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A1 CS P2 2015-2022 Part II

The document is an examination paper for Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level Computer Science, focusing on fundamental problem-solving and programming skills. It includes various topics such as basic data types, pseudocode, structure charts, and algorithms, with specific questions requiring candidates to analyze and write pseudocode. The paper consists of 17 pages of content, including instructions and example questions for candidates to answer.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

26 views

A1 CS P2 2015-2022 Part II

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rustylantern77

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

TOPIC Number of Pages

1. BASIC DATA TYPES 2 | 32 | 61 | 64 | 67 | 84 | 97 | 110 | 120 | 122| 135 | 149 | 161 | 186 | 215
AND BUILT IN
FUNCTIONS | 256 | 278 | 287 | 320 | 336 |362 | 382 | 408 | 416 | 433 | 457 | 465 | 481

| 507 | 536 | 562 | 585 | 609 | 633 | 656 | 686 | 714 | 744 | 771 | 1005 |

1040 | 1086 | 1112 | 1332 | 1362 |

2. ENGLISH STRUCTURED 3 | 62 | 168 | 199 | 223 | 339 | 365 | 385 | 435 | 517 | 590 | 620 | 636 |
TO PSEUDO CODE 663 | 687 |696 | 718 | 836 | 861 | 892 | 1044 | 1063 | 1251 | 1298 |
1309 |

3. THEORY 4 | 262 | 443 | 465 | 567 | 658 | 721 | 745 | 797 | 806 | 829 | 859 | 890 |
926 | 965 | 1010 | 1061 | 1139 | 1170 | 1194 | 1224 | 1231 | 1257 |
1284 | 1289 |

4. PSEUDO CODES
5 | 35 | 88 | 111| 166 | 257 | 319 | 344 | 370 | 390 | 492 | 515 | 548 | 573
| 588 | 596 | 612 | 616 | 637 | 640 | 659 | 692 | 719 | 746 | 748 | 778 | 840
| 865 | 894 | 897 | 928 | 930 | 969 | 973 | 1011 | 1018 | 1045 | 1047 |
1049 | 1094 | 1121 | 1124 | 1147 | 1179 | 1204 | 1230 | 1232 | 1254 |
1259 | 1288 | 1290 | 1312 | 1317 | 1319 | 1338 | 1345 | 1372 | 1376 |

5. STRUCTURE CHARTS
8 | 38 | 65 | 168 | 193 | 222 | 254 | 318 | 341 | 369 | 387 |486 | 513 | 541
660 | 690 | 752 | 775 | 798 | 830 | 860 | 1007 | 1141 | 1235 | 1293 | 1344|
1374 |

6. TRACE TABLE 11 | 42 | 85 | | 99 | 150 | 173 | 198 | 226 | 245 | 277 | 309 | 410 | 459 |
638 | 644 | 661 | 720 | 776 | 799 | 863 | 934 | 971 | 1012 | 1145 | 1177|
1340 | 1370 |

7. TEXT FILES 14 | 45 | 170 | 195 | 223 | 252 | 282 | 342 | 368 | 370 | 388 | 390 | 414 |
417 | 443 | 466 | 488 | 516 | 544 | 571 | 594 | 618 | 643 | 665 | 695 | 722
754 | 780 | 809 | 842 | 867 | 938 | 1070 | 1143 | 1181 | 1234 | 1236 |
1263 | 1294 | 1342 |

8. 2D ARRAY
71 | 344 | 490 | 518 | 546 | 570 | 804 | 1072 | 1097 | 1151 |
1176 | 1209 | 1313

9. FLOWCHARTS 87 | 112 | 138 | 221 | 241 | 272 | 305 | 411 | 436 | 460 | 484 | 511 | 542

| 563 | 586 | 610 | 684 | 712 | 742 | 773 | 802 | 832 | 862 | 932 | 967 |

1009 1064 | 1088 | 1200 | 1226 | 1334 | 1364

10. COMPLETE MISSING 10 | 40 | 68 | 89 | 121 | 140 | 165 | 190 | 219 | 248 | 255 | 312 | 317 | 340
PSEUDO CODES
| 366 | 386 |

11. UNDERSTANDING 92 | 115 | 142 | 275 | 311 | 482| 509 | 538 | 568 | 591 | 615 | 641 | 693
PSEUDO CODES
| 716 | 774 | 893 | 1046 | 1092 | 1229 | 1250 | 1256 | 1282 | 1308 | 1314 |

12. CASE OF
93 | 117 | 120 | 144 | 409 | 458 | 540 |

13. BUBBLE SORT 118 | 439 | 461 | 412 | 438 | 807 | 838 | 968 | 1015 |

14. Random Numbers 280 | 440 | 641 | 834 | 1368 |

15. ADTs 1017 | 1043 | 1066 | 1116 | 1172 |1174 | 1197 | 1252 | 1286
| 1310 | 1336 | 1366 |

16. STATE TRANSITION

1041 | 1069 | 1113 | 1196 | 1262 | 1318 |
DIAGRAMS

17. RECORD DATA TYPE 1090 |

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 711

Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 9 7 4 4 6 8 1 1 6 1 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Write your centre number, candidate number and name in the spaces at the top of this page.
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.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

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.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 17 printed pages and 3 blank pages.

DC (ST) 171120/3
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
PAGE 712

1 Study the following pseudocode.

FUNCTION Search() RETURNS INTEGER

DECLARE N, C : INTEGER
DECLARE V, L : REAL
V GetLevel()
L V * 1.34
C 0
FOR N 1 TO 10
V GetLevel()
IF V > L
THEN
C C + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR
OUTPUT "Process complete"
RETURN C
ENDFUNCTION

(a) (i) This pseudocode lacks features that would make it easier to read and understand.

State three such features.

Feature 1 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ...........................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 713

(ii) Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm implemented in the pseudocode.
Variable declarations are not required in program flowcharts.

[5]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

PAGE 714

(b) (i) Programming languages support different data types.

Complete the table by giving a suitable data type for each example value.

Example value Data type

"NOT TRUE"

NOT FALSE

132

[4]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

,IDQH[SUHVVLRQLVLQYDOLGWKHQZULWH¶(5525·

Refer to the Appendix on page 16–17 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Expression Evaluates to

LEFT("Start", 3) & RIGHT("Apple", 3)

0,' VDPSOH

NUM_TO_STRING(12.3 * 2)

,17 675,1*B72B180

[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 715

2 (a) A structure chart is often used in modular program design. One feature shown is the sequence
of module execution.

State four other features that may be shown.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 4 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

(b) Identify and describe one feature of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that can
help with program presentation.

Feature .....................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) By value is one method of passing a parameter to a subroutine.

Identify and describe the other method.

Method ......................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Explain the term adaptive maintenance.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over
PAGE 716

3 The following is a function design in pseudocode.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

10 FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

11
12 DECLARE NumDots : INTEGER
13 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
14 DECLARE NumOthers : INTEGER

16 NumDots 0
17 NumOthers 0
18 Index 1
19
20 WHILE NumDots < 3 AND Index <= LENGTH(InString)
21
22 IF MID(InString, Index, 1) = '.'
23 THEN
24 NumDots NumDots + 1
(/6(
26 NumOthers NumOthers + 1
27 ENDIF
28 Index Index + 1
29
30 ENDWHILE
31
32 IF NumDots = NumOthers
33 THEN
34 RETURN TRUE
(/6(
36 RETURN FALSE
37 ENDIF
38
39 ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 717

Study the pseudocode. Identify the relevant features in the following table.

Refer to the Appendix on pages 16–17 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Feature Answer

The number of the line containing a variable being incremented

The range of line numbers containing a pre-condition loop

The number of initialisation statements

The number of the line containing a logical operator

The range of line numbers containing a selection statement

The name of a built-in function

The name of a parameter

[7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

PAGE 718

4 A student is developing a program to count how many times each character of the alphabet (A to Z)
occurs in a given string. Upper case and lower case characters will be counted as the same. The
string may contain non-alphabetic characters, which should be ignored.

The program will:

• check each character in the string to count how many times each alphabetic character occurs
• store the count for each alphabetic character in a 1D array
• output each count together with the corresponding character.

(a) The student has written a structured English description of the algorithm:

1. START at the beginning of the string

2. SELECT a character from the string
3. CONVERT the character to upper case
4. CHECK whether the character is alphabetic and INCREMENT as required.
5. REPEAT from step 2 until last character has been checked
6. OUTPUT a suitable message giving the count of each alphabetic character

Step 4 above is not described in sufficient detail.

The student decides to apply a process to increase the level of detail given in step 4.

State the name of the process and use this process to write step 4 in more detail. Use
structured English for your answer.

Process .....................................................................................................................................

Structured English ....................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 719

(b) Write pseudocode to implement the program.

You should note the following:

• InString contains the string to be checked. It has been assigned a value.

• The elements of the array Result have all been initialised to zero.
• 7KH$6&,,YDOXHRIOHWWHU¶$·LV

You should assume the following lines of pseudocode have been written:

DECLARE InString : STRING

DECLARE Result : ARRAY [1:26] OF INTEGER

Declare any further variables you use. Do not implement the code as a subroutine.

Refer to the Appendix on pages 16–17 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

PAGE 720

5 The following pseudocode checks whether a string is a valid password.

FUNCTION CheckPassword(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index, Upper, Lower, Digit, Other : INTEGER

DECLARE NextChar : CHAR

Upper 0
Lower 0
Digit 0
Other 0

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)

IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
THEN
Upper Upper + 1
ELSE
IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z'
THEN
Lower Lower + 1
ELSE
IF NextChar >= '0' AND NextChar <= '9'
THEN
Digit Digit + 1
ELSE
Other Other + 1
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF

ENDFOR

,)8SSHU!$1'/RZHU! $1' 'LJLW2WKHU !

THEN
RETURN TRUE
ELSE
RETURN FALSE
ENDIF

ENDFUNCTION

(a) Describe the validation rules that are implemented by this pseudocode. Refer only to the
contents of the string and not to features of the pseudocode.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 721

(b) (i) Complete the trace table by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result CheckPassword("Jim+Smith*99")

Index NextChar Upper Lower Digit Other

[5]

(ii) State the value returned when the function is called using the expression shown. Justify
your answer.

Value .................................................................................................................................

Justification .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

PAGE 722

6 Account information for users of a library is held in one of two text files; UserListAtoM.txt and
UserListNtoZ.txt

The format of the data held in the two files is identical. Each line of the file is stored as a string that
contains an account number, name and telephone number separated by the asterisk character
('*') as follows:

<Account Number>''<Name>''<Telephone Number>

An example of one line from the file is:

*% .HYLQ0DSXQJD

The account number string may be six or nine characters in length and is unique for each
person. It is made up of alphabetic and numeric characters only.

An error has occurred and the same account number has been given to different users in the two
files. There is no duplication of account numbers within each individual file.

A program is to be written to search the two files and to identify duplicate entries. The account
number of any duplicate found is to be written to an array, Duplicates, which is a 1D array of
100 elements of data type STRING.

The program is to be implemented as several modules. The outline description of three of these is
as follows:

Module Outline description

ClearArray()
• Initialise the global array Duplicates. Set all elements to the
empty string.
• Read each line from the file UserListAtoM.txt
• Check whether the account number appears in file
UserListNtoZ.txt using SearchFileNtoZ()
FindDuplicates() • If the account number does appear then add the account
number to the array.
• Output an error message and exit the module if there are more
duplicates than can be written to the array.
• Search for a given account number in file UserListNtoZ.txt
SearchFileNtoZ()
• If found, return TRUE, otherwise return FALSE

(a) State one reason for storing data in a file rather than in an array.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 723

(b) Write program code for the module SearchFileNtoZ().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over
PAGE 724

(c) Write pseudocode for the module FindDuplicates().

The module description is given in the table on page 12.

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 725

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(d) ClearArray() is to be modified to make it general purpose. It will be used to initialise any
1D array of data type STRING to any value.

It will now be called with three parameters as follows:

1. The array
2. The number of elements
3. The initialisation string

You should assume that the lower bound is 1.

(i) Write pseudocode for the modified ClearArray() procedure.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Write program code for a statement that calls the modified ClearArray() procedure
to clear the array Duplicates to "Empty".

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19 [Turn over

PAGE 726

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: ,17 returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: 180B72B675,1* returns

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: 675,1*B72B180 returns

ASC(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the ASCII value of ThisChar

Example: ASC('A') returns

CHR(x : INTEGER) RETURNS CHAR

returns the character whose ASCII value is x

Example: CHR(87) returns 'W'

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 727

UCASE(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS CHAR

returns the character value representing the upper case equivalent of ThisChar
If ThisChar is not a lower case alphabetic character, it is returned unchanged.

Example: UCASE('a') returns 'A'

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2019 9608/21/O/N/19

PAGE 728
9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(i) One mark for each feature: 3

1. meaningful / sensible identifier names // use of Camel case for identifier

names // use of constants
2. blank lines / white space
3. comments

© UCLES 2019 Page 3 of 15

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 729
9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(ii) Mark as follows: 5

• One mark for START and END
• One mark per area outlined

At least one decision box label (YES/NO) must be

present

© UCLES 2019 Page 4 of 15

PAGE 730
9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

1(b)(i) One mark per row 4

Example value Data type

"NOT TRUE" STRING

4.5 REAL

NOT FALSE BOOLEAN

132 INTEGER

1(b)(ii) One mark per row 4

Expression Evaluates to

LEFT("Start", 3) & RIGHT("Apple", 3) "Staple"

MID("sample", 3, 5) ERROR

NUM_TO_STRING(12.3 * 2) "24.6"

INT(STRING_TO_NUM("53.4")) + 7 60

© UCLES 2019 Page 5 of 15

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 731
9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark for each feature: 4

1. Module hierarchy
2. The parameters that are passed (between modules) // the module interface
3. Selection / Decisions (which modules are executed)
4. Iteration / Repetition

2(b) One mark for name and one mark for explanation. 2

Example:

• PrettyPrint // Colour coding

• Colour coding of command words / key words

• Expand and collapse code blocks

• Allows programmer to focus on a section of code // allows quicker navigation
of the code

• Auto(matic) indentation
• Allows the programmer to clearly see the different code sections / easier to
see the code structure

Accept suitable alternatives

2(c) One mark for identification, one mark for description: 2

• By reference / ref
• The address of / pointer to the parameter is passed to the subroutine // if the
parameter value is changed in the subroutine this changes the original value

2(d) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Changes made to // Updating // Editing a program / algorithm / data structure

/ software / system
• ...as a result of changes to requirements / specification / legislation / available
technology

© UCLES 2019 Page 6 of 15

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9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

3 7
One mark per row: Answer

The number of the line containing a variable being 24 / 26 / 28

i t d
The range of line numbers containing a pre-condition 20 – 30
loop

The number of initialisation statements 3

The number of the line containing a logical operator 20

The range of line numbers containing a selection 22 - 27 /

statement 32 - 37

The name of a built-in function MID / LENGTH

The name of a parameter InString / Index

© UCLES 2019 Page 7 of 15

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
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9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

4(a) One mark for process name, max 3 for structured English. 4

Process:
• Stepwise Refinement / Top-down design

Structured English:
• Check that character is between 'A' and 'Z'
• Produce unique array index for this character
• Increment this array element

4(b) DECLARE Index : INTEGER 7

DECLARE Count : INTEGER

FOR Count m 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar m UCASE(MID(InString, Count, 1))
IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
THEN
Index m ASC(NextChar) – 64
Result[Index] m Result[Index] + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR

FOR Index m 1 TO 26

OUTPUT "Letter " & CHR(Index + 64) & " : "

& NUM_TO_STRING(Result[Index])
ENDFOR

One mark for each of the following (max 7):

1 First loop from 1 to length of InString:

2 Extract each character in turn in a loop
3 Check that character is alphabetic (must cater for lower & upper case) in a
loop
4 Obtain array index using ASC() - 64 in a loop
5 Increment element of Result array in a loop
6 Second loop from 1 to 26:
7 Attempt to OUTPUT character A to Z and corresponding count in a loop
8 Fully complete OUTPUT including any necessary type conversion in a loop

© UCLES 2019 Page 8 of 15

PAGE 734
9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

5(a) One mark for each point. 3

A valid string must contain:

• At least two // more than one upper case character(s)

• At least five // more than four lower case character(s)
• More digit characters than 'other' characters

© UCLES 2019 Page 9 of 15

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
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9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

5(b)(i) One mark for each area as outlined: 5

Index NextChar Upper Lower Digit Other

0 0 0 0

1 'J' 1

2 'i' 1

3 'm' 2

4 '+' 1

5 'S' 2

6 'm' 3

7 'i' 4

8 't' 5

9 'h' 6

10 '*' 2

11 '9' 1

12 '9' 2

5(b)(ii) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Returned value is FALSE

• Digit – Other is not greater than zero // Number of Digit same as
Other

© UCLES 2019 Page 10 of 15

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9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(a) To retain data when the computer is shut down / turned off // after the program 1
ends

Accept equivalent answer.

