save a document with a
different name.
(p) Define the following terms as they are used in word processing
- Save. Save is used to effect changes in an existing file with a file name
- Save As. Save As is used to assign a document a name for the first time or to
change from an existing name to a different name.
- High lighting. This refers to selecting a section of text, the entire content or a
piece of work with a different colour.
- Cut, Copy, Paste, Format painter. Cut means removing a selected piece of
text/graphic from one location to the clip board ready for pasting. With cutting,
the content is moved from the original position. Copy means making a duplicate
version of the selected text/graphic to the clip board. Paste means the removal of
cut or copied content from the clip board to a given location. Format painter is a
formatting tool which allows the user to apply the same looks/formatting to a

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 selected text in a document. Format painter does not copy the content rather it
only carries and applies the formatting/designing.
- Clip board. This is a temporary memory where cut/copied content is temporarily help
awaiting pasting to a new location.
- Line spacing. Line spacing refers to the space left between parallel lines in a
document. This can be single line spacing, 1.15, 1.5, 2.0 etc.
- Page break. Page break ends the current page at a given point and pushes any content
after the cursor to the next page.
- Give two proof reading tools in word processing. Tracking changes, spelling and
grammar check, word count, dictionary and thesaurus.
- Footer and header. A footer is a repeated text/graphic that appears at the bottom
printable margin of a page in a document where as a header is a repeated text/graphic
that appears at the top printable margin of a page in a document
- Subscript and superscript. A subscript is a character/letter/symbol that is set slightly
below the normal typing line. A superscript is a character/letter/symbol that is set
slightly above the normal typing line.
- Bolding, italics and underlining .Bolding means darkening and thickening a text to
emphasize the text. Italicizing makes the text slant to the right. Underlining puts a line
below a selected word.
- Paragraph alignment. (left, right, center and justified alignment) This determines
the side of the page on which the content will be put.
- Indentation. This shows how far the paragraph is moved from the left or right margin.
- Footnote and endnote. A footnote is a referencing tool at the bottom of the page
providing more information about something in a document. Whereas an endnote is a
referencing tool at the bottom of the document providing more information about
something - Thesaurus. This tool provides alternative words for the selected word.
- Spelling and grammar. This is a tool which corrects a document’s spellings,
grammatical composition and punctuations.
- Bullets and numbers –Bulleting is a way of listing items in unordered manner
Whereas numbers(numbering) refers to a way of listing items in an ordered
manner - Water mark. A faint text/graphic appearing behind the main document.
- Page boarders. This is a boundary put around a page
- Drop cap - This is a large capital letter at the beginning of the paragraph
- Font cases (upper case, lower case, toggle case, title case, sentence case) Upper case
refers to capital letters, lower case refers to small letters, toggle case refers to the
reversing of the existing case e.g. Murangira becomes mURANGIRA, title case refers to
a capital letter for every beginning letter in a sentence, sentence case refers to a capital
letter beginning a sentence.

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 - Word wrap. This is a feature which pushes to the next line automatically without
pressing Enter Key.
- Formatting (forms of formatting i.e. character formatting, paragraph formatting
etc., page formatting). Formatting means enhancement of the appearance of
a document. Character formatting involves bolding, underlining, italicizing,
applying font size, font colour etc. paragraph formatting involves bulleting,
numbering, line spacing, indentations, different alignments etc.
- Editing. This refers to changing text by adding, deleting and rearranging sentences and
paragraphs
- Find and Find and replace. Find means locating a specific word or sentence in a
document.
Find and replace means locating and substituting a given text with another text.
- Word count. A feature which counts the number of pages, words, paragraphs, lines and
characters in a document.
- Translate. A feature which provides the exact meaning of a selected word in a selected
language.
- Proof reading. Proofreading is the final stage in the editing process focusing on
surface errors such as spellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation.
- Printing. Producing a hard copy of a document onto a print media e.g. paper, cloth etc.