6(b) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 7
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION SearchFileNtoZ(AccNum : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE FileData : STRING
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN
CONSTANT SearchFile = "UserListNtoZ.txt"
Found m FALSE

OPENFILE SearchFile FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF(SearchFile) AND NOT Found

READFILE SearchFile, FileData

IF AccNum & '*' = LEFT(FileData, LENGTH(AccNum)+ 1)
THEN
Found m TRUE
ENDIF

ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE SearchFile

RETURN Found

ENDFUNCTION

One mark for each of the following:

1. Function heading and ending, (ignore parameter) and returned BOOLEAN

2. File OPEN UserListNtoZ.txt in READ mode and CLOSE
3. Conditional loop repeating until EOF() or 'Found'
4. Read a line from the file in a loop
5. Compare the correct number of characters with AccNum in a loop
6. Set termination logic if found in a loop
7. Return Boolean value

© UCLES 2019 Page 11 of 15

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 737
9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(c) PROCEDURE FindDuplicates() 8

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE FileData : STRING
DECLARE Continue : BOOLEAN
DECLARE AccNum : STRING

Index m 1 // assuming array is [1:100]

Continue m TRUE
OPENFILE "UserListAtoM.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF("UserListAtoM.txt") AND Continue = TRUE

READFILE "UserListAtoM.txt", FileData

IF MID(FileData, 7, 1) = '*' // six character reference

THEN
AccNum m LEFT(FileData, 6)
ELSE
AccNum m LEFT(FileData, 9)
ENDIF

IF SearchFileNtoZ(AccNum) = TRUE
THEN
IF Index = 101 // is the array already full?
THEN
OUTPUT "Error – Array Full"
Continue m FALSE
ELSE
Duplicates[Index] m AccNum
Index m Index + 1
ENDIF
ENDIF

ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE "UserListAtoM.txt"

ENDPROCEDURE

One mark for each of the following (max 8):

1. Declaration and Initialisation of Index and used to index array

Duplicates
2. OPEN file UserListAtoM.txt in READ mode and CLOSE
3. Pre-Condition loop to go through the file until EOF() and early termination
if array full
4. Read line from file and extract account number (AccNum) in a loop
5. Call SearchFileNtoZ (with AccNum) following an attempt at MP4 in a
loop
6. Check if return value is TRUE and if so: in a loop
7. store AccNum in correct array element
8. increment array index following an attempt at MP7
9. If array overflow OUTPUT error message
© UCLES 2019 Page 12 of 15
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9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(d)(i) PROCEDURE ClearArray(BYREF ThisArray : ARRAY, 3

NumElements : INTEGER, InitVal : STRING)

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

FOR Index m 1 TO NumElements
ThisArray[Index] m InitVal
ENDFOR

ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:
• Procedure header
• Loop
• Assignment within loop

6(d)(ii) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 2
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

CALL ClearArray(Duplicates, 100, "Empty")

Mark as follows:

• Procedure call
• Parameter list (in brackets)

© UCLES 2019 Page 13 of 15

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9608/21 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Program Code Example Solutions

Question 6(b): Visual Basic

Function SearchFileNtoZ(ByVal SearchString As String) As Boolean

Dim FileData As String
Dim Found As Boolean

Found = FALSE

FileOpen(1, "UserListNtoZ.txt", OpenMode.Input)

While Not EOF(1) And Not Found

Filedata = LineInput(1)
If SearchString & '*' = Left(FileData, Len(SearchString)+1) Then
Found = TRUE
End If

End While

FileClose(1)

Return Found

End Function

Question 6(b): Pascal

function SearchFileNtoZ (SearchString : string): boolean;

var
FileData : string;
Found : boolean;
MyFile : text;

begin

Found := FALSE;

assign(MyFile, "UserListNtoZ.txt");
reset (Myfile);

while Not EOF(MyFile) And Not Found do

begin
readLn(MyFile, FileData);
if SearchString + '*' = LeftStr(FileData, length(SearchString)+1)
then
Found := TRUE;

end;

close(MyFile);

result := Found; // SearchFileB := Found;

end;

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PUBLISHED 2019

Question 6(b): Python

def SearchFileNtoZ(SearchString):
## FileData : String
## Found : Boolean
## MyFile : Text

Found = False

MyFile = open("UserListNtoZ.txt", 'r')

FileData = MyFile.readline()
while Filedata != "" and not Found :
if SearchString + '*' == FileData[0: len(SearchString)+1]:
Found = True

FileData = MyFile.readline()

MyFile.close

return(Found)

Question 6(d)(ii): Visual Basic

Call ClearArray(Duplicates, 100, "Empty") 'Call optional

Question 6(d)(ii): Pascal

ClearArray(Duplicates, 100, 'Empty');

Question 6(d)(ii): Python

ClearArray(Duplicates, 100, "Empty")

© UCLES 2019 Page 15 of 15

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 741

Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 1 2 0 9 8 6 7 3 0 8 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

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.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 18 printed pages and 2 blank pages.

DC (ST) 171121/3
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
PAGE 742

1 Study the following pseudocode.

PROCEDURE FillTank()

DECLARE Tries : INTEGER

DECLARE Full : BOOLEAN

Tries 1

Full ReadSensor("F1")

IF NOT Full
THEN
WHILE NOT Full AND Tries < 4
CALL TopUp()
Full ReadSensor("F1")
Tries Tries + 1
ENDWHILE
IF Tries > 3
THEN
OUTPUT "Too many attempts"
ELSE
OUTPUT "Tank now full"
ENDIF
ELSE
OUTPUT "Already full"
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

(a) (i) The pseudocode includes features that make it easier to read and understand.

State three such features.

Feature 1 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ...........................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ...........................................................................................................................
[3]

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PAGE 743

(ii) Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm implemented in the pseudocode.
Variable declarations are not required in program flowcharts.

[5]

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PAGE 744

(b) (i) Programming languages support different data types.

Complete the table by giving a suitable data type for each example value.

Example value Data type

TRUE

[4]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table.

,IDQH[SUHVVLRQLVLQYDOLGWKHQZULWH¶(5525·

Refer to the Appendix on page 18 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Expression Evaluates to

5,*+7 6WRS /()7 LFK

0,' 180B72B675,1*

,17 180B72B675,1*

,17

[4]

© UCLES 2019 9608/22/O/N/19

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PAGE 745

2 (a) Describe the program development cycle with reference to the following:

• source code
• object code
• corrective maintenance.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) Give three features of an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that can help with
initial error detection while writing the program.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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3 A student is developing a program to search through a string of numeric digits to count how many
times each digit occurs. The variable InString will store the string and the 1D array Result will
store the count values.

The program will:

• check each character in the string to count how many times each digit occurs
• record the count for each digit using the array
• output the count for each element of the array together with the corresponding digit.

(a) The array Result is a 1D array of type INTEGER.

Write pseudocode to declare the array and to initialise all elements to zero.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

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PAGE 747

(b) Write the pseudocode for the program.

Declare any variables you use. Do not implement the code as a subroutine.

Refer to the Appendix on page 18 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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4 A program is being written to control the operation of a portable music player. One part of the
program controls the output volume.

The player has two buttons, one to increase the volume and one to decrease it. Whenever a
button is pressed, a procedure Button() is called with a parameter value representing the button
as follows:

Button Parameter value

Volume increase 10

Volume decrease 20

For example, pressing the volume increase button three times followed by pressing the volume
decrease button once would result in the calls:

&$//%XWWRQ 9RO/HYHOLQFUHDVHGE\
&$//%XWWRQ 9RO/HYHOLQFUHDVHGE\
&$//%XWWRQ 9RO/HYHOLQFUHDVHGE\
&$//%XWWRQ 9RO/HYHOGHFUHDVHGE\

The program makes use of two global variables of type INTEGER as follows:

Variable Description
9RO/HYHO The current volume setting. This must be in the range 0 to 49.
A value that can be set to limit the maximum value of 9RO/HYHO,
LQRUGHUWRSURWHFWWKHXVHU·VKHDULQJ
0D[9RO
A value in the range 1 to 49 indicates the volume limit.
A value of zero indicates that no volume limit has been set.

The procedure Button() will modify the value of 9RO/HYHO depending on which button has
been pressed and whether a maximum value has been set.

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PAGE 749

(a) Write pseudocode for the procedure Button(). Declare any additional variables you use.

The value of 0D[9RO should not be changed within the procedure.

Parameter validation is not necessary.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
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(b) The procedure Button() is to be tested using black-box testing.

Fill in the gaps below to define three tests that could be carried out.

TEST 1 – 9RO/HYHO is changed

Parameter value: 10

0D[9RO: ..................

9RO/HYHO value before call to Button(): 48

9RO/HYHO expected value after call to Button(): ..................

TEST 2 – 9RO/HYHO is not changed

Parameter value: 10

0D[9RO: 34

9RO/HYHO value before call to Button(): ..................

9RO/HYHO expected value after call to Button(): ..................

TEST 3 – 9RO/HYHO is not changed

Parameter value: ..................

0D[9RO: 40

9RO/HYHO value before call to Button(): 0

9RO/HYHO expected value after call to Button(): ..................

[6]

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PAGE 751

(c) The testing stage is part of the program development cycle.

(i) The program for the music player has been completed. The program does not contain
any syntax errors, but testing could reveal further errors.

Identify and describe one different type of error that testing could reveal.

Type ..................................................................................................................................

Description ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) Stub testing is a technique often used in the development of modular programs.

Describe the technique.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

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5 The module headers for three modules in a program are defined in pseudocode as follows:

Pseudocode module header

PROCEDURE Lookup(P4 : INTEGER, BYREF M4 : STRING)
FUNCTION Update(T4 : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER
)81&7,219DOLGDWH 6,17(*(53675,1* 5(78516%22/($1

A fourth module, Renew(), calls the three modules in the following sequence.

9DOLGDWH
Lookup()
Update()

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the four modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[7]

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PAGE 753

Question 6 begins on the next page.

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6 A text file, 6WXGHQW/LVWW[W, contains a list of information about students in a school.

Each line of the file contains a reference, name and date of birth for one student. All the information
is held as strings and separated by the asterisk character ('*') as follows:

An example of one line from the file is:

* $OH]D+LOWRQ

The reference string may be five or eight characters in length and is unique for each student. It is
made up of alphabetic and numeric characters only.

A global 1D array, /HDYHUV, contains the references of all students who have recently left the
school. The array consists of 500 elements of data type STRING. Unused elements contain the
empty string "".

A program is to be written to produce a new text file, 8SGDWHG/LVWW[W, containing information

only for students who are still attending the school.

The program is to be implemented as several modules. The outline description of three of these is
as follows:

Module Outline description

• Read each line from the file 6WXGHQW/LVWW[W
• Check whether the Reference appears in the
array using 6HDUFK/HDYHUV
ProcessStudentList()
• If the Reference does not appear then write the
line to the file 8SGDWHG/LVWW[W
• Return the number of lines not copied.
• Search for a given Reference in the array /HDYHUV
6HDUFK/HDYHUV • If the Reference is found, return TRUE, otherwise
return FALSE
• Take two parameters: the name of an array and a
string.
CountTimes()
• Count the number of elements that are the same as
the string. Return the count value.

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PAGE 755

(a) Write program code for the module 6HDUFK/HDYHUV . Declare any additional variables
you use.

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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PAGE 756

(b) Write pseudocode for the module ProcessStudentList().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Outline description

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [9]

(c) CountTimes() is to be used to count how many unused elements there are in the /HDYHUV
array. An unused element is one that contains an empty string.

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Outline description

• Take two parameters: the name of an array and a
string.
CountTimes()
• Count the number of elements that are the same as
the string. Return the count value.

Write a statement in program code that uses CountTimes() to assign the count of unused
elements to the variable Result.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

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Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: 0,' $%&'()*+ returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: ,17 returns

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: 180B72B675,1* returns

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: 675,1*B72B180 returns

Operators (pseudocode)

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PAGE 759
9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(i) Any three from: 3

1. Indentation
2. Blank lines / white space
3. Sensible identifier names / use of Camel Case for identifier names
4. Capitalised keywords

1(a)(ii) START 5

Tries ĸ 1 Mark as follows:

• One mark for START and END
• One mark for each of the 4
Full ĸ
areas outlined
ReadSensor("F1")

YES Is Full =
TRUE? Loop must be included for
this area mark
NO

Is NOT Full NO
AND Tries < 4

YES

Call TopUp() Is NO
Tries > 3?

YES
Full ĸ
ReadSensor("F1")

Output
Tries ĸ Tries + 1 "Too many attempts"

Output
"Tank now full"
Output
"Already Full"

END

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

1(b)(i) One mark per row 4

Example value Data type

43 INTEGER

TRUE BOOLEAN

273.16 REAL

"273.16" STRING

1(b)(ii) One mark per row 4

Expression Evaluates to

RIGHT("Stop", 3) & LEFT("ich",2) "topic"

MID(NUM_TO_STRING(2019), 3, 1) "1"

INT(NUM_TO_STRING(-273.16)) ERROR

INT(13/2) 6

Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark per point: 3

1. The source code represents a solution / design / algorithm expressed in a

high-level language
2. The Object code is produced (by the compiler) during the translation stage
// The Object code is produced by translating the source code (NOT
produced by Interpreter)
3. Corrective maintenance occurs when testing reveals a fault (or error) in the
program and this is corrected // Corrective maintenance is when errors are
found and fixed // Corrective maintenance is when a program is debugged

Accept alternative answers provided they relate to the program development

cycle

2(b) Any three from: 3

1. Dynamic syntax checking // Identification of syntax errors

2. Highlighting undeclared variables // incorrect variable usage...
3. Parameter checking
4. Type checking
5. Auto-indentation
6. PrettyPrint

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

3(a) DECLARE Result : ARRAY [0:9] OF INTEGER 3

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

FOR Index m 0 TO 9
Result[Index] m 0
ENDFOR

One mark for each of the following:

1. Declaration of RESULT array (10 elements of type INTEGER)

2. Loop
3. Assignment within a loop

3(b) DECLARE Index : INTEGER 8

DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE NextCharValue : INTEGER

FOR Index m 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar m MID(InString, Index, 1)
NextCharValue m STRING_TO_NUM(NextChar)
Result[NextCharValue] m Result[NextCharValue] + 1
ENDFOR

FOR Index m 0 TO 9
OUTPUT "Count of digit " & NUM_TO_STRING(Index) & " : "
& NUM_TO_STRING(Result[Index])
ENDFOR

One mark for each of the following:

1. Declaration of INTEGER variable for Index (or equivalent) to index

Result array
2. First loop from 1 to length of InString:
3. Select each character (e.g MID) in first loop
4. Apply type conversion to obtain integer value for index in first loop
5. Increment element of Result array in a loop
6. Separate second loop to repeat 10 times:
7. Attempt to OUTPUT two items (digit 0 to 9 plus corresponding count) in
any loop
8. OUTPUT statement including index and count in any loop including type
conversion of element from array if required in a loop

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

4(a) PROCEDURE Button(ButtonNum : INTEGER) 6

DECLARE Limit : INTEGER

IF ButtonNum = 10 // increase volume

THEN
IF MaxVol = 0
THEN
Limit m 49
ELSE
Limit m MaxVol
ENDIF
IF VolLevel < Limit
THEN
VolLevel m VolLevel + 1
ENDIF
ELSE // otherwise must be ButtonNum 20 - decrease
IF VolLevel > 0
THEN
VolLevel m VolLevel - 1
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1. Check if parameter value = 10

2. Check if parameter value = 20
3. Check if MaxVol = 0
4. Decrement VolLevel and ensure still in range

If attempting to increase volume (parameter value was 10):

5. Increment VolLevel
6. Ensure VolLevel still in range: for both cases. i.e:
VolLevel <= 49 (for MaxVol = 0)
VolLevel <= MaxVol (for MaxVol <> 0)

4(b) 2 independent marks for each test: 6

Test 1
MaxVol: 0/49
VolLevel expected: 49

Test 2
VolLevel before: 34
VolLevel expected: 34

Test 3
Parameter: 20
VolLevel expected: 0

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

4(c)(i) One mark for type, one for description: 2

• Type: Logical Error

• Description: Program does not perform as expected
• Type: Run-time error
• Description: Program executes an invalid instruction / out of bounds error /
attempts to divide by zero // program crashes

4(c)(ii) One mark per bullet point: 3

• Tests carried out before all the modules / subroutines have been written
• Simple / dummy module written to simulate / model / replace the actual
module / subroutine / object
• Contains an output statement // returns a fixed value to indicate that the call
has been made

Question Answer Marks

5 7

One mark for each of:

1. Diagram with boxes as above correctly labelled

2. P3 and S2
3. Return Boolean from Validate()
4. P4
5. M4
6. T4
7. Return parameter from Update()

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(a) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 6
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION SearchLeavers(Reference : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

Found m FALSE
Index m 0

WHILE Index < 500 AND NOT Found

IF Reference = Leavers[Index]
THEN
Found m TRUE
ENDIF

Index m Index + 1

ENDWHILE

RETURN Found

ENDFUNCTION

One mark for each of the following:

1. Function heading (and ending) as above

2. Initialisation and increment of Index used to index Leavers array in a
loop
3. Conditional loop repeating while Index < 500 and exit loop if
Reference is found:
4. Compare indexed array element value with Reference in a loop
5. Set termination logic if found in a loop
6. Return Boolean value

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(b) FUNCTION ProcessStudentList() RETURNS INTEGER 9

DECLARE NotCopied : INTEGER

DECLARE FileData : STRING
DECLARE Reference : STRING

NotCopied m 0

OPENFILE "StudentList.txt" FOR READ

OPENFILE "UpdatedList.txt" FOR WRITE

WHILE NOT EOF("StudentList.txt")

READFILE "StudentList.txt", FileData

IF MID(FileData, 6, 1) = '*'
THEN
Reference m MID(FileData, 1, 5) // five char
reference
ELSE
Reference m MID(FileData, 1, 8) // eight char
reference
ENDIF

IF SearchLeavers(Reference) = FALSE
THEN
WriteFile "UpdatedList.txt", FileData
ELSE
NotCopied m NotCopied + 1
ENDIF

ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE "StudentList.txt"
CLOSEFILE "UpdatedList.txt"

RETURN NotCopied

ENDFUNCTION

One mark for each of the following:

1. Function heading and ending as above

2. Declaration and use of three local variables and initialisation of count to 0
3. OPEN both files in correct mode and CLOSE
4. Pre-Condition loop to go through the file StudentList.txt until EOF()
5. Read line from StudentList.txt and extract correct Reference (either
5 or 8 characters) in a loop
6. Call SearchLeavers() with Reference (after attempted extraction) in a
loop
7. If result is FALSE then write FileData to UpdatedList.txt in a loop
8. Otherwise increment NotCopied in a loop
9. Return NotCopied count

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(c) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 3
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

One mark per underlined section:

Result m CountTimes (Leavers, "")

(Space before open bracket to highlight underlined section only)

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Program Code Example Solutions

Q6 (a): Visual Basic

Function SearchLeavers(ByVal Reference As String) As Boolean

Dim Index As Integer

Dim Found As Boolean

Found = FALSE
Index = 0

Do While Index < 500 And Not Found

If Reference = Leavers(Index) Then

Found = TRUE
End If

Index = Index + 1

Loop

Return Found

End Function

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PUBLISHED 2019

Q6 (a): Pascal
function SearchLeavers(Reference : String) : boolean;

var Index : integer;

var Found : boolean;

begin
Found := FALSE;
Index := 0;

While Index < 500 And Not Found

begin
if Reference = Leavers[Index] Then
Found := TRUE;

Index := Index + 1;

end;

result := Found; // SearchLeavers := Found

end;

Q6 (a): Python
def SearchLeavers(Reference):

## Index : Integer
## Found : Boolean

Found = False
Index = 0

while Index < 500 and not Found:

if Reference == Leavers[Index]:
Found = True

Index = Index + 1

return Found

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Q6 (c): Visual Basic

Result = CountTimes(Leavers, "")

Q6 (c): Pascal
Result := CountTimes(Leavers, "");

Q6 (c): Python
Result = CountTimes(Leavers, "")

© UCLES 2019 Page 13 of 13

PAGE 770

Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level
* 9 5 3 4 4 8 1 8 7 2 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2019
2 hours
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No Additional Materials are required.
No calculators allowed.

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

Answer all questions.

No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

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.

The maximum number of marks is 75.

This document consists of 16 printed pages.

DC (ST/SG) 171122/4
© UCLES 2019 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 771

1 (a) (i) Programming languages can support different data types.

Complete the table by naming three different data types together with an example data
value for each.

Data type Example data value

[6]

(ii) Identify the type of programming statement that assigns a data type to a variable.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) As part of the development of an algorithm, a programmer may construct an identifier table.

Describe what an identifier table contains.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) (i) Simple algorithms usually consist of three different stages.

Complete the table below. Write each example statement in program code.

The second stage has already been given.

Stage Example statement

Process

[5]

(ii) Write a single statement in program code that contains two of the stages. Do not
repeat any of the statements from part (c)(i).

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

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PAGE 772

(d) A software developer is writing a program and includes several features to make it easier to
read and understand. One of these features is the use of indentation.

State three other features.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

Feature 3 ..................................................................................................................................
[3]

(e) A trace table is often used during program testing.

Identify the type of testing that includes the use of a trace table.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

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PAGE 773

2 (a) (i) 7ZRW\SHVRIORRSWKDWPD\EHIRXQGLQDQDOJRULWKPDUHWKH¶SUHFRQGLWLRQ·DQG¶SRVW

FRQGLWLRQ·ORRS

Identify one other type of loop. Explain when it should be used.

Type ..................................................................................................................................

Explanation .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) Part of a program flowchart is shown.

LOOP

AlarmReset()

Set Status1 to
GetStatus(Sys_A)

Set Status2 to
GetStatus(Sys_B)

Are Status1
NO
and Status2
both TRUE?

YES

Implement the flowchart in pseudocode using a post-condition loop.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [4]

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(b) The following lines of code are taken from a high-level language program.

100 setvar(Count, Integer)

110 setvar(Gross[0-20], Real)
120 setvar(Posn, Real)
130 setvar(Length, Integer)
140 setvar(Rate, Real)
150 Length := 7
160 Rate := 1.175
170
180 For (Count, 0, 20, 2)
190 {
200 Echo "Input next cost"
210 Posn := Read()
220 Gross[Count] := Mult(Posn, Rate) %Apply current tax rate
230 }

Study the code. Identify the relevant features in the following table.

Feature Answer

The symbol used to indicate an assignment

The line numbers for the start and end of a count-controlled loop

The step value of the count-controlled loop

The character that indicates a comment

The name of a function

[5]

(c) A program written in a high-level language cannot be run directly.

Identify one type of translator that can be used to translate the program.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19

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PAGE 775

3 Three program modules process updating of passwords in a file. A description of the relationship
between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

GetPassword()
• Takes two parameters: AccountID and OldPassword
• Returns a string containing the new password
• Takes two parameters: AccountID and NewPassword
UpdateFile() • Returns a Boolean value to indicate whether or not the
update was successful

ChangePassword()
• Calls GetPassword() to obtain the new password then
calls UpdateFile() to write the new password to the file

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the three modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[5]

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4 The following pseudocode algorithm checks whether a string is a valid email address.

FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE NumDots : INTEGER
DECLARE NumAts : INTEGER
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE NumOthers : INTEGER

NumDots 0
NumAts 0
NumOthers 0

FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)

NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)

CASE OF NextChar
'.': NumDots NumDots + 1
'@': NumAts NumAts + 1
OTHERWISE NumOthers NumOthers + 1
ENDCASE

ENDFOR

IF (NumDots >= 1 AND NumAts = 1 AND NumOthers > 5)

THEN
RETURN TRUE
ELSE
RETURN FALSE
ENDIF

ENDFUNCTION

(a) Describe the validation rules that are implemented by this pseudocode. Refer only to the
contents of the string and not to features of the pseudocode.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

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PAGE 777

(b) (i) Complete the trace table by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result Check("[email protected]")

Index NextChar NumDots NumAts NumOthers

[5]

(ii) State the value returned when function Check is called as shown in part (b)(i).

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

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PAGE 778

(c) The function Check() is to be tested.

State two different invalid string values that could be used to test the algorithm. Each string
should test a different rule.

Justify your choices.

Value .........................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Value .........................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

5 Abbreviations are often used in place of a full name. Concatenating the first letter of each word in
the name makes an abbreviation.

For example:

Name Abbreviation

United Nations UN

World Wide Web WWW

British Computer Society BCS

A function, Abbreviate(), will take a string representing the full name and return a string
containing the abbreviated form.

You should assume that:

• names only contain alphabetic characters and space characters

• names always start with an alphabetic character
• each word in the name always starts with an uppercase character
• only a single space separates words in the name.

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Write pseudocode to implement the function Abbreviate().

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [8]

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6 A text file, Library.txt, stores information relating to a book collection. The file stores four
pieces of information about each book on separate lines of the file, as follows:

Line n: <Book Title>

Line n + 1: <Author Name>
Line n + 2: <ISBN>
Line n + 3: <Location>

Information is stored as data strings.

Information relating to two books is shown:

File line Data

100 "Learning Python"

101 "Brian Smith"

102 "978-14-56543-21-8"

103 "BD345"

104 "Surviving in the mountains"

105 "C T Snow"

106 "978-35-17635-43-9"

107 "ZX001"

(a) (i) A function, FindBooksBy(), will search Library.txt for all books by a given author.

The function will store the Book Title and Location in the array Result, and will
return a count of the number of books found.

Array Result is a global 2D array of type STRING. It has 100 rows and 2 columns.

Write pseudocode to declare the array Result.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Function FindBooksBy() will:

• receive the Author Name as a parameter

• search Library.txt for matching entries
• store the Book Title and Location of matching entries in the Result array
• return an integer value giving the number of books by the author that were found.

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PAGE 781

Write program code for the function FindBooksBy().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
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...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

(b) The function FindBooksBy() has already been called and has stored values in the array
Result.

The procedure, DisplayResults(), will output the information from the array.

The procedure receives the following two parameters:

• a string containing the author name

• an integer value representing the number of books found

The output should be formatted as in the following example:

Books written by: Brian Smith

Title Location
Learning Python BD345
Arrays are not lists CZ562
Learning Java CZ589

Number of titles found: 3

If no books by the author are found, the following should be output:

Search found no books by: Brian Smith

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PAGE 783

Write pseudocode for the procedure DisplayResults().

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

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Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString
Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString
Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString
Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString
Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x
Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

ASC(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the ASCII value of ThisChar
Example: ASC('A') returns 65

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv
Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

Operators (pseudocode)

Operator Description
Concatenates (joins) two strings
&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"
Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values
AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE
Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values
OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE
© UCLES 2019 9608/23/O/N/19
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PAGE 785
9608/23 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(i) One mark for each (different) data type ... 6

... and one mark for a corresponding example value

Acceptable types: Integer, Real, String, Char, Boolean, Date,

1(a)(ii) Declaration 1

1(b) Two from (max 2): 2

• A list of identifier / variable names

• Explanations/descriptions (of what they are used for)
• Data types

1(c)(i) One mark for each stage (Input, Output) 5

One mark for each correct example

Stage Example statement

Input Next = Console.Readline()

Process x = INT(y/3)

Output Console.Writeline("Goodbye")

1(c)(ii) One mark for statement in program code that includes (at least) two 'stages' 1

Example correct answers:

• Next = LEN(Console.Input())
• Console.writeline(Name & Address)
• Console.WriteLine(Console.Readline() & " is what you
entered")

1(d) Three from the following (max 3): 3

• Blank lines
• Capitalisation of Keywords
• Sensible variable names
• Use of (library/built-in) functions
• Comments
• PrettyPrint / keywords coloured

1(e) White-box 1

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PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

2(a)(i) • Count-controlled // FOR loop 2

• Used when the number of iterations is known / fixed

2(a)(ii) REPEAT 4
CALL AlarmReset()
Status1 m GetStatus(Sys_A)
Status2 m GetStatus(Sys_B)
UNTIL (Status1 = TRUE AND Status2 = TRUE)

One mark for each of:

1 REPEAT ... UNTIL

2 Call to AlarmReset()
3 Asignment of Status1 and Status2
4 correct logical test

2(b) 5
Feature Answer

The symbol used to indicate an assignment :=

The line numbers for the start and end of a count- 180/190 and 230
controlled loop

The step value of the count-controlled loop 2

The character that indicates a comment %

The name of a function Mult // Read

2(c) Compiler / Interpreter 1

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9608/23 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

3 5

One mark for each of the following:

• all three boxes correctly labelled

• parameters in to GetPassword()
• value back from GetPassword()
• parameters in to UpdateFile()
• BOOLEAN value back from UpdateFile()

Question Answer Marks

4(a) One mark for each point. 3

Valid string must contain:

• at least one '.' characters

• one '@' character
• more than 5 other characters.

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Question Answer Marks

4(b)(i) One mark for each area as outlined: 5

Index NextChar NumDots NumAts NumOthers

0 0 0

1 'J' 1

2 'i' 2

3 'm' 3

4 '.' 1

5 '9' 4

6 '9' 5

7 '@' 1

8 's' 6

9 'k' 7

10 'a' 8

11 'i' 9

12 'l' 10

13 '.' 2

14 'c' 11

15 'o' 12

16 'm' 13

4(b)(ii) TRUE 1

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9608/23 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

4(c) One mark for string and one mark for correct explanation. 4

Same for second answer providing it results in a different path through the
algorithm.

Correct answers may be:

• without the correct number of '.'

• without the correct number of '@'
• without the correct number of 'other characters'

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PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

5 FUNCTION Abbreviate(Name : STRING) RETURNS STRING 8

DECLARE NewString : STRING

DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE Space : BOOLEAN
CONSTANT SPACECHAR = ' '

Space m TRUE
NewString m ""

FOR Index m 1 TO LENGTH(Name)

NextChar m MID(Name,Index,1)
IF Space = TRUE
THEN
NewString m NewString & NextChar // first char
of next word
Space m FALSE
ELSE
IF NextChar = SPACECHAR
THEN
Space m TRUE
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDFOR

RETURN NewString

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following (max 8):

1 Function header, ending and return parameters

2 Declare and Initialise NewString to either "" or first character of
name
3 FOR loop picking out all characters from Name:
4 extract an individual character in a loop
5 check for space character in a loop
6 concatenate the next character to NewString in a loop
7 Return NewString
8 Accommodate a string with trailing space

Question Answer Marks

6(a)(i) One mark per underlined section: 3

DECLARE Result : ARRAY [0:99, 0:1] OF STRING

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9608/23 Cambridge International AS/A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2019

Question Answer Marks

6(a)(ii) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of 8

mark scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION FindBooksBy(SearchAuthor : STRING) RETURNS

INTEGER

DECLARE Title : STRING

DECLARE Author : STRING
DECLARE Isbn : STRING
DECLARE Location : STRING
DECLARE Count : INTEGER

Count m 0

OPENFILE "Library.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF ("Library.txt")

READFILE "Library.txt", Title

READFILE "Library.txt", ThisAuthor
READFILE "Library.txt", ISBN
READFILE "Library.txt", Location

IF SearchAuthor = ThisAuthor
THEN
Result[Count, 0] m Title
Result[Count, 1] m Location
Count m Count + 1
ENDIF

ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE("Library.txt")

RETURN Count

ENDFUNCTION

One mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading (and ending) including parameters

2 Declaration of variables used
3 Open file for reading (Allow Library or Library.txt)
4 WHILE loop checking for EOF():
5 Read all information 'fields', in the correct order, in a loop
6 If the author matches write Title and Location to Result array
in a loop
7 And increment array index in a loop // number found
8 Close file and RETURN Count

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Question Answer Marks

6(b) PROCEDURE DisplayResults(Author:STRING, Count:INTEGER) 7

DECLARE Index, GLen : INTEGER
DECLARE Gap : STRING

Gap m " " // 25 spaces

IF Count = 0
THEN
OUTPUT "Search found no books by: " & Author
ELSE
OUTPUT "Books written by: " & Author
OUTPUT "Title" & LEFT(Gap, 20) & "Location"
FOR Index m 1 TO Count
GLen m 25 – LENGTH(Result[Index, 0])
OUTPUT Result[Index, 0] & LEFT(Gap, GLen) &
Result[Index, 1]
ENDFOR
OUTPUT "Number of titles found: " &
NUM_TO_STRING(Count)
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

One mark for each of the following (max 7):

1 Procedure heading and ending including parameters

2 Declaration of local INTEGER variable for use as index
3 Test if count = 0 and if so output suitable message including Author
for no books found otherwise output the two header strings (exact
format not important)
4 A FOR loop for Count times
5 ... output two array elements from Result array in a loop
6 Final output statement
7 A reasonable attempt at calculating the number of spaces required to
align 'Location' column:
8 Alignment correct

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PUBLISHED 2019

Program Code Example Solutions

Q6 (a) (ii): Visual Basic

FUNCTION FindBooksBy(ByVal SearchAuthor As String) As Integer

Dim Title As String

Dim Author As String
Dim Isbn As String
Dim Location As String
Dim Count As Integer

Count = 0

FileOpen(1, "Library.txt", OpenMode.Input)

While Not EOF(1)

Title = LineInput(1)
ThisAuthor = LineInput(1)
Isbn = LineInput(1)
Location = LineInput(1)

If SearchAuthor = ThisAuthor Then

Result(Count, 0) = Title
Result(Count, 1) = Location
Count = Count + 1
End If
End While

FileClose(1)

Return Count
END FUNCTION

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PUBLISHED 2019

Q6 (a) (ii): Pascal

function FindBooksBy(SearchAuthor : string) : integer;

var
Title : string;
Author : string;
Isbn : string;
Location : string;
Count : integer;
MyFile : text;

begin
Count := 0;
assign(MyFile, 'Library.txt');
reset(MyFile);

while not EOF(MyFile) do

begin
readln(MyFile, Title);
readln(MyFile, ThisAuthor);
readln(MyFile, Isbn);
readln(MyFile, Location);

if SearchAuthor = ThisAuthor then

begin
Result[Count, 0] := Title;
Result[Count, 1] := Location;
Count := Count + 1;
end;

end;

close(MyFile);
FindBooksBy := Count;

end;

© UCLES 2019 Page 12 of 13

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PUBLISHED 2019

Q6 (a) (ii): Python

def FindBooksBy(SearchAuthor):

## Title : STRING
## Author : STRING
## Isbn : STRING
## Location : STRING
## Count : INTEGER

Count = 0
MyFile = open("Library.txt", 'r')
Title = MyFile.readline()

while Title != "":

ThisAuthor = MyFile.readline()
Isbn= MyFile.readline()
Location = MyFile.readline()
if SearchAuthor == ThisAuthor.strip():
Result[Count][0] = Title
Result[Count][1] = Location
Count = Count + 1
Title = MyFile.readline()

MyFile.close()
return(Count)

© UCLES 2019 Page 13 of 13

PAGE 796

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 0 6 3 8 5 6 1 5 3 5 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2020
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

INSTRUCTIONS
Ɣ Answer all questions.
Ɣ Use a black or dark blue pen.
Ɣ Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
Ɣ Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
Ɣ Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
Ɣ Do not write on any bar codes.
Ɣ You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
Ɣ Calculators must not be used in this paper.