SPREADSHEETS
1(a) Define the term “a spreadsheet”. This is an application program with imaginary rows and
columns for manipulation of numeric data

(b) Give four examples of spreadsheet applications. Microsoft Word, VisiCalc, Lotus 1 2 3,
Pegasus, Quattro Pro, View Sheet, SuperCalc etc.
(c) What is the difference between a work book and a worksheet? A workbook is a file
containing several worksheets where work is manipulated from. A workbook is made up
of worksheets whereas a worksheet is a single electronic workplace in a workbook made
up cells where actual data is entered.
(d) Give any four types of data used in a spreadsheet application . -Text (label), -Numbers
(values), -date, -time, -percentages, currency, fraction etc.
(e) What is a cell reference? Cell reference means the name of the cell in a worksheet
shown by the column letter and row number e.g. A2
(f) Explain the three difference types of cell references. Relative cell reference is a type of
cell reference which changes when copied and pasted to a new location e.g. A7.
Absolute cell reference is a type of cell reference which does not change when copied

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 and pasted to a new location e.g. $A$7. Mixed cell reference is a type of cell reference
where one part of the reference changes whereas the other remains constant e.g. $A7 or
A$7
(g) Under what circumstances can a user apply an absolute cell reference? An absolute
cell reference is used where the user is referring to a certain constant cell which should
not change.
(h) Demonstrate how a shopkeeper can use a spreadsheet in his business to determine
profits.
A B C
1 ITEMS BUYING PRICE SELLING PRICE Profit
2 Shirts 30000 50000 20000
3 Dresses 40000 50000 10000
4 Trousers 45000 60000 15000
Total profits 45000

(i) List five different inbuilt functions in a spreadsheet clearly showing their uses in data
manipulation. Sum function for Adding values in a given range, Average function for
determining mean of a set of values, Mode for determining a value which appears more
times in
a given range, median for determining the middle value in a given range, if function for
making logical comparisons between a value and what you expect, Max function for
returning the highest value in a given range, Min function for returning the lowest value
in a given range.
(j) What is the difference between sorting and filtering as used in spreadsheets. Sorting
means rearranging values in a given order whereas filtering means displaying only
values which fulfill a given condition
(k) Define the term “cell alignment?” as it is used in spreadsheets. Cell alignment
shows/determines the side on which the contents in the cell are put
(l) Mention any four types of charts used in a spreadsheet. Column graph, Pie chart, Line
graph, Area graph, stock graph, Combo graph, Radar, surface graph etc.
(m) State two components of a good graph in a spreadsheet program. Components
of a good graph include: Legend, Axes i.e. x and y axes, the chart title.
(n) What are the benefits of a business using a spreadsheet application to manage its
business as opposed to ordinary ledger book management. - They have large
worksheets which can accommodate any amount of data. – They automatically adjust
the results when changes are made. – They have better editing and formatting features, -
easy way of entering data with auto fill, -They have inbuilt charts which present data
graphically.

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 (o) Give any four areas where spreadsheet applications can be used. - In homes to do
family budgeting, - in manipulating statistical data, business forecasting. - In
accounting to determine profits and losses. – Mathematical calculations.
(p) Name a spreadsheet functions used to perform the given task.
- Counting the number of cells which fulfill a given condition……Countif
- Determining the total of values in a given range…Sum
- Determining the middle value when values have been arranged in alphabetical
order…Median
- Determining the number which appears more times in a given range..Mode
- Assigning a given value is the condition is true and another if the condition is
false…IF function
- Determining the lowest value in a given range……Min
- Determining the highest value in a given range……Max or Maxa
- Determining the mean of values in a given range…Average (q) Using the
example given below, answer the questions that follow:
A B C D
1 Names CPT ENG AVER Mark
2 John 55 66
3 David 76 54
- Write down the function syntax that would calculate Average Mark for John in
Cell D2=Average(B2:C2)
- What type data is in cell A3?Text
- What type of data is in Cell C2?Number

(r) Define the term the following terms as they are used in spreadsheet
- Formular. This is an expression which calculates the value of a cell e.g.=A2+A3 -
Functions. A function is an inbuilt formlar in a spreadsheet E.g = Sum(A2:A3) -
Cell. A cell is an intersection of a row and a column in a spreadsheet.
- Text wrap. This is where an long line is divided into multiple lines
- Shrink to fit. This is where the content in a cell is automatically adjusted to fit in
the cell - Cell merge. This is where two or more cells are combined into one
cell.
- Auto fill. This is a feature in spreadsheets that lets you enter a series of numbers or
characters in
a specified range, and have the software complete the entry you started typing.