INFORMATION
Ɣ The total mark for this paper is 75.
Ɣ The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
Ɣ No marks will be awarded for using brand names of software packages or hardware.

This document has 24 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (CE/CB) 180782/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 797

1 (a) Complete this definition of the term algorithm.

An algorithm is a solution to a problem expressed as ..............................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) A program design includes the use of subroutines (functions and procedures).

Give three advantages of using subroutines in a program.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

Term Description

Checking that a program

Selection performs as expected

A method for increasing the

Black-box testing level of detail of an algorithm

To test a condition to determine

Stepwise refinement the path of program execution

A method of executing certain

Iteration lines of code more than once

[3]

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2 (a) Three modules form part of a program for a car rental company. A description of the
relationship between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

A customer will pay for each car rental either by bank card or by using their
RentCar()
account with the rental company.
Called with parameter HireCost, representing the cost of the rental.
PayByCard() Returns a BOOLEAN value to indicate whether or not the card payment was
successful.
Called with parameters HireCost, AccountNumber, CurrentBalance
and AccountLimit.
• Checks whether HireCost plus the CurrentBalance would exceed
PayByAccount() the AccountLimit. If so, then the rental is not authorised.
• If the rental is authorised, then the CurrentBalance is updated.
• Returns a BOOLEAN value to indicate whether or not the rental was
authorised.

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the three modules and the
parameters passed between them.

[5]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 799

(b) The following pseudocode algorithm has been developed to check whether a string contains
a valid password.

To be a valid password, a string must:

• be longer than 6 characters

• contain at least one lower case letter
• contain at least one upper case letter
• contain at least one non-alphabetic character.

10 FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

11
12 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
13 DECLARE StrLen : INTEGER
14 DECLARE NumUpper, NumLower : INTEGER
15 DECLARE NumNonAlpha : INTEGER
16 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
17
18 NumUpper 0
19 NumLower 0
20 NumNonAlpha 0
21
22 StrLen LENGTH(InString)
23 IF StrLen < 7
24 THEN
25 RETURN FALSE
26 ELSE
27 FOR Index 1 TO StrLen
28 NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
29 IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z'
30 THEN
31 NumLower NumLower + 1
32 ELSE
33 IF NextChar > 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
34 THEN
35 NumUpper NumUpper + 1
36 ELSE
37 NumNonAlpha NumNonAlpha + 1
38 ENDIF
39 ENDIF
40 ENDFOR
41 ENDIF
42
43 IF (NumUpper >= 1) AND (NumLower >= 1) AND (NumNonAlpha >= 1)
44 THEN
45 RETURN TRUE
46 ELSE
47 RETURN FALSE
48 ENDIF
49
50 ENDFUNCTION

Refer to the Appendix on page 21 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

PAGE 800

The pseudocode does not work under all circumstances.

A dry run performed on the function Check(), with the string "crAsh99", produced the
following trace table.

The string is a valid password, but the pseudocode would return the value FALSE.

Trace
StrLen Index NextChar NumUpper NumLower NumNonAlpha
table row
1 7 0 0 0
2 1 'c'
3 1
4 2 'r'
5 2
6 3 'A'
7 1
8 4 's'
9 3
10 5 'h'
11 4
12 6 '9'
13 2
14 7 '9'
15 3

(i) Describe how the completed trace table may be used to identify the error in the
pseudocode. In your answer, refer to the trace table row number(s).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) State the pseudocode line number that has to be changed to correct the error and write
the correct pseudocode for the complete line.

Line number ......................................................................................................................

Correct pseudocode ..........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20 [Turn over

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 801

(iii) Rewrite lines 29 to 39 of the original pseudocode using a CASE structure.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [4]

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PAGE 802

3 (a) A mobile phone provider has developed an account management program. The program
includes a procedure, AddCredit(). The procedure is called with two parameters, TopUp
and PhoneNum.

The relevant part of the identifier table and the program flowchart for the procedure are as
shown:

Identifier Type Description

TopUp REAL The amount of credit to be added
PhoneNum STRING The unique customer phone number
Balance REAL The current amount of credit
Multiple REAL The amount of credit bonus
Takes the phone number as a parameter and returns the current
GetBalance() FUNCTION
balance
Takes the phone number and the new balance as parameters and
SetBalance() PROCEDURE
updates the account with the new balance

START

Set Multiple
to 1

Set Balance to
GetBalance(PhoneNum)

Is YES Set Multiple to

Balance > 10 ? 1.25

Is YES Set Multiple to

Balance > 5 ? 1.1

Set TopUp to
TopUp * Multiple

SetBalance(PhoneNum, Balance + TopUp)

END

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PAGE 803

Write pseudocode to implement the procedure AddCredit(). The pseudocode must follow
the algorithm represented by the flowchart. Declare any local variables used.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

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PAGE 804

(b) The following pseudocode searches for a string "Chris" in a 1D array and outputs the index
positions where the string is found.

DECLARE NameList : ARRAY [1:100] OF STRING

DECLARE n : INTEGER

FOR n 1 TO 100
IF NameList[n] = "Chris"
THEN
OUTPUT "Found at: " & NUM_TO_STRING(n)
ENDIF
ENDFOR

The pseudocode needs to be modified as follows:

• Write the search as a procedure, Search(), that takes the search string as a parameter.
• Change the array to a 2D array. The first dimension contains names and the second
dimension contains the corresponding status.

For example:
NameList[23, 1] "Chris" // name
NameList[23, 2] "On Holiday" // status
• Detect a match only when the name contains the search string and the status contains
"Active".
• If a match has been detected, the procedure will output a single message giving all of
the index positions where a match occurred. For example, "Found at: 3 6 22".
• If no match has been detected, the procedure will output a suitable message.

Refer to the Appendix on page 21 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/M/J/20

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 805

Write the pseudocode for the procedure Search(). Assume the array has been declared
globally.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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4 (a) An inexperienced user buys a games program. A program fault occurs while the user is
playing the game.

Explain what is meant by a program fault.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Give three ways to minimise the risk of faults when writing programs.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

Define these three types.

Syntax error ..............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Logic error ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Run-time error ..........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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5 (a) A 1D array, Directory, of type STRING is used to store a list of school internal telephone
numbers. There are 1000 elements in the array. Each element stores a single data item. The
format of each data item is as follows:

Number is a four-digit numeric string.

Name is a variable-length string.

For example:

"1024Collins Robbie"

The following pseudocode is an initial attempt at defining a procedure SortContacts()

that will perform a bubble sort on Directory. The array is to be sorted in ascending order of
Name.

Fill in the gaps to complete the pseudocode.

Refer to the Appendix on page 21 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

PROCEDURE SortContacts ()
DECLARE Temp : STRING
DECLARE FirstName, SecondName : STRING
DECLARE NoSwaps : ……………………………………
DECLARE Boundary, J : INTEGER
Boundary ……………………
REPEAT
NoSwaps TRUE
FOR J 1 TO Boundary
FirstName …………………………(Directory[J], LENGTH(Directory[J]) – …………… )
SecondName RIGHT(Directory[J + 1], LENGTH(Directory[J + 1]) – 4)
IF FirstName ………………………………
THEN
Temp Directory[J]
Directory[J] Directory ……………………………
Directory[J + 1] Temp
NoSwaps ……………………………
ENDIF
ENDFOR
Boundary ……………………………
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE
ENDPROCEDURE
[8]

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(b) The pseudocode contains a mechanism designed to make this an efficient bubble sort.

Describe the mechanism and explain why it may be considered to be efficient.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

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6 A company hires out rowing boats on a lake. The company has ten boats, numbered from 1 to 10.

The company is developing a program to help manage and record the hiring out process.

Hire information is stored in three global 1D arrays when a boat is hired out. Each array contains
10 elements representing each of the ten boats.

The three 1D arrays are summarised as follows:

Array Data type Description Example data value

HireTime STRING The time the boat was hired out "10:15"

Duration INTEGER The number of minutes of the hire 30

Cost REAL The cost of the hire 5.75

If an individual boat is not currently on hire, the corresponding element of the HireTime array will
be set to "Available".

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
o a STRING value representing a time
AddTime() o an INTEGER value representing a duration in minutes
• Adds the duration to the time to give a new time
• Returns the new time as a STRING
• Called with a STRING value representing the time the
hire will start
• Outputs the boat numbers that will be available for hire at
the given start time. A boat will be available for hire if it is
either:
ListAvailable()
o currently not on hire, or
o due back before the given hire start time
• Outputs the number of each boat available
• Outputs the total number of boats available or a suitable
message if there are none
• Called with four parameters:
o an INTEGER value representing the boat number
o a STRING value representing the hire start time
o an INTEGER value representing the hire duration in
minutes
o a REAL value representing the cost of hire
RecordHire()
• Updates the appropriate element in each array
• Adds the cost of hire to the global variable DailyTakings
• Converts the four input parameters to strings,
concatenated using commas as separators, and writes
the resulting string to the end of the existing text file
HireLog.txt

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(a) Write pseudocode for the module ListAvailable().

...................................................................................................................................................

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PAGE 811

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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(b) Write program code for the module RecordHire().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
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PAGE 813

(c) The module description of AddTime()is repeated here for reference.

(i) Write program code for a statement that uses the AddTime() function to add a duration
of 60 minutes to a start time contained in variable BeginTime and to assign the new
time to variable EndTime.

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) The function AddTime() is to be tested using black-box testing.

Complete the following two tests that can be performed to check the operation of the
function. Note that test 1 and test 2 are different.

Test 1 – Boat is returned during the same hour as rental starts

Start time value ....................................... Duration value .......................................

Expected new time value .......................................

Test 2 – Boat is returned during the hour after the rental starts

Start time value ....................................... Duration value .......................................

Expected new time value .......................................

[2]

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Appendix

Built-in functions (pseudocode)

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

Operators (pseudocode)

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PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) An algorithm is a solution to a problem expressed as: 2

a sequence of defined steps / stages / instructions / lines of code

1 mark for each underlined term (or equivalent)

1(b) • Allows the subroutine code to be called from many/multiple places 3

• Subroutine code may be (independently) tested and debugged
• If the subroutine task changes the change needs to be made only once
• Reduces unnecessary duplication / program lines
• Enables sharing of development between programmers

Or equivalent points that relate to a PROGRAM (not an algorithm)

Max 3

1(c) 3

One mark for each correct line to max 3

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) 5

Mark as follows:
1 One mark for all three boxes correctly labelled
2 One mark for selection diamond
3 One mark for passing value and return Boolean from PayByCard()
4 One mark for passing Value, AccountNUmber and AccountLimit to
PayByAccount()
5 One mark for passing CurrentBalance ByRef

2(b)(i) Trace table shows: 2

• 'A' is not treated as an upper case character (row 7)

• NumUpper not incremented as expected
• Incorrect final value for NumUpper (should be 1)

Max 2

2(b)(ii) One mark per point: 2

• Line number: 33
• Correction: IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'

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Question Answer Marks

2(b)(iii) CASE OF NextChar 4

>= 'a' AND <= 'z' : NumLower ← NumLower + 1

> 'A' AND <= 'Z' : NumUpper ← NumUpper + 1
OTHERWISE NumNonAlpha ← NumNonAlpha + 1

ENDCASE

One mark for CASE OF NextChar ... ENDCASE

One mark for each remaining line

Accept alternative range description. E.g. 'a' to 'z'

Accept corrected version for the second range.

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) PROCEDURE AddCredit(TopUp : REAL, PhoneNum : STRING) 7

DECLARE Multiple : REAL
DECLARE Balance : REAL

Multiple ← 1
Balance ← GetBalance(PhoneNum)

IF Balance > 10
THEN
Multiple ← 1.125
ELSE
IF Balance > 5
THEN
Multiple ← 1.1
ENDIF
ENDIF

TopUp ← TopUp * Multiple

SetBalance(PhoneNum, Balance + TopUp)

ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 PROCEDURE heading and ending including parameters

2 Initialise Multiple
3 Assign value to Balance using GetBalance()
4 Check for Balance > 10 and assignment: Multiple ← 1.25
5 Check for Balance > 5 and assignment: Multiple ← 1.1
6 Assignment: TopUp ← TopUp * Multiple
7 Calling SetBalance()with correct parameters

Note:
MP6 could be included in MP7 statement

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Question Answer Marks

3(b) PROCEDURE Search(SearchString : STRING) 8

DECLARE Index, Msg : STRING

Msg ← "Found at:" //initial value

FOR Index ← 1 TO 100

IF NameList[Index, 1] = SearchString__
AND NameList[Index, 2] = "Active"
THEN
Msg ← Msg & " " & NUM_TO_STRING(Index)
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF Msg = "Found at:" // no change to initial value

THEN
OUTPUT "Search String not found"
ELSE
OUTPUT Msg
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 PROCEDURE heading and ending including parameter

2 Declare local variables for Index and Msg and initialise Msg to
appropriate string
3 Loop structure
4 Compare SearchString to name (column 1)...
5 ... AND Compare status to "Active" (column 2) in a loop
6 Add Index to Msg when a match is encountered (using type conversion)
7 Condition to determine which string is output after loop
8 Correct output of single message

Note:
Credit alternative solutions for forming and checking a single output string

Question Answer Marks

4(a) A program fault is something that makes the program not do what it is 2
supposed to do under certain circumstances

One mark per underlined phrase or equivalent

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) Answers include the use of: 3

• Tried and tested (library) subroutines / code

• Modular programming techniques (to break the problem down and make
it easier to solve)
• Good programming practice (formatting, sensible variable names,
comments etc)
• IDE features (parameter type-checking, auto-complete)

Max 3

4(c) Syntax error: 3

A construct / statement in the source code that breaks the rules of the
language

Logic Error:
An error in the algorithm that causes the program not to behave as intended

Run-time:
A program performs an invalid operation / tries to divide by zero // enters an
infinite loop / stops unexpectedly

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Question Answer Marks

5(a)(i) PROCEDURE SortContacts() 8

DECLARE Temp : STRING
DECLARE FirstName, SecondName : STRING
DECLARE NoSwaps : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Boundary, J : INTEGER
Boundary ← 999
REPEAT
NoSwaps ← TRUE
FOR J ← 1 TO Boundary
FirstName ← RIGHT(Directory[J],__
LENGTH(Directory[J]) – 4)
SecondName ← RIGHT(Directory[J + 1],__
LENGTH(Directory[J + 1]) – 4)
IF FirstName > SecondName
THEN
Temp ← Directory[J]
Directory[J] ← Directory[J + 1]
Directory[J + 1] ← Temp
NoSwaps ← FALSE
ENDIF
ENDFOR
Boundary ← Boundary - 1
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE
ENDPROCEDURE

One mark per highlighted phrase

5(b) Description: 4
• uses a flag variable to stop the outer loop
• after no more swaps made during one pass of the inner loop
• the flag is reset before the inner loop starts, and set whenever a swap is
made
• decreases the loop size at end of inner loop (Boundary decremented)

Max 3 for description

Effective because:
• It prevents unnecessary iterations / passes through the array (i.e. when
the array is already sorted) // terminates the algorithm when all elements
are in order // reduces the number of unnecessary comparisons

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Question Answer Marks

6(a) PROCEDURE ListAvailable(StartTime : STRING) 8

DECLARE NumAvailable, Index : INTEGER
DECLARE TimeBack : STRING
DECLARE Available : BOOLEAN

NumAvailable ← 0

FOR Index ← 1 TO 10
Available ← FALSE // initialise
IF HireTime[Index] = "Available" // not on hire
THEN
Available ← TRUE // available now
ELSE
TimeBack ← AddTime(HireTime[Index],__
Duration[Index])
IF TimeBack < StartTime // < or <=
THEN
Available ← TRUE // will be available
ENDIF
ENDIF

IF Available = TRUE
THEN
OUTPUT "Boat " , Index , " is available"
NumAvailable ← NumAvailable + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF NumAvailable > 0
THEN
OUTPUT "There are " , NumAvailable ,__
" boats available."
ELSE
OUTPUT "Sorry, there are no boats available"
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading and ending including input parameter

2 Declare local variable for the count of available boats and initialise to 0
3 Loop through all 10 boats
4 Use of AddTime() to calculate TimeBack
5 Check for boats that are not on hire OR those due back in time in a loop
6 Increment count for number of available boats in a loop
7 Output a message for each available boat in a loop
8 Output both messages as appropriate outside a loop

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Question Answer Marks

6(b) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 7
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

PROCEDURE RecordHire(HBoatNumber, HDuration : INTEGER,__

HTime : STRING, HCost : REAL)

DECLARE FileLine : STRING

CONSTANT Comma = ','

HireTime[HBoatNumber] ← HTime
Duration[HBoatNumber] ← HDuration
Cost[HBoatNumber] ← HCost

DailyTakings ← DailyTakings + HCost

OPENFILE "HireLog.txt" FOR APPEND

FileLine ← NUM_TO_STRING(HBoatNumber) & Comma

FileLine ← FileLine & HTime & Comma
FileLine ← FileLine & NUM_TO_STRING(HDuration)
FileLine ← FileLine & Comma & NUM_TO_STRING(HCost)

WRITEFILE "HireLog.txt", FileLine

CLOSEFILE "HireLog.txt"

ENDFUNCTION

One mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading and ending (where appropriate), including input

parameters (order not essential)
2 Updating the three arrays from parameter values
3 Totalling DailyTakings
4 OPEN "HireLog.txt" in append mode
5 Creating file text line including separators
6 ....making use of type conversion as required
7 Writing the line to the file
8 Closing the file

Solutions may combine mark points 5 and 6 (and 7)

Max 7

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Question Answer Marks

6(c)(i) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 2
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

EndTime ← Addtime (BeginTime, 60)

One mark per underlined section (Space before bracket for mark scheme
clarification only)

6(c)(ii) One mark for each test: 2

For example:

Test 1
Start time value "10:00", Duration value 30
Expected new time value "10:30"

Test 2
Start time value "10:45", Duration value 30
Expected new time value "11:15"

String values (time) must be enclosed in quotation marks, integer values

(duration) must not. Penalise once then FT.

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Program Code Example Solutions

To be reviewed at STM

Q6(b)(i): Visual Basic

Sub RecordHire(HBoatNumber, HDuration As Integer, HTime As String, HCost As

Real)

Dim FileLine As String

Const Comma = ','

HireTime(HBoatNumber) = HTime
Duration(HBoatNumber) = HDuration
Cost(HBoatNumber) = HCost

DailyTakings = DailyTakings + HCost

FileOpen(1, "HireLog.txt", OpenMode.Append)

FileLine = CStr(HBoatNumber) & Comma

FileLine = FileLine & HTime & Comma
FileLine = FileLine & CStr(HDuration) & Comma
FileLine = FileLine & CStr(HCost)

Print(1, FileLine)
PrintLine(1)

Fileclose(1)

End Sub

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Q6(b)(i): Pascal

procedure RecordHire(HBoatNumber, HDuration : integer; HTime : string;

HCost : Real);

var
Fileline : string;
ThisFile: TextFile;

const Comma = ',';

begin

HireTime[HBoatNumber] := HTime;
Duration[HBoatNumber] := HDuration;
Cost[HBoatNumber] := HCost;

DailyTakings := DailyTakings + HCost;

AssignFile(Thisfile, "HireLog.txt");

FileLine := IntToStr(HBoatNumber) + Comma;

FileLine := FileLine + HTime + Comma;
FileLine := FileLine + IntToStr (HDuration) + Comma;
FileLine := FileLine + IntToStr (HCost);

writeln(ThisFile, FileLine);

CloseFile(ThisFile);

end;

Q6(b)(i): Python

def RecordHire(HBoatNumber, HDuration, HTime, HCost)

# FileLine : String
# File : File handle

Comma = ','

HireTime[HBoatNumber] = HTime
Duration[HBoatNumber] = HDuration
Cost[HBoatNumber] = HCost

DailyTakings = DailyTakings + HCost

File = Open("HireLog.txt", "a")

FileLine = Str(HBoatNumber) + Comma

FileLine = FileLine + HTime + Comma
FileLine = FileLine + Str(HDuration) + Comma
FileLine = FileLine + Str(HCost)

File.write(FileLine)

File.close

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Q6(c)(i): Visual Basic

EndTime = Addtime(BeginTime, 60)

Q6(c)(i): Pascal

EndTime := Addtime(BeginTime, 60)

Q6(c)(i): Python

EndTime = Addtime(BeginTime, 60)

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Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 4 8 6 0 2 0 4 7 9 7 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2020
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (RW/TP) 180777/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 829

1 (a) Selection and repetition are basic constructs of an algorithm.

Name and describe one other construct.

Name ........................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Program coding is a transferable skill.

Explain the term transferable skill.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) Count-controlled and post-condition are two types of loop.

Describe the characteristics of each of these types of loop.

Count-controlled .......................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Post-condition ...........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Name three features provided by an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that assist
in the coding and initial error detection stages of the program development cycle.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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2 (a) A structure chart is often produced as part of a modular program design. The chart shows the
hierarchy of modules and the sequence of execution.

Give two other features the structure chart can show.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Six program modules implement part of an online shopping program. The following table
gives the modules and a brief description of each module:

Module Description
Allows the user to choose a delivery slot, select items to be added to
Shop()
the basket and finally check out

ChooseSlot() Allows the user to select a delivery time. Returns a delivery slot number

FillBasket() Allows the user to select items and add them to the basket

Completes the order by allowing the user to pay for the items. Returns
Checkout()
a Boolean value to indicate whether or not payment was successful

Search() Allows the user to search for a specific item. Returns an item reference

Adds an item to the basket. Takes an item reference and a quantity as

Add()
parameters

(i) The online shopping program has been split into sub-tasks as part of the design process.

Explain the advantages of decomposing the program into modules. Your explanation
should refer to the scenario and modules described in part (b).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

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PAGE 831

(ii) Complete the structure chart for the six modules described in part (b).

Shop()

[6]

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3 A navigation program includes a function, CheckCourse(). This function is called with a real
value, Course, and returns an integer value.

The identifier table and the program flowchart for the function are shown as follows:

Identifier Type Description

Course REAL The value passed to CheckCourse()
Adjust INTEGER The value returned by CheckCourse()
Check INTEGER A local variable
A function that is passed a REAL value representing the
Deviate() FUNCTION course and returns a REAL value representing the current
deviation
Alert() PROCEDURE A procedure that generates a warning

START

Set Check to integer

value of
Deviate(Course)

Set Adjust to 255

CASE OF
Check
–20 to –1
OTHERWISE Set Adjust to 10

0
Set Adjust to 0

Alert()

1 to 20
Set Adjust to –10

RETURN Adjust

END

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PAGE 833

Write pseudocode to implement the function CheckCourse(). The pseudocode must follow the
algorithm represented by the flowchart. Declare any local variables used.

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [7]
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4 (a) Mustafa has developed the following pseudocode to generate ten random integers in the
range 1 to 100.

DECLARE Random : ARRAY [1:10] OF INTEGER

DECLARE Count, RNum : INTEGER

FOR Count 1 TO 10
Rnum INT(RAND(100)) + 1
Random[Count] RNum
ENDFOR

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

Rewrite the pseudocode so that there are no duplicated numbers in the list of random
numbers.

...................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

(b) The changes made to the pseudocode in part (a) were as a result of changes to the program
requirement.

Give the term used to describe changes made for this reason.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

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5 A global 1D array, Contact, of type STRING is used to store a list of names and email addresses.

There are 1000 elements in the array. Each element stores one data item. The format of each
data item is as follows:

Name and EmailAddress are both variable-length strings.

For example:

"Sharma Himal:[email protected]"

A function, GetName(), is part of the program that processes the array. A data item string will be
passed to the function as a parameter. The function will return the Name part. Validation is not
necessary.

(a) Use structured English to describe the algorithm for the function GetName().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

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(b) (i) The array is to be sorted using an efficient bubble sort algorithm. An efficient bubble sort
reduces the number of unnecessary comparisons between elements.

Describe how this could be achieved.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [4]

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(ii) A procedure, BubbleSort(), is needed to sort the 1D array Contact into ascending
order of Name using an efficient bubble sort algorithm.

Write program code for the procedure BubbleSort().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .....................................................................................................

Program code ....................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

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Question 6 begins on the next page.

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6 A company hires out rowing boats on a lake. The company has 17 boats numbered from 1 to 17.

Boats may be hired between 9:00 and 18:00, with a maximum hire duration of 90 minutes.

The company is developing a program to help manage and record the boat hire process.

The programmer has decided to store all values relating to hire time as strings. The program will
use a 24-hour clock format. For example:

Time (in words) String value

Nine o’clock in the morning "09:00"
Five minutes past ten o’clock in the morning "10:05"
Ten minutes before three o’clock in the afternoon "14:50"

The programmer has defined the first module as follows:

Module Description
• Takes two parameters:
StartTime: a STRING value representing a time as described
AddTime() Duration: an INTEGER value representing a duration in minutes
• Adds the duration to the time to give a new time
• Returns the new time as a STRING

(a) (i) Write pseudocode for the module AddTime(). Assume both input parameters are valid.

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a built-in list of pseudocode functions and
operators.

...........................................................................................................................................

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...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

(ii) AddTime() will be tested using white-box testing.

State the reason for using white-box testing.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) A run-time error is one type of error that black-box testing can reveal.

Describe one other type of error that black-box testing can reveal.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

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(b) The user will input the desired start time of a hire. A new module will be written to validate the
input string as a valid time in 24-hour clock format.

The string is already confirmed as being in the format "NN:NN", where N is a numeric
character.

Give an example of suitable test data that is in this format but which is invalid. Explain your
answer.

Test data ...................................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Each time a boat is hired out, details of the hire are added to a text file, Hirelog.txt. Each
line of the text file corresponds to information about one hire session.

The format of each line is as follows:

• BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string

• Date is a six-digit numeric string in the format DDMMYY
• AmountPaid is a variable-length string representing a numeric value, for example
"12.75"

The total hire amount from each boat is to be stored in a global array, Total. This array is
declared in pseudocode as follows:

DECLARE Total : ARRAY [1:17] OF REAL

The programmer has defined module GetTotals() as follows:

Module Description
• Search through the file Hirelog.txt
GetTotals() • Extract the AmountPaid each time a boat is hired
• Store the total of AmountPaid for each boat in the array

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Write program code for the module GetTotals().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.
LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER
returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString
Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString
Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString
Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x
Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

RAND(x : INTEGER) RETURNS REAL

returns a real number in the range 0 to x (not inclusive of x)
Example: RAND(87) could return 35.43

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv
Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

DIV(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the whole number part of the result when ThisNum is divided
by ThisDiv
Example: DIV(10,3) returns 3

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Example: If x has the value 87.5 then NUM_TO_STRING(x) returns "87.5"
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Example: If x has the value "23.45" then STRING_TO_NUM(x) returns 23.45
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Operators (pseudocode)
Operator Description

& Concatenates (joins) two strings

Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"

AND Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values

Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE

OR Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values

Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

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9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2020
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) One mark for name 3

Max two marks for description: one for each underlined word or phrase (or
equivalent)

Name: Sequence
Description: Instructions / lines of code are executed in a fixed order

Name: Assignment
Description: A value is given to a variable

1(b) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Knowledge / experience of one programming language...

• ... can be applied to an unknown language // will help recognise control

structures (accept by example) in an unknown language

1(c) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Count controlled – the number of iterations is known / fixed

• Post condition – the number of iterations depends on some condition

being tested at the end / before the loop is repeated // at least one
iteration is always executed

For conditional: reject answer that also applies to pre-conditional

1(d) Examples include: 3

• context sensitive prompts

• (dynamic) syntax checking
• use of colours to highlight key words / pretty printing / highlighting unused
variables (etc)
• Formatting (incl. collapsing and expanding blocks)
• (UML) modelling
• Text editor (or by reference to a function such as copy & paste)
• Built-in (library) functions

Do not accept answers relating to debugging features

Max 3

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Parameters passed between modules // the interface between modules

• Module Iteration
• Module selection

Max 2

2(b)(i) Advantages include: 3

• Easier to solve / implement / program the solution as online shopping is

a complex task

• Easier to debug / maintain as each module can be tested separately e.g.

test FillBasket() first then test Checkout()

• Tasks may be shared among a team of programmer. e.g. Checkout()

and Search() modules could be developed in parallel / by teams with
different expertise

Note:
Must include reference to given scenario to achieve all 3 marks - Max 2 if no
reference.

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Question Answer Marks

2(b)(ii) 6

One Mark for

1 Three middle row boxes correctly labelled and connected to Shop()
2 Two bottom row boxes correctly labelled and connected to
FillBasket()
3 Iteration arrow on FillBasket()
4 Return parameters from ChooseSlot() and Checkout()
5 Return parameters from Search()
6 Two input parameters to Add()

Notes:
Parameter types must be as shown but ignore parameter names (if given)

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Question Answer Marks

3 FUNCTION CheckCourse(Course : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER 7

DECLARE Adjust, Check : INTEGER

Check ← INT(Deviate(Course))
Adjust ← 255

CASE OF Check
-20 to -1: Adjust ← 10
0 : Adjust ← 0
1 to 20 : Adjust ← -10
OTHERWISE CALL Alert()
ENDCASE

RETURN Adjust

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 FUNCTION heading and ending including parameter as given above

2 Assign value to Check using integer conversion and intialise Adjust to
255
3 CASE ... ENDCASE
4 Conditions í20 to í1 and 1 to 20 (and corresponding assignments)
5 Condition 0 (and corresponding assignment)
6 OTHERWISE
7 Return Adjust

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) DECLARE Random : ARRAY [1:10] OF INTEGER 6

DECLARE NextNum, Index, Rnum : INTEGER
DECLARE Exists : BOOLEAN

NextNum ← 1 // index position for the next random number

REPEAT
Rnum ← INT(RAND(100)) + 1 // from original question
Exists ← FALSE
FOR Index ← 1 to NextNum - 1 // search for Rnum
IF Random[Index] = Rnum
THEN
Exists ← TRUE
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF Exists = FALSE
THEN
Random[NextNum] ← Rnum // store Rnum
NextNum ← NextNum + 1 // increment index
ENDIF
UNTIL NextNum > 10

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Conditional (outer) loop to generate 10 values

2 Inner loop to search array for duplicate number
3 Check for duplicate by comparing number generated with array element
in a loop
4 Avoid checking uninitialised elements // array initialisation to rogue value
at start of algorithm
5 If Rnum is a duplicate then repeat outer loop
6 If Rnum not a duplicate then assign to array element and Increment
index

Notes:
Max 5 if statement to generate random number (as given in Q) not present or
incorrectly placed.

4(b) Adaptive Maintenance 1

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Question Answer Marks

5(a) Mark as follows: 7

1 SET Name to ""
2 SET Index to 1
3 SELECT the character from input parameter string at Index position
4 IF character is not colon then concatenate character with Name
5 …INCREMENT Index
6 …REPEAT from step 3
7 RETURN Name

Alternative Solution:

Mark as follows:
1 SET Index to 1
2 SELECT the character from input parameter string at Index position
3 IF character is colon then go to 5
4 Else INCREMENT Index and repeat from 2
5 Extract a substring from the left of the parameter string (and assign this to
variable Name)
6 ...Using Index -1 for the length
7 RETURN Name

Note:
Mark points may be combined for equivalent marks
e.g a suitable structured English description of the pseudocode statement
below satisfies MP 5, 6 and 7:

RETURN LEFT(ParamString, Index – 1)

5(b)(i) Description: 4

• Reduce the number of items to be checked by one after each pass

• Use a flag variable to stop the outer loop

• ... after no more swaps made on a single pass of the inner loop
• ... resetting before the inner loop starts, and setting it whenever a swap is
made

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Question Answer Marks

5(b)(ii) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 8
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

PROCEDURE BubbleSort()
DECLARE Temp : STRING
DECLARE NoSwaps : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Boundary, J : INTEGER

Boundary ← 999
REPEAT
NoSwaps ← TRUE
FOR J ← 1 TO Boundary
IF Contact[J] > Contact[J+1]
THEN
Temp ← Contact[J]
Contact[J] ← Contact[J+1]
Contact[J+1] ← Temp
NoSwaps ← FALSE
ENDIF
ENDFOR
Boundary ← Boundary - 1
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE

ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1 Procedure heading and ending

2 Outer loop
3 Inner loop
4 Correct comparison in a loop
5 Correct swap of array elements in a loop
6 'NoSwap' mechanism: Post-conditional outer loop including flag reset
7 'NoSwap' mechanism: Set flag in inner loop to indicate swap
8 Reducing Boundary in the outer loop

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Question Answer Marks

6(a)(i) FUNCTION AddTime(StartTime : STRING, Duration : INTEGER)_ 8

RETURNS STRING

DECLARE NewTime : STRING

DECLARE StartMinutes, StartHours : INTEGER
DECLARE Total, NewMinutes, NewHours : INTEGER

StartHours ← STRING_TO_NUM(LEFT(StartTime,2))
StartMinutes ← STRING_TO_NUM(RIGHT(StartTime, 2))
Total ← (StartHours * 60) + StartMinutes + Duration
NewHours ← DIV(Total, 60)
NewMinutes ← MOD(Total, 60)

NewTime ← ""

IF NewHours < 10
THEN
NewTime ← '0' // add leading zero to hours
ENDIF

NewTime ← NewTime & NUM_TO_STRING(NewHours) & ':'

IF NewMinutes < 10
THEN
NewTime ← NewTime & '0'// add leading zero
ENDIF

NewTime ← NewTime & NUM_TO_STRING(NewMinutes)

RETURN NewTime

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending including parameters

2 Extract StartHours and convert to integer
3 Extract StartMinutes and convert to integer
4 Add Duration to StartTime in minutes
5 Use DIV() to extract NewHours
6 Use MOD() to extract NewMinutes
7 Adding leading zeros when necessary to hours and minutes eg “09:05”
8 Return concatentated string

Note:
Accept alternative methods for calculation of NewHours and NewMinutes

6(a)(ii) To test every path through the algorithm 1

6(a)(iii) • Logical error 2

• Algorithm is incorrect // program produces unexpected result / incorrect
calculation is performed

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Question Answer Marks

6(b) Test data: 2

Any string value where hours are > “24” or minutes > “59”

Explanation:
Suitable explanation

Note:
Accept times that would also be invalid for the given scenario.