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 PRESENTATION SOFTWARE

1 (a) What is presentation software. Presentation software is an application which is used in

preparation and creation of animated slides with transitions which help in the enhancement of
the speaker’s presentation.
(b) Give four areas where presentation software can be used. – In business to advertise – In
homes to watch movies, - In meetings to communicate to audiences, - In Education circles
during teaching and learning process.
c) What are the advantages of using a presentation program to communicate to the
audience?– Ease of handling big numbers, - Capturing the attention of the audience, - It
allows the speaker to prepare in advance and this increases his confidence. – Handouts
can be printed to the consumption of the audience. – presentations can be shared on line
during online presentations.
d) List down any four examples of presentation software . - Microsoft PowerPoint, - Libre
Impress, - Apple Keynote, - Harvard graphics, - Lotus Freelance, - Prezi etc.
e) Give any five considerations when designing a presentation . – Use of relevant
graphics, - use of animations, - use of transitions – Good background designs, - Good
contrast i.e.
background colour and font colour. – The layout used. - The font size of the characters
should be big enough to allow easy reading.
f) Why are animations and transitions necessary when presenting to the audience. -They
impress the audience. –They increase the attention of the audience – They make the
presentation lively
g) Give two activities that can be done under the following presentation views:
- Normal view. Editing, formatting, adding slides, deleting slides etc.
- Slide sorter view. Rearranging slides, duplicating slides, cutting slides, copying
slides, deleting slides etc.
- Slide show view. Viewing slide content and navigating through the slides
- Slide master view. Formatting background for all the slides, inserting objects to
appear on all the objects.
- Reading view. Displaying the contents of slides. – Reading the contents of the
presentation.
- Outline view. - Editing text without graphics. - Formatting text in slides. -
Viewing text in slides.
h) Define the following terms as they are used in a presentation program -
Animations. The moving effect shown in the contents of the slide.

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 - Transitions. The effect which takes place when slides are changing from one to
another during the show. The effect shown when on slide is leaving and another
slide come on the screen.
- Formatting. Enhancing the appearance of the presentation.
- Slide layout. The manner/order in which the content is organized on the slide.
- Slides. A page in a presentation which contains content about a particular topic.
- Place holder. A dotted rectangular structure which appears on the slide in which
content is entered.
- Headers and footers. Information which repeatedly appears at the top or bottom
of the slides and handouts.
- Slide numbers. Numeric values used to identify different slides in form of
numbers.
- Master slide. A slide which controls the general formatting of all the slides at
once.
- Notes page/speaker’s notes. The presenter can add his personal information not
to be viewed by the audience during the show. These notes form his private
summaries
- Slide sorter view. All slides are presented in a tabular form. The presenter can
cut, copy, paste, duplicate, rearrange and delete slides.
- Normal view. This is the editing mode where the user /presenter can add slides,
content and even format as he desires.
- Slide show. This is the full screen mode when the presenter is communicating to
the audience. In this mode, the presenter navigates through his presentation by
moving from one slide to another.
- Rehearsing timings. Setting specific time for each slide to last on the screen
during the slide show.
- Looping. Where the presentation runs continuously without stopping until escape
key has been pressed.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

a) What is a database? This is a collection of related data in an organized manner.

b) What is the difference between a database and a database management system? A
database is a collection of related data whereas a database management system is a software
which allows one to organize and manipulate big amounts of data with a lot of ease.
c) Give three examples of organizations which need to maintain databases and the
nature of data kept by those organizations. Medical facilities keep the patients’ data as well
as