6(c) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 8
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

PROCEDURE GetTotals()

DECLARE BoatNum : INTEGER

DECLARE Paid : REAL
DECLARE FileLine : STRING

FOR BoatNum ← 1 TO 17
Total[BoatNum] ← 0
ENDFOR

OPENFILE "Hirelog.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF("Hirelog.txt")

READFILE "Hirelog.txt", FileLine
BoatNum ← STRING_TO_NUM(LEFT(FileLine, 2))
Paid ← STRING_TO_NUM (RIGHT(FileLine,__
LENGTH(Fileline) – 8))
Total[BoatNum] ← Total[BoatNum] + Paid

ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE "Hirelog.txt"

ENDPROCEDURE

One mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading and ending (where appropriate) with no parameters

2 Initialisation of elements in Total array
3 OPEN "Hirelog.txt" in read mode and CLOSE after use
4 Loop until EOF()
5 Read line from file in a loop
6 Extract and convert BoatNum
7 Extract and convert Paid
8 Update appropriate array total in a loop

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Program Code Example Solutions

To be reviewed at STM

Q5(b)(i): Visual Basic

Sub BubbleSort()
Dim Temp As String
Dim NoSwaps As Boolean
Dim Boundary, J As Integer

Boundary = 999
Do
NoSwaps = TRUE
For J = 1 To Boundary
If Contact(J) > Contact(J+1) Then
Temp = Contact(J)
Contact(J) = Contact(J+1)
Contact(J+1) = Temp
NoSwaps = FALSE
End If
Next
Boundary = Boundary - 1
Loop Until NoSwaps = TRUE

End Sub

Q5(b)(i): Pascal

procuedre BubbleSort()
var
Temp : String;
NoSwaps : Boolean;
Boundary, J : Integer;

Boundary := 999
repeat
begin
NoSwaps := TRUE
for J := 1 to Boundary do
begin
if Contact[J] > Contact[J+1]then
begin
Temp := Contact[J];
Contact[J] := Contact[J+1];
Contact[J+1] := Temp;
NoSwaps := FALSE;
end;
end;

Boundary := Boundary – 1
end;
until NoSwaps = TRUE;

End Sub

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Q5(b)(i): Python

def BubbleSort()
# Temp : String
# NoSwaps : Boolean
# Boundary, J : Integer

Boundary = 999
NoSwaps = TRUE

while NoSwaps == TRUE:

NoSwaps = TRUE
For J in range(Boundary + 1)
If Contact[J] > Contact[J+1]:
Temp = Contact[J]
Contact[J] = Contact[J+1]
Contact[J+1] = Temp
NoSwaps = FALSE

Boundary = Boundary - 1

End Sub

Q6(c): Visual Basic

Sub GetTotals()

Dim BoatNum As Integer

Dim Paid As Real
Dim File As StreamReader("Hirelog.txt")

For BoatNum = 1 To 17
Total(BoatNum) = 0
Next

Do While File.Peek >= 0

FileLine = File.ReadLine()
BoatNum = CInt(Left(FileLine, 2))
Paid = CSng(Right(FileLine, Len(Fileline) – 8))
Total(boatnumber) = Total(boatbnumber) + Paid
Loop

File.Close()

End Sub

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Q6(c): Pascal

procedure GetTotals()

var
BoatNum : Integer;
Paid : Real;
MyFile : testfile;

for BoatNum := 1 to 17 do
Total[BoatNum] := 0;

assignFile(MyFile, "Hirelog.txt");
reset(MyFile);

while not eof(MyFile) do

begin
readln(MyFile, FileLine);
BoatNum = StrToInt(copy(FileLine, 1, 2));
Paid = StrToFloat(copy(FileLine, 9, length(Fileline) – 8));
Total(boatnumber) = Total(boatbnumber) + Paid;
end;

close(MyFile)

end;

Alternative FreePascal string functions) :

BoatNum := LeftStr(FileLine, 2);

Paid := StrToFloat(RightStr(FileLine, length(Fileline) – 8));

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Q6(c): Python

def GetTotals()

# BoatNum : Integer
# Paid : Real
# File : File Handle
# FileData : String

For BoatNum in range (1, 18)

Total[BoatNum] = 0
Next

File = open("Hirelog.txt", "r")

FileData = File.readline()
while FileData != "":
FileLine = File.ReadLine()
BoatNum = int(FileLine[1, 3])
Paid = float(FileLine[8, len(Fileline) – 7))
Total[boatnumber] = Total[boatbnumber] + Paid
FileData = File.readline()

File.Close()

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Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 1 7 5 3 4 1 4 9 7 5 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2020
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (RW/TP) 180778/4
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1 (a) Algorithms are produced during program development.

State when you would produce an algorithm during program development and state its
purpose.

When ........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Purpose ....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Selection is one of the basic constructs used in algorithms.

Explain the term selection.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Reason .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Name two features provided by a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that
assist in the debugging stage of the program development cycle.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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2 (a) A structure chart is often produced as part of a modular program design. The chart shows the
relationship between modules and the parameters that are passed between them.

Give two other features the structure chart can show.

Feature 1 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Feature 2 ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) The following structure chart shows the relationship between three modules.

ModuleA()

ParW
ParX

ParZ

ModuleB() ModuleC()

Parameter data types are:

ParW : REAL
ParX : INTEGER
ParZ : STRING

(i) Write the pseudocode header for module ModuleB().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Write the pseudocode header for module ModuleC().

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

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(c) A student is developing an algorithm to count the number of times a given string,
SearchString, appears in a 2D array. The array, Item, consists of 100 elements organised
as 50 rows of 2 columns. SearchString could appear in any row or column.

The array is declared in pseudocode as follows:

DECLARE Item : ARRAY [1:50, 1:2] OF STRING

The structured English description of the algorithm is:

1. SET Count to 0.
2. Examine the first row of the array.
3. IF column 1 element value is equal to SearchString, ADD 1 to Count.
4. IF column 2 element value is equal to SearchString, ADD 1 to Count.
5. REPEAT from step 3 for next row, UNTIL row is last row.
6. OUTPUT a suitable message and Count.

Write pseudocode for the algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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3 (a) Study the following pseudocode.

Error Delta(Plan, Actual)

CASE OF Error
> 10 : Steer 6WHHUí
0 : ZCount ZCount + 1
< -10 : Steer Steer + 10
OTHERWISE OUTPUT "Unexpected Error"
ENDCASE

Draw a program flowchart to represent the pseudocode. Variable declarations are not
required in program flowcharts.

[5]
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(b) The following pseudocode algorithm has been developed to check whether a string contains
a valid password.

To be a valid password, a string must:

• be longer than five characters

• contain at least one numeric digit
• contain at least one upper case letter
• contain at least one other character (not a numeric digit or an upper case letter).

10 FUNCTION Check(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

11
12 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
13 DECLARE StrLen : INTEGER
14 DECLARE NumUpper, NumDigit : INTEGER
15 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
16 DECLARE NumOther : INTEGER
17
18 NumUpper 0
19 NumDigit 0
20
21 StrLen LENGTH(InString)
22 IF StrLen < 6
23 THEN
24 RETURN FALSE
25 ELSE
26 FOR Index 1 TO StrLen - 1
27 // loop for each character
28 NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
29 IF NextChar >= '0' AND NextChar <= '9'
30 THEN
31 NumDigit NumDigit + 1 // count digits
32 ELSE
33 IF NextChar >= 'A' AND NextChar <= 'Z'
34 THEN
35 NumUpper NumUpper + 1 // count upper case
36 ENDIF
37 ENDIF
38 ENDFOR
39 ENDIF
40
41 NumOther StrLen – (NumDigit – NumUpper)
42 IF NumDigit >= 1 AND NumUpper >= 1 AND NumOther >= 1
43 THEN
44 RETURN TRUE
45 ELSE
46 RETURN FALSE
47 ENDIF
48
49 ENDFUNCTION

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The pseudocode does not work under all circumstances.

The function was dry run with the string "1234AP" and the following trace table was
produced. The string is an invalid password, but the pseudocode returned the value
TRUE.

Trace
StrLen Index NextChar NumUpper NumDigit NumOther
table row
1 6 0 0
2 1 '1'
3 1
4 2 '2'
5 2
6 3 '3'
7 3
8 4 '4'
9 4
10 5 'A'
11 1
12 3

(i) The pseudocode algorithm contains two errors.

State how the given trace table indicates the existence of each error.

Error 1 ...............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Error 2 ...............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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(ii) Give the line number of each error in the pseudocode algorithm and write the modified
pseudocode to correct each error.

Line number for error 1 .....................................................................................................

Correct pseudocode ..........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Line number for error 2 .....................................................................................................

Correct pseudocode ..........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) The term adaptive maintenance refers to amendments that are made in response to
changes to the program specification. These changes usually affect the program algorithm.

Name one other part of the design that can change as a result of adaptive maintenance.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

4 A global 1D array, Contact, of type STRING is used to store a list of names and email addresses.
There are 1000 elements in the array. Each element stores one data item. The format of each
data item is as follows:

Name and EmailAddress are both variable-length strings.

For example:

"Wan Zhu:[email protected]"

A function, Extract(), is part of the program that processes the array. A string data item is
passed to the function as a parameter. The function will return the Name part. Validation is not
necessary.

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(a) Write program code for the function Extract().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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(b) The original function, Extract(), needs to be modified to separate the name from the email
address. The calling program can then use both of these values.

Write, in pseudocode, the header for the modified subroutine. Explain the changes you have
made.

Subroutine header ....................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

5 A company hires out rowing boats on a lake. The company has 20 boats, numbered from 1 to 20.

For safety reasons, the boats have to be serviced (checked and any damage repaired) regularly.

The company is developing a program to help manage the servicing of the boats.

Every time a boat is serviced, details are added at the end of the text file, ServiceLog.txt, as a
single line of information. Each boat is serviced before it is hired out for the first time.

The format of each line is as follows:

BoatNumber and Date are as follows:

• BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string in the range "01" to "20"

• Date is an 8-digit numeric string in the format YYYYMMDD

The programmer has defined the first module as follows:

Module Description
• Called with a string parameter representing the BoatNumber
GetLastService() • Searches through the file ServiceLog.txt
• Returns the date of the last service in the form "YYYYMMDD"

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(a) Write pseudocode for the module GetLastService().

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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(b) (i) Every time a boat is hired out, details of the hire are added at the end of a text file,
Hirelog.txt. Each line of the text file corresponds to information about the hire of one
boat.

The format of each line of information is as follows:

• Date is an 8-digit numeric string in the format YYYYMMDD

• BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string in the range "01" to "20"
• HireDuration is a variable-length string representing a numeric value in hours.
For example, the string "1.5" would represent a hire duration of 1½ hours.

A module GetHours() is defined as follows:

Module Description
• Takes two parameters:
the BoatNumber as a string
the date of the last service for that boat ("YYYYMMDD")
as a string
GetHours()
• Searches through file Hirelog.txt and calculates the sum of
the hire durations for the given boat after the given date (hire
durations on or before the given date are ignored)

• Returns the total of the hire durations as a real

Note:

Standard comparison operators may be used with dates in this format.

For example:

"20200813" > "20200812" would evaluate to TRUE

Parameter validation is not required.

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Write pseudocode for the module GetHours().

Refer to the Appendix on page 19 for a list of built-in pseudocode functions and
operators.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [8]

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(ii) An additional module, Validate(), has been written to check that a given string
corresponds to a valid BoatNumber. A valid BoatNumber is a two-digit numeric string in
the range "01" to "20".

Give three test strings that are invalid for different reasons. Explain your choice in each
case.

String 1 ..............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

String 2 ..............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

String 3 ..............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[6]

(c) A new module is described as follows:

Module Description
• Takes an integer as a parameter that represents the maximum
number of hours before a boat must be serviced

• Uses GetLastService() and GetHours()

• Outputs:
a suitable heading
the BoatNumber of each boat hired for more than the
maximum number of hours since its last service
ServiceList() the total hire duration for each of these boats

An example output list is:

Boat Service List
4: 123
17: 117

If no boats are due to be serviced, the output is:

Boat Service List
No boats are due to be serviced

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Write program code for the module ServiceList().

Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.
Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
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(d) (i) A team of programmers will work on the program. Before they begin, the team meet to
discuss ways in which the risk of program faults may be reduced during the design and
coding stages.

State two ways to minimise program faults during the design and coding stages.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) During development, the team test the program using a process known as stub testing.

Explain this process.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(iii) Explain how single stepping may be used to help find a logic error in a program.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

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Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns "FGH"

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns "BCD"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

Operators (pseudocode)

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Question Answer Marks

1(a) When: when designing a solution to a problem 2

Purpose: to describe the solution as a sequence of steps / actions

One mark per answer

Accept equivalent phrase for 'purpose' but reject specific programming

references

1(b) Testing a condition 2

to determine the sequence of execution

One mark per underlined phrase (or equivalent)

1(c) Explanation: Breaking a problem down into sub tasks 2

Reason: Make the problem easier to solve // to make the solution easier to
implement / test / maintain

1(d) • Breakpoints 2
• Single-stepping
• Watch window

Max 2

Question Answer Marks

2(a) • Sequence of (module) execution 2

• Module Iteration
• Module selection

One mark per item

Max 2

2(b)(i) FUNCTION ModuleB (ParX : INTEGER) RETURNS BOOLEAN 3

One mark for each underlined part

Ignore BYVALUE for ParX

2(b)(ii) PROCEDURE ModuleC (BYREF ParW: REAL, BYVALUE ParZ : 3

STRING)

One mark for each underlined part

BYVALUE not essential for ParZ

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Question Answer Marks

2(c) DECLARE Index, Count : INTEGER 5

Count ← 0
FOR Index ← 1 TO 50
IF Item[Index, 1] = SearchString
THEN
Count ← Count + 1
ENDIF
IF Item[Index, 2] = SearchString
THEN
Count ← Count + 1
ENDIF

ENDFOR

OUTPUT "The number of times SearchString found: ", Count

Alternative

DECLARE I, J, Count : INTEGER

Count ← 0
FOR I ← 1 TO 50
FOR J ← 1 TO 2
IF Item[I, J] = SearchString
THEN
Count ← Count + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR
ENDFOR
OUTPUT "The number of times SearchString found: ", Count

One mark for each of the following:

1 Initialisation of Count
2 FOR loop
3 Check column 1 element and increment count
4 Check column 2 element and increment count // nested loops
5 OUTPUT Count together with suitable mesage

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) 5

Mark as follows:
• One mark for START and END
• One mark per area outlined

All outputs from CASE must be labelled

3(b)(i) Error 1 2
• Index stops at 5 – shoud go to 6. Fails to loop correctly through all
characters of string (lines 26 to 38) // Final values for NumUpper is not as
expected (because of loop error)

Error 2
• Trace table row 12 – NumOther assigned wrong value. 0 expected not 3

One mark per bullet

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Question Answer Marks

3(b)(ii) Error 1 2
Line Number: 26 Correction: FOR Index ← 1 to StrLen

Error 2
Line Number: 41 Correction: NumOther ← StrLen –(NumDigit +
NumUpper)

One mark for each line number with correction

3(c) Data Structure 1

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 5
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION Extract(InString : STRING) RETURNS STRING

DECLARE Name : STRING
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE Index : INTEGER
CONSTANT COLON = ':'
Index ← 1
Name ← ""
NextChar ← LEFT(InString, 1)

WHILE NextChar <> COLON

Name ← Name & NextChar
Index ← Index + 1
NextChar ← MID(InString, Index, 1)
ENDWHILE

RETURN Name

ENDFUNCTION

Alternative:

FUNCTION Extract(InString : STRING) RETURNS STRING

DECLARE Name : STRING
DECLARE Index : INTEGER
CONSTANT COLON = ':'
Index ← 1

WHILE MID(InString, Index, 1)<> COLON

Index ← Index + 1
ENDWHILE

Name ← LEFT(InString, Index)

RETURN Name

ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:
1 Function heading and ending (where required) including parameters
2 Extract (next) character from InString
3 Conditional loop while character is not colon
4 Append character to Name and increment Index in a loop // calculate
substring length and use LEFT() after loop
5 RETURN Name (may be combined with alternative mp 4)

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) Two alternatives: 3

Alternative #1

Header:
PROCEDURE Extract (BYREF Name : STRING, BYREF Email :
STRING, BYVALUE DataItem : STRING)

Explanation:
Could additionally pass the name and email address to the procedure
using BYREF. Procedure would extract name and email and assign
values to BYREF parameters; these would then be available to calling
program.

Alternative #2

Header:
PROCEDURE Extract (DataItem : STRING)

Explanation:

Declare new global variables for the name and email address. These
could be assigned values within the new procedure and these values
would be used by the calling program.

Mark as follows:
• Two marks for header – must be a Procedure not a Function (but see
note below)
• Max Two marks for explanation

Note:
Allow solution based on user-defined record type / record item returned from
modified function.

Max 3

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Question Answer Marks

5(a) FUNCTION GetLastService(BoatNum : STRING) RETURNS STRING 8

DECLARE LastService, FileData : STRING

LastService ← ""

OPEN "ServiceLog.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF("ServiceLog.txt")

READFILE "ServiceLog.txt", FileData
IF LEFT(FileData, 2) = BoatNum
THEN
LastService ← RIGHT(FileData, 8)
ENDIF

ENDWHILE

Close "ServiceLog.txt"

RETURN LastService

// Most recent service will be the last one read

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending including parameters

2 Declaration of variables for LastService and FileData
3 Open file in read mode and close
4 Conditional loop - while not EOF()
5 Read line from file in a loop
6 Compare BoatNum with data from file in a loop
7 If matched, assign value to LastService in a loop
8 Return LastService

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Question Answer Marks

5(b)(i) FUNCTION GetHours(BNum, SDate, : STRING)RETURNS REAL 8

DECLARE FileData, HString : STRING

DECLARE TotHours : REAL
DECLARE HLength : INTEGER

TotHours ← 0

OPEN "HireLog.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF("HireLog.txt")

READFILE "HireLog.txt" FileData
IF MID(FileData, 9, 2) = BNum
THEN
IF LEFT(FileData, 8) > SDate
THEN
HLength ← LENGTH(Filedata) – 10
HString ← RIGHT(Filedata, HLength)
TotHours ← TotHours + STRING_TO_NUM(HString)
ENDIF
ENDIF

ENDWHILE

Close "HireLog.txt"

RETURN TotHours

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending including parameters

2 Declaration of TotHours as integer
3 ...and initialisation to zero
4 Extract and compare BoatNum …
5 … extract date and compare to ServData and if later then...
6 ... extract HireDuration and …
7 … convert HireDuration to REAL and sum TotHours
8 Return TotHours

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Question Answer Marks

5(b)(ii) Three different tests 6

String example 1
• String: "007"
• Reason: Too many characters

String example 2

• String: "4x"
• Reason: String does not represent a numeric value / contains an illegal
character

String example 3

• String: "25"
• Reason: number outside range 1 to 20

Illegal character can only be used in one test

One mark for string plus one for corresponding explanation

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Question Answer Marks

5(c) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark 8
scheme.
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

PROCEDURE ServiceList(MaxHours : INTEGER)

DECLARE BoatNum, Hours : INTEGER

DECLARE LastService : STRING
DECLARE Due : BOOLEAN

Due ← FALSE
OUTPUT "Boat Service List"

FOR BoatNum ← 1 TO 20
LastService ← GetLastService(NUM_TO_STRING(BoatNum))
Hours ← GetHours(NUM_TO_STRING(BoatNum),LastService)
IF Hours > MaxHours
THEN
OUTPUT NUM_TO_STRING(Boatnum) & ": "__
& NUM_TO_STRING(Hours)
Due ← TRUE
ENDIF

ENDFOR

IF Due = TRUE
THEN
OUTPUT "No boats are due to be serviced"
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

One mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading and ending (where appropriate) including parameter

2 Output "report header" line not in a loop
3 Loop from 1 to 20
4 Call GetLastService
5 Call GetHours
6 Check return value from GetHours > MaxHours
7 Suitable Output statement in a loop
8 Mechanism to initialise, count and produce final output if no boats to be
serviced

5(d)(i) One mark per bullet point 2

• The use of tried and tested (library) subroutines

• The use of modular programming (to break the problem down and make
it easier to solve)
• The use of programming practice to make the code easier to read (e.g.
format, use of sensible variable names)

Max 2

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Question Answer Marks

5(d)(ii) One mark per bullet point 2

• Testing may be carried out before the modules are developed // not ready
for full testing

• Module stubs contain simple code to provide a known response //

temporary replacement for a called module / return a fixed value / output
a message to confirm the module has been called

5(d)(iii) One mark per bullet point 2

• Executes a line of code at a time

• Used to trace the path of execution (sequence)
• Track variable values using a watch window

Max 2

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Program Code Example Solutions

Q4(a): Visual Basic

Function Extract(InString As String) As String

Dim Name As String
Dim NextChar As Char
Dim Index As Integer
Const COLON = ':'

Index = 1
Name = ""
NextChar = Left(InString, 1)

While NextChar <> COLON

Name = Name & NextChar
Index = Index + 1
NextChar = Mid(Instring, Index, 1)
Loop

Return Name

End Function

Function Extract(InString As String) As String

Return Mid(Instring, 1, Instring.IndexOf(":"))
End Function

Q4(a): Pascal

function extract(InString : string) : string;

var
Name : string;
NextChar : char;
Index : integer;

const
COLON = ':';

Index := 1;
Name := "";
NextChar := copy(InString, 1, 1);

While NextChar <> COLON do

begin
Name := Name & NextChar;
Index := Index + 1;
NextChar := copy(Instring, Index, 1);
end;

extract := Name;

end;

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Q4(a): Python

def Extract(InString)
# Name : String
# NextChar : Char
# Index : Integer

COLON = ':'

Index = 1
Name = ""
NextChar = InString[1:2]

While NextChar <> COLON:

Name = Name + NextChar
Index = Index + 1
NextChar = Instring[index, Index + 1]

Return Name

Q5(c): Visual Basic

Sub ServiceList(MaxHours As Integer)

Dim BoatNum, Due As Integer

Dim LastService As String

Due = 0
console.writeline("Boat Service List")

For BoatNum = 1 To 20
LastService = GetLastService(CStr(BoatNum))
Hours = GetHours(CStr(BoatNum), LastService)
If Hours > MaxHours Then
Console.Writeline(CStr(Boatnum) & ": " & CStr(Hours))
Due = Due + 1
End If
Next

If Due = 0 Then
Console.Writeline("No boats are due to be serviced")
End If

End Sub

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Q5(c): Pascal

procedure ServiceList(MaxHours : Integer)

var
BoatNum, Due : integer;
LastService : string;

Due := 0
print("Boat Service List")

for BoatNum := 1 to 20 do
begin
LastService := GetLastService(CInt(BoatNum));
Hours := GetHours(BoatNum, Lastservice);
If Hours > MaxHours then
begin
writeln(IntToStr(Boatnum) & ": " & IntToStr(Hours));
Due := Due + 1;
end;
end;

If Due = 0 then
writeln ("No boats are due to be serviced")
End If
End Sub

Q5(c): Python

def ServiceList(MaxHours)

# BoatNum, Due : Integer

# LastService : String

Due = 0
print("Boat Service List")

For BoatNum in range(1, 21):

LastService = GetLastService(str(BoatNum))
Hours = GetHours(BoatNum, LastService)
if Hours > MaxHours:
print(str(Boatnum) & ": " & str(Hours))
Due = Due + 1

if Due == 0:
print"No boats are due to be serviced")

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Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 6 3 4 1 3 6 2 7 4 2 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2020
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (LK) 188573/3
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
PAGE 890

1 (a) Translation is one stage of the program development cycle.

State three other stages.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Define the following types of maintenance.

Corrective maintenance ............................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Adaptive maintenance ..............................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Experienced programmers have a transferable skill.

Explain how this skill might be useful for a programmer.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(d) Jackie has written a program and has used the identifier names I1, I2, and I3.

Explain why this is not good practice.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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(e) A pseudocode algorithm assigns values to three variables as follows:

GateOpen FALSE
Alarm TRUE
PowerFail TRUE

Evaluate the expressions given in the following table:

Expression Evaluates to

Alarm OR NOT PowerFail

NOT (Alarm AND PowerFail)

(GateOpen OR Alarm) AND PowerFail

(GateOpen AND Alarm) OR NOT PowerFail

[2]

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2 (a) User names are stored in a text file. Each line of the file represents one name. Before a new
user name can be issued, a check has to be made to ensure that the new name is unique.

Use structured English to describe an algorithm that would prompt and input a new user
name and output a message to indicate whether or not it is unique.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) Complete the pseudocode expressions in the following table.

Use only the functions and operators described in the Appendix on pages 18–19.

Expression Evaluates to

........................ ("Stepwise" , ........................) & "art" "Start"

........................ ("Concatenate" , ........................ , ........................) "ten"

2 * .......................... ("Kipper") 12

TRUE .......................... FALSE TRUE

.......................... (9, 2) 1

[5]
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PAGE 893

(c) Study the following pseudocode.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

01 PROCEDURE StringClean(InString : STRING)

02
03 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
04 DECLARE OutString : STRING
05 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
06
07 OutString ""
08
09 FOR Index 1 TO LENGTH(InString)
10
11 NextChar MID(InString, Index, 1)
12 NextChar LCASE(NextChar)
13
14 IF NextChar >= 'a' AND NextChar <= 'z'
15 THEN
16 OutString OutString & NextChar
17 ENDIF
18
19 ENDFOR
20
21 OUTPUT OutString
22
23 ENDPROCEDURE

Complete the following table by entering an appropriate answer.

Answer

The name for the type of loop used

A line number of a selection statement

The scope of OutString

The name of a function that is called

A line number containing a logical operator

[5]

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3 The procedure OutputLines() outputs a number of lines from a text file.

An example of the use of the procedure is given by the following pseudocode:

CALL OutputLines(FileName, StartLine, NumberLines)

Parameter Data type Description

FileName STRING The name of the text file

StartLine INTEGER The number of the first line to be output

NumberLines INTEGER The number of lines to be output

The procedure is tested using the file MyFile.txt that contains 100 lines of text.

The procedure gives the expected result when called as follows:

CALL OutputLines("MyFile.txt", 1, 10)

(a) The procedure is correctly called with three parameters of the appropriate data types, but the
procedure does not give the expected result.

Give three different reasons why this might happen.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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(b) Write program code for the procedure OutputLines().

Note: Parameter validation is not necessary.

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
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(c) A program is compiled without producing any errors.

(i) Describe one type of error that the program could still contain.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Give two techniques that may be used to identify an error of the type given in part (c)(i).

Technique 1 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Technique 2 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) State two reasons why the use of library subroutines can be a benefit in program development.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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4 A function, FormOut(), takes an integer parameter in the range 0 to 999 999 and returns a
formatted string depending on two other parameter values.

Formatting may incorporate the use of:

• A prefix string to be added before the integer value (e.g. '$' or "Total: ")
• A comma as a thousand-separator (e.g. "1,000")

The function will be called as follows:

MyString FormOut(Number, Prefix, AddComma)

Parameter Data type Description

Number INTEGER The positive integer value to be formatted.

A string that will appear in front of the numeric value. Set to an
Prefix STRING
empty string if no prefix is required.
TRUE if a comma is required in the formatted string.
AddComma BOOLEAN
FALSE if a comma is not required in the formatted string.

(a) Fill in the tables to show two tests that could be carried out to test different aspects of the
function.

Give the expected result for each test.

TEST 1
Parameter Value
Expected return string:
Number

Prefix ...............................................................

AddComma

TEST 2
Parameter Value
Expected return string:
Number
Prefix ...............................................................
AddComma
[4]

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(b) Write pseudocode for the function FormOut().

Refer to the Appendix on pages 18–19 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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5 A message may contain several hashtags.

A hashtag is a string consisting of a hash character ‘#’, followed by one or more alphanumeric
characters.

A hashtag may be terminated by a space character, the start of the next hashtag, any other
non-alphanumeric character, or by the end of the message.

For example, the following message contains three hashtags:

"#Error27 is the result of #PoorPlanning by the #Designer"

The hashtags in the message are "#Error27", "#PoorPlanning" and "#Designer".

A program is being developed to process a message and extract each hashtag.

A global 1D array of strings, TagString, will store each hashtag in a single element.
Unused array elements will contain an empty string. The array will contain 10 000 elements.

A developer has started to define the modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
• an integer giving the number of the required hashtag.
GetStart() For example, GetStart(Message, 3) would search
for the third hashtag in the string Message
• Returns an integer value representing the start position
RIWKHKDVKWDJLQWKHPHVVDJHVWULQJRUYDOXHíLIWKDW
hashtag does not exist
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
GetTag() • an integer giving the hashtag start position within the
message
• Returns the hashtag or an empty string if the character in
the message at the hashtag start position is not '#'
• Called with a hashtag as a parameter
• Returns the index position of the hashtag in array
GetIndex() TagString
• 5HWXUQVWKHYDOXHíLIWKHKDVKWDJLVQRWSUHVHQWLQWKH
array

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(a) Write pseudocode for the module GetIndex().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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PAGE 901

(b) Write pseudocode for the module GetStart().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
• an integer giving the number of the required hashtag. For
example, GetStart(Message, 3) would search for the
GetStart()
third hashtag in the string Message
• Returns an integer value representing the start position of the
KDVKWDJLQWKHPHVVDJHVWULQJRUYDOXHíLIWKDWKDVKWDJGRHV
not exist

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20
PAGE 902

(c) Write program code for the module GetTag().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description
• Called with two parameters:
• a message string
• an integer giving the hashtag start position within the
GetTag()
message
• Returns the hashtag or an empty string if the character in the
message at the hashtag start position is not '#'

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 903

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20 [Turn over

PAGE 904

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of string ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "FGH"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x

Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv

Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns string "BCD"

LCASE(ThisChar : CHAR) RETURNS CHAR

returns the character value representing the lower case equivalent of ThisChar
If ThisChar is not an upper-case alphabetic character, it is returned unchanged.

Example: LCASE('W') returns 'w'

DIV(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the whole number part of the result when ThisNum is divided
by ThisDiv

Example: DIV(10,3) returns 3

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 905

Operators (pseudocode)

Operator Description

Concatenates (joins) two strings

&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"

Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values

AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE

Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values

OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

© UCLES 2020 9608/21/O/N/20

9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) One mark per bullet point, max 3 marks 3

• Analysis / Problem Definition

• Design
• Code // Implement
• Test

1(b) One mark per bullet point 2

• Corrective: changes to correct a bug / problem / error in the program

• Adaptive: changes due to change in specification / requirements / legislation / available technology

1(c) One mark per bullet point 2

PAGE 906
• The knowledge / experience / understanding of one programming language
• Can be applied to another / unfamiliar language // will help recognise control structures in another / unfamiliar
language // will help them learn a new language

1(d) One mark per bullet point 2

• Names are not meaningful (or equivalent) // name does not reflect the identifier's use// easy to use the wrong name
• Makes the program more difficult to understand / debug / modify / test

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PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

1(e) 1 mark for any two rows correct, 2 marks for all rows correct. 2

Expression Evaluates to

Alarm OR NOT PowerFail TRUE

NOT (Alarm AND PowerFail) FALSE

(GateOpen OR Alarm) AND PowerFail TRUE

(GateOpen AND Alarm) OR NOT PowerFail FALSE

2(a) One mark per step (or equivalent) to max 6 marks 6

1 Prompt / output string and input the new user name

PAGE 907
2 OPEN the file in read mode and close the file
3 Initialise a Boolean variable, e.g. UniqueFlag to TRUE
4 LOOP while not End of File (AND new user name not found)
5 Read a line from the file
6 If line is same as new user name (then set termination condition else repeat from step 4)
7 IF UniqueFlag is TRUE then output ‘Unique’ otherwise output ‘Not unique’

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Question Answer Marks

2(b) One mark per row (for expression completed by addition of text shown in bold): 5

Expression Evaluates to

LEFT("Stepwise", 2) & "art" "Start"

MID("Concatenate", 6, 3) "ten"

2 * LENGTH("Kipper") 12

TRUE OR FALSE TRUE

MOD(9, 2) 1

2(c) One mark per row: 5

Answer

The name for the type of loop used Count-controlled

PAGE 908

A line number of a selection statement 14

The scope of OutString Local

The name of a function that is called LENGTH // MID // LCASE

A line number containing a logical operator 14

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) Reasons include: 3

1 FileName given does not exist / access denied / file is of wrong type
2 The StartLine line does not exist in file
3 There are less than NumLines lines after the StartLine
4 Code does not read the required number of lines (description of logical error)

One mark per point to 3 max marks

3(b) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 7
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

PROCEDURE OutputLines(FileName: STRING, StartLine, NumLines: INTEGER)

DECLARE FileData : STRING

DECLARE Count : INTEGER

OPENFILE FileName FOR READ

FOR Count ← 1 TO StartLine + NumLines - 1

PAGE 909

READFILE FileName, FileData

IF Count >= StartLine
THEN
OUTPUT FileData
ENDIF
ENDFOR

CLOSE FileName

ENDPROCEDURE

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9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

3(b) 1 mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading (including parameters) and ending

2 Declare local variable for FileData and Count
3 Open FileName in READ mode and subsequent Close
4 Loop
5 Read Filedata in a loop
6 Check if current line is to be printed (i.e. if Count in range)
7 If so Output FileData in a loop

Alternative 'Seek' solution

PROCEDURE OutputLines(FileName: STRING, StartLine, NumLines: INTEGER)

DECLARE FileData : STRING

DECLARE Count : INTEGER

OPENFILE FileName FOR READ

PAGE 910

FOR Count ← 1 TO StartLine - 1 // read up to StartLine

READFILE FileName, FileData
ENDFOR

FOR Count ← 1 TO NumLines // then Output NumLines lines from here

READFILE FileName, FileData
OUTPUT FileData
ENDFOR

CLOSE FileName

ENDPROCEDURE

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Question Answer Marks

3(b) 1 mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading (including parameters) and ending

2 Declare local variable for FileData and Count
3 Open FileName in READ mode and subsequent close
4 First loop to read up to StartLine
5 Read Filedata in a loop
6 Second loop for Numlines times
7 Read and Output Filedata in a loop

3(c)(i) One mark for type plus one for corresponding explanation to max 2 marks 2

• Logic(al) Error
• The program does not perform as expected (or by example)

• Run-time error
PAGE 911

• The program executes an invalid instruction / attempts to divide by zero // the program crashes

Award mark for 'description' without type

3(c)(ii) Max 2 marks, techniques include: 2

• White-box testing // use of suitable test data

• Dry-run / use of a trace table
• IDE features such as breakpoints, stepping, watch windows

3(d) Max 2 marks, reasons include: 2

• They are tried and tested / free from bugs

• They are already available so their use saves development time
• Perform a function which the programmer does not have the skills to write

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) There are many correct answers. 4

There are eight relevant combinations (2 × 2 × 2 options) as follows:

Parameter Option A Option B

Number <= 999 >= 1000

Prefix Non-empty
Empty String
String

AddComma TRUE FALSE

Tests must be different by at least one option

For each test (2 in total):

• One mark for parameter values

PAGE 912

• One mark for expected return

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) FUNCTION FormOut(Num : INTEGER, Prefix : STRING, AddComma : BOOLEAN) RETURNS STRING 8