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 the workers’ data, Educational centers with students’ data and workers’ data, the government
with the citizens’ data, Telecom companies keep the clients’ directories i.e. phone numbers and
other particulars, business keep track of inventory etc.
d) Differentiate between a flat database and a relational database. A flat database is based
on one table whereas a relational database is based on more than one table. These tables must
be related
e) Give five advantages and five disadvantages of an organization maintaining a
database.– Data in a database can easily be shared between different users. – Reduction in
data redundancy – Ensures data integrity – Data can be kept for along time. –There are
automatic backups
– Data passes through different checks – Reduction in costs
f) List four functions of a database management system. - Storing data – Sorting data –
Report generation – Organizing data
g) What is a primary key? This is a feature in database table which identifies record
uniquely
h) Give three characteristics of a primary key?- A primary key cannot contain null values,
- A primary key identifies records uniquely, - A primary key cannot contain duplicated
values.
i) What are the advantages of using a primary key in database management
system.1.When you use a primary key, there cannot be null records. 2. Using a primary
key will create only unique records in the table. 3. Searching a database (querying)
using the primary key field will given exact results e.g. searching the telephone
directory using one’s telephone number will give only that record unlike using his
names
j) Why is a table referred to as the primary database object? The table contains data for
the database. In addition, all the objects in the database are based on a table as the first
object
k) Explain the use of the four database objects i.e. the table, query, form and report. A
table is for keeping data for the database, A query is for retrieving specific records from
the database following certain criteria. A form is for entering data into the table. As
well as displaying data from the database. A report is for printing data from the
database.
l) List any five examples of data types. Yes/No, Auto number, Number, Short Text, Long
Text, Hyperlink, Attachment, OLE, Currency, Date/Time
m) What do you understand by the term “data type”? It specifies the type of data a field
can contain.
n) What is a field property? It refers to specific characteristics of a particular field.
o) For the table given below, give the most appropriate data types for the asked fields.
StudName DateofBirth StudNumber FeesPaid Picture

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 Murangira 02/02/2000 SM/001 Shs 2000
Kabonge 03/01/1994 SM/002 Shs 7000
Maziba 08/08/2006 SM/003 Shs 4500
Data types.
StudName……Short text
DateofBirth…………Date/time
StudNumber………Short Text
Feespaid…………Currency
Picture……OLE
- Write down the formula one would use in a query to calculate the years for each
student .= year(Now)-year(DateofBirth)
- How many records are shown in the table given above? Three records
- How many fields are shown in the table given above? Five records
- Write down the date format shown in the table above? dd/mm/yyyy
- Write down the query criteria to produce records who have paid more than
Shs5000.The answer is >5000
- Write down the query criteria to produce records whose names begin with letters
“KA”The answer is KA*
- Write down the query criteria showing people in the table born before year
2000.The answer is <1/1/2000
- Which formular would be entered in a FORM to show the discount allowed
which is 10% of Feespaid. The answer is =10/100*[feespaid]
p) Give four examples of database management programs.MS. Access, Oracle, dBase I II
III, SQL, Paradox etc.
q) Give three ways of ensuring that data is valid in database management system. - -
By setting a primary key – Setting a specific field size - Setting a validation rule - Setting a
specific data type – Setting the required property where necessary.
r) Define the following terms as they are used in databases? - Field. This is a column in a
table which contains data of one category. Or a unit of data in a database table.
- Record. This is a row in a database which contains details of a particular event,
product, item or person.
- Primary key. This is a feature which identifies records uniquely.
- Default value. The value which appears automatically for all the new records in the
table.
- Field size. The maximum number of characters to be entered in the field.
- Caption. This is a label which is displayed for the field in datasheet view, form view or
report view.
- Validation rule. This is an expression which limits values to be entered in the field.

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 - Validation text. This is the error message which is displayed when the validation rule
has been violated.
- Format. This is how data is displayed in the field after entering it .
- Input mask. The pattern to be followed by all the data entered in the field.
- Required. This is a field property which allows either YES or NO. Setting it to yes
means that the field cannot remain empty without a value and setting it to NO means
that it may or may not be empty.
- Criteria .This is the condition to be fulfilled by the records. E.g if I want to return all
male students in the database, “male” would be my criteria.

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 WEB PUBLISHING

a) What is web publishing? This refers to the development and maintenance of a website
b) How is web designing different from web publishing? Web designing is the process of
creating a website to make it ready for uploading. Whereas web publishing other than
designing also involves maintenance of a website online.
c) What is a website? A website is a collection of related webpages.
d) A programmer who designs websites is known as?........ Web master
e) Give four advantages of a school having a website.

• Having a website will make promoting an organization less expensive.

• It boosts the ranking of website of an organization which quickly results in
increased sales and higher profits.
• Make it easy for customers to purchase from an organization since it is available
24/7.
• A website helps an organization to generate more customers.
• Having a website builds better relationships with your customers. You can send
messages instantly to your customers through email.
• A website gives an organization the opportunity to prove their degree of
trustworthiness. You have to tell your customers why you deserve their trust
through your website.
• It enables the organization to store data Online.
• It enables clients to get quick feedback from the organisation.
• It enables quick communication by the organization to customers.
f) A standard language in which all websites are designed to enable them to easily linkup
with each other while on a network is called. The answer is HTML
g) What is web authoring software? This is software used to create a website
h) Give two reasons why pictures are preferred when designing a website. - Pictures make
the website more attractive – Pictures provide more information about the website.
i) Why isn’t it advisable to have many graphics on a website? – Pictures make the website
slow when loading – Some pictures may not be supported by some monitor colour
depths. – Some pictures are not supported by some browsers.
j) Give any four web authoring programs of your choice . Macromedia Dream weaver,
Notepad (html), BlueVoda, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft FrontPage
k) State any two advantages of web publishing over traditional publishing. –
Communication is made to the whole world after uploading – Editing is very easy to
make since information is digital – Videos and animations can be used when
advertising unlike traditional method – It is cost effective in the long run.

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 l) State any three Qualities of a good website. – Should have navigation buttons - Should
have page titles, - Good contrast i.e. good background colour – Should have hyperlinks
connecting the user to different pages.- Should have brief and direct content
m) What is the importance of a back slash in the following html tag
<html> content </html>
n) What do the following html tags do: - <b>Bold the content between tags
- <title>Displays the content as the title for the web page
- <i>Italicizes the content between tags
- <marquee>Makes the content between marquee tags move from one direction to
another.
- <p>The content between these tags is formatted as a paragraph.

o) Define the following terms as they are used in web publishing.

- URL. This is the address of a resource/page on a network. E.g.
www.newvision.co.ug/sports/netball
- Webpage. This is a single electronic page in a website containing information about a
particular topic.
- Hyperlink. This is a point when clicked connects to another resource/page on a website.
- Home page/index page. This is the first page of a website
- Navigation buttons. These are tools in a website which contain hyperlinks to different
pages. These buttons when clicked lead the user to another page.
- Web page banner. The top part of the website which contains broad information
about the website
- Web browser (Give different examples)A browser is an application software
which displays the contents of a website. Examples include Google Chrome,
Opera, Netscape Navigator, Internet explorer, Torch, Konqueror etc.
- Search engine (Give different examples). This is an interactive program which
allows the user to search for information from the internet by entering a search
term in the search box. Examples of search engines include; Google, Yahoo,
Bing, Duckduckgo, Aliweb, Ask etc.
Html tags
- . This is an html code that defines every structure on an html page,
including the placement of text and images and hypertext links. Html tags begin
with the less than (<) character and end with greater than symbol (>). These
symbol are also known as angle brackets. E.g. <html>
- Page titles. How the webpage is identified by the browser. This will be the name
of the page

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 - WWW. World wide web is a combination of all resources and users on the
internet that
are using the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
- Web server. A software/computer which responds to the requests of the client
computer on a network. The computer on which the websites are hosted.
- Marquee The content which moves from one side to the other of the website
p) Define the term protocol. A set of rules that manages the way data is transferred across
a network
q) What is IP in full? Internet Protocol .Define the term IP. This is the address of computer
or any device on a network.
r) List any five protocols of your choice with their functions. IP/TCP for detecting the
address of the receiving device as well as sending the file to the exact destination,
breaking data into packets as well as assembling packets, FTP for uploading and
download files on the network, HTTP for carrying html files across the network, SMTP
for carrying email across the network, IPX internet packet exchange is a networking
protocol from Novell that interconnects networks that use Novell’s Netware and
servers, SPX (sequenced packet exchange) this is a protocol for handling packet
sequencing in Novel Netware network.
s) Delivery of digital content across the internet is controlled using a special protocol
called The answer is HTTP
t) Mails over a network are transferred from one computer to another using a protocol
known as. The answer is SMTP(Simple mail transfer protocol)

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