DECLARE OutString : STRING

DECLARE ThouDigits : INTEGER // just to simplify later expression

CONSTANT COMMA = ','

OutString ← NUM_TO_STRING(Num) // convert integer to string

IF AddComma = TRUE
THEN
NumLength ← LENGTH(OutString)
IF NumLength > 3
THEN
ThouDigits ← NumLength - 3
OutString ← LEFT(OutString, ThouDigits) & COMMA & RIGHT(OutString, 3)
ENDIF
ENDIF

concatenate string with Prefix

PAGE 913

OutString ← Prefix & OutString //

RETURN OutString

ENDFUNCTION

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9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

4(b) 1 mark for each of the following:

1 Functon heading and ending (inc parameters) and return data type
2 Use of NUM_TO_STRING
3 Test AddComma and if TRUE …
4 Test number of digits in Num
5 Split NUM_TO_STRING(Num) and
6 Form OutString with inserted comma
7 Concatenate the Prefix with OutString
8 Return OutString

MP3 and MP4 could easily appear in reverse sequence

PAGE 914

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Question Answer Marks

5(a) FUNCTION GetIndex(HashTag : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER 6

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

Index ← 1
Found ← FALSE

WHILE Index <= 10000 AND Found = FALSE

IF TagString[Index] = HashTag
THEN
Found ← TRUE
ELSE
Index ← Index + 1
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

IF Found = FALSE
THEN
PAGE 915

Index ← -1
ENDIF

RETURN Index
ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Declaration of Index as Integer and Found as Boolean // RetIndex as Integer if this used for loop termination
2 Initialisation of Index
3 Conditional loop for 10ௗ000 elements while HashTag not found
4 Compare HashTag with element from TagString array in a loop
5 Set termination condition / store current index if match found in a loop
6 Return Integer value

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Question Answer Marks

5(b) FUNCTION GetStart(Message : STRING, TagNum : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER 6

DECLARE MessLength, Index, StartPos, Count: INTEGER

CONSTANT HASH = '#'

Count ← 0
StartPos ← -1
Index ← 1
MessLength ← LENGTH(Message)

WHILE Index <= MessLength AND Count < TagNum

IF MID(Message, Index, 1) = HASH
THEN
Count ← Count + 1
IF Count = TagNum
THEN
StartPos ← Index // found the required hashtag
ENDIF
PAGE 916

ENDIF
Index ← Index + 1
ENDWHILE

RETURN StartPos
ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Conditional loop until required hashtag found or end of message encountered

2 Extract a character and compare with hash character in a loop
3 If hash found, increment Count / decrement TagNum
4 Test if this is the required hashtag
5 Set termination condition / store current index if match found in a loop
6 Return integer value from correct function declaration

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Question Answer Marks

5(c) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 8
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.
Max 8 marks from 9 mark points

FUNCTION GetTag(Message : STRING, StartPos : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE MyString : STRING
DECLARE NextChar, TestChar : CHAR
DECLARE EndTag : BOOLEAN
CONSTANT HASH = '#'
CONSTANT SPACE = ' '

MyString ← ""
EndTag ←FALSE

IF MID(Message, StartPos, 1) = HASH // check first char is HASH

THEN
MyString ← HASH // store HASH as first char of hashtag
Index ← StartPos + 1 // start loop with first char after #
PAGE 917

WHILE Index <= LENGTH(Message) AND EndTag = FALSE

NextChar ← MID(Message, Index, 1)
TestChar ← UCASE(NextChar)
IF TestChar = SPACE OR TestChar = HASH __
OR NOT ((TestChar >= 'A' AND TestChar <= 'Z') __
OR (TestChar >= '0' AND TestChar <= '9'))
THEN
EndTag ← TRUE
ELSE
MyString ← MyString & NextChar
ENDIF
Index ← Index + 1
ENDWHILE

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

5(c) ENDIF
IF LENGTH(MyString) = 1
THEN
MyString = "" // when Hash is last char in string
ENDIF
RETURN MyString
ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending including parameters and return data type (not python)
2 Declaration and initialisation of return string (MyString)
3 Test for valid start character
4 Loop from StartPos+1 while not end of message
5 Extract NextChar
6 Test if NextChar is terminator character in a loop
7 If NextChar not a terminator then concatenate with MyString in a loop
8 Cater for MyString only containing a Hash character (return empty string)
9 Return MyString
PAGE 918

*** End of Mark Scheme – example program code solutions follow ***

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Program Code Example Solutions

Q3 (b): Visual Basic

Sub OutputLines(FileName As String, StartLine As Integer, NumLines As Integer)

Dim FileData As String

Dim Count As Integer
Dim File As New StreamReader(FileName)

For Count = 1 To StartLine + NumLines - 1

FileData = File.ReadLine()
If Count >= StartLine Then Console.Writeline(FileData)
Next

File.Close

End Sub
PAGE 919

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q3 (b): Pascal

Procedure OutputLines(FileName : string; StartLine : integer; NumLines : integer);

var
FileData : string;
Count : integer;
ThisFile : textfile;

begin
assignfile(ThisFile, FileName);
reset(ThisFile);

for Count := 1 to StartLine + NumLines - 1 do

begin
readln(ThisFile, Filedata);
if Count >= StartLine then writeln(Filedata);
end;

closefile(ThisFile);
end;
PAGE 920

Q3 (b): Python

def OutputLines(FileName, StartLine, NumLines):

#Count as INTEGER
#File as FILEOBJECT
#FileData as STRING

Count = 1
File = open(FileName, "r")

for Count in range(1, StartLine + NumLines):

FileData = File.readline()
if Count >= StartLine:
print(FileData)

File.close()

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Q5 (c): Visual Basic

Function GetTag(Message As String, StartPos As Integer) As String

Dim NumChars, Index As Integer

Dim MyString As String
Dim NextChar, TestChar As Char
Dim EndTag As Boolean
Const HASH = "#"
Const SPACE = " "

MyString = ""
EndTag = FALSE

NumChars = Len(Message)

If Mid(Message, StartPos, 1) = HASH Then 'Check for valid hashtag

MyString = HASH
Index = StartPos + 1
Do While Index <= NumChars And EndTag = FALSE
NextChar = Mid(Message, Index, 1)
TestChar = Ucase(NextChar)
PAGE 921

If NextChar = SPACE Or NextChar = HASH __

Or Not ((TestChar >= 'A' And TestChar <= 'Z') Or __
(TestChar >= '0' And TestChar <= '9')) Then
EndTag = TRUE
Else
MyString = MyString & NextChar
End If
Index = Index + 1
Loop
End If

If MyString = HASH Then MyString = "" 'When Hash is last char in message

Return MyString

End Function

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q5 (c): Pascal

Function GetTag(Message : string, StartPos : integer) : String;

var
NumChars, Index : Integer;
MyString: String;
NextChar, TestChar : String;
EndTag : Boolean;

const
HASH = '#';
SPACE = ' ';

MyString = '';
EndTag = FALSE;

NumChars := Length(Message);

if midstr(Message, StartPos, 1) = HASH then // Check for valid hashtag

begin
MyString:= HASH;
PAGE 922

Index := StartPos + 1;
while Index <= NumChars And EndTag = FALSE do;
begin
NextChar := Midstr(Message, Index, 1);
TestChar := UpperCase(NextChar);
If NextChar = SPACE OR NextChar = HASH Or
Not ((TestChar >= 'A' And TestChar <= 'Z') Or
TestChar >= '0' And TestChar <= '9')) then
EndTag := TRUE;
Else
MyString:= MyString + NextChar;
Index := Index + 1;
end;
end;

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PUBLISHED
If MyString = HASH then MyString := ""; // When Hash is last char in message

GetTag := MyString;

end;

Q5 (c): Python

def GetTag(Message, StartPostion):

#EndTag as BOOLEAN
#Index as INTEGER
#MyString as STRING
#NextChar, TestChar as CHAR

HASH = '#'
SPACE = ' '

MyString = ""
EndTag = FALSE
PAGE 923

NumChars = len(Message)

if message[Index] == "#":
MyString = HASH
Index = StartPos + 1

while Index <= NumChars And EndTag == FALSE:

NextChar = Message[Index]
TestChar = NextChar.upper()
if NextChar == SPACE OR NextChar == HASH
or not ((TestChar >= 'A' and TestChar <= 'Z') or
TestChar >= '0' and TestChar <= '9')):
EndTag = True
else:
MyString = MyString + NextChar
Index = Index + 1

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9608/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED

if MyString = HASH:
MyString = "" #When Hash is last char in message

return HashTag
PAGE 924

© UCLES 2020 Page 22 of 22

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 925

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 7 1 8 7 0 7 4 0 4 6 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2020
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 20 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (CJ) 188580/2
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
PAGE 926

1 (a) Algorithms usually consist of three different stages.

One stage is INPUT.

Name the other stages.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................
[1]

(b) An algorithm may be documented using different methods. These include structured English,
a program flowchart, and pseudocode.

State what a program designer represents using one or more of these methods.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) Programming languages support different data types.

Complete the table by giving four different data types together with an example data value
for each.

Data type Example data value

[4]

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 927

(d) Draw lines to connect each of the following computing terms with the appropriate description.

Term Description

A structure for the

Black-box testing
temporary storage of data

A method used when the

File structure of the program is
unknown

A method of setting the

Assignment
value of a variable

A structure for the

Array
permanent storage of data

[3]

(e) A pseudocode algorithm assigns values to three variables as follows:

FlagA TRUE
FlagB FALSE
FlagC TRUE

Evaluate the expressions given in the following table:

Expression Evaluates to

NOT FlagB AND FlagC

NOT (FlagB OR FlagC)

(FlagA AND FlagB) OR FlagC

NOT (FlagA AND FlagB) OR NOT FlagC

[2]

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PAGE 928

2 (a) The following pseudocode is an attempt to define an algorithm that takes two numbers as
input and outputs the larger of the two numbers.

DECLARE A, B : INTEGER
INPUT A
INPUT B
IF A > B
THEN
OUTPUT A
ELSE
OUTPUT B
ENDIF

The algorithm needs to be amended to include the following changes:

1. Input three values, ensuring that each value input is unique.

2. Output the average.
3. Output the largest value.

Write the pseudocode for the amended algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) Complete the pseudocode expressions in the following table.

Use only functions and operators described in the Appendix on pages 18–19.

Expression Evaluates to

"ALARM: " & ...................... ("Time: 1202" , ......................) "ALARM: 1202"

...................... ("Stepwise." , ...................... , ......................) "wise"

1.5 * .......................... ("OnePointFive") 18

...................................... (27.5) "27.5"

.......................... (9, 4) 2
[5]

(c) A problem may be decomposed into sub-tasks when designing an algorithm.

Give three benefits of using sub-tasks.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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PAGE 930

3 A car has the ability to detect a skid by monitoring the rate of rotation (the rotational speed) of
each wheel. If the rate of rotation of any wheel is not within 10% of the average of all four wheels,
the car skids.

A function, CheckSkid(), is being developed.

The function will:

• simulate real-time data acquisition, by prompting for the input of four integer values in the
range 0 to 1000 inclusive, representing the rate of rotation of each wheel
• calculate the average value
• check whether any individual value is more than 10% greater than the average or more than
10% less than the average
• return TRUE if any individual value is more than 10% greater than the average or more than
10% less than the average and FALSE otherwise
• output a suitable warning message.

(a) Write program code for the function CheckSkid().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

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PAGE 931

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(b) Give two sets of test data that could be used to test the function.

Test 1 – No skid detected

Value1 Value2 Value3 Value4

Test 2 – Skid detected

Value1 Value2 Value3 Value4

[2]

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PAGE 932

4 (a) The following structured English describes an algorithm used to count the number of odd and
even digits in an input sequence.

1. Initialise variables OddCount and EvenCount to zero.

2. Prompt and input an integer.
3. If the integer is not in the range 0 to 9 then go to step 7.
4. If the integer is an even number then add 1 to EvenCount.
5. Otherwise add 1 to OddCount.
6. Repeat from step 2.
7. Output "Same" if there are the same number of odd and even integers.
8. Output "Odd" if there are more odd than even integers.
9. Output "Even" if there are more even than odd integers.

Draw a flowchart on the following page to represent the algorithm.

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

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PAGE 933

[7]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over
PAGE 934

(b) The following pseudocode is an attempt to check whether two equal-length strings consist of
identical characters.

Refer to the Appendix on pages 18–19 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

FUNCTION Compare(String1, String2 : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE x, y, Len1, Len2 : INTEGER
DECLARE RetFlag : BOOLEAN
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE New : STRING

Len1 LENGTH(String1)
RetFlag TRUE

FOR x 1 TO Len1 // for each char in String1

Len2 LENGTH(String2)
NextChar MID(String1, x, 1) // get NextChar from String1
New ""
FOR y 1 TO Len2 // for each char in String2
IF NextChar <> MID(String2, y, 1) // no match
THEN
New New & MID(String2, y, 1) // save this char from String2
ENDIF
ENDFOR
String2 New // replace String2 with New
ENDFOR

IF LENGTH(String2) <> 0 // anything left in String2 ?

THEN
RetFlag FALSE
ENDIF

RETURN RetFlag

ENDFUNCTION

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 935

(i) Complete the trace table below by performing a dry run of the function when it is called
as follows:

Result Compare("SUB", "BUS")

The first row has been completed for you.

String1 String2 Len1 RetFlag x Len2 NextChar New y

"SUB" "BUS" 3 TRUE 1

[5]

(ii) State the value returned.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

PAGE 936

(iii) There is an error in the algorithm, which means that under certain circumstances, the
function will return an incorrect value.

Describe the problem. Give two test strings that would demonstrate it.

Problem .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Test String1 .......................................................................................................................

Test String2 .......................................................................................................................

[2]

(iv) Describe the modification that needs to be made to the algorithm to correct the error.

Do not use pseudocode or program code in your answer.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(v) State the name given to the type of testing that makes use of a trace table.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(vi) State two features found in a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that
may be used for debugging a program.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 937

Question 5 begins on the next page.

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

PAGE 938

5 A hashtag is used on a social media network. A hashtag is a string consisting of a hash character
‘#’ followed by one or more alphanumeric characters.

A program is being developed to monitor the use of hashtags.

The program will include two global arrays each containing 10 000 elements:

• A 1D array, TagString, of type STRING stores each hashtag in a single element. All unused
array elements contain an empty string ("").

• A 1D array, TagCount, of type INTEGER stores a count of the number of times each hashtag
is used. The count value at a given index relates to the element stored at the corresponding
index in the TagString array.

The contents of the two arrays will be stored in a text file Backup.txt. The format of each line of
the file is:

For example:

"#ComputerScienceClass,978"

A developer has started to define the modules as follows:

Module Description
InitArrays() • Initialise the arrays
• The contents of the two arrays are stored in the text file Backup.txt
Existing file contents will be overwritten
SaveArrays() • Each hashtag and count are stored in one line of the file, as in the example
above
• Unused TagString elements are not added to the file
• Returns the total number of unused TagString elements

LoadArrays()
• Values from the text file Backup.txt are stored in the two arrays
• The number of elements stored is returned

(a) Write pseudocode for the module InitArrays().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 939

(b) Write pseudocode for the module SaveArrays().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over
PAGE 940

(c) Write program code for the module LoadArrays().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description
• Values from the text file Backup.txt are stored in the
LoadArrays() two arrays
• The number of elements stored is returned

You should assume:

• each line of the file contains a string of the correct format and no validation checks are
required
• there are no more than 10 000 lines in the file.

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20 [Turn over

PAGE 942

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)

Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of string ThisString

Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString

Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString

Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "FGH"

MOD(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the remainder when ThisNum is divided by ThisDiv

Example: MOD(10,3) returns 1

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString

Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns string "BCD"

DIV(ThisNum : INTEGER, ThisDiv : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the whole number part of the result when ThisNum is
divided by ThisDiv
Example: DIV(10,3) returns 3

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER

Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

STRING_TO_NUM(x : STRING) RETURNS REAL

returns a numeric representation of a string.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type CHAR

Example: STRING_TO_NUM("23.45") returns 23.45

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 943

Operators (pseudocode)

© UCLES 2020 9608/22/O/N/20

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) One mark for both answers: 1

• Process
• Output

Order not important.

1(b) One mark per bullet point (or equivalent) 2

They all represent:

• A solution to a problem / a way to perform a task

• Expressed as a sequence / series of steps / stages / instructions

1(c) 1 mark per row to max 4 marks 4

Example answers:
PAGE 944

Data type Example data value

BOOLEAN FALSE

STRING "Happy"

INTEGER 18

REAL 31234.56

CHAR 'H'

DATE 10/01/2019

Each row must be a different data type together with an appropriate value

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Question Answer Marks

1(d) Max 3 marks, one mark for each correct line 3

PAGE 945

© UCLES 2020 Page 5 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

1(e) 1 mark for two rows correct, 2 marks for all rows correct. 2

Expression Evaluates to

NOT FlagB AND FlagC TRUE

NOT (FlagB OR FlagC) FALSE

(FlagA AND FlagB) OR FlagC TRUE

NOT (FlagA AND FlagB) OR NOT FlagC TRUE

PAGE 946

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PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

2(a) DECLARE A, B, C : INTEGER 6

DECLARE Average : REAL

INPUT A
REPEAT
INPUT B
UNTIL B <> A

REPEAT
INPUT C
UNTIL C <> A AND C <> B

Average ← (A + B + C) / 3
OUTPUT Average

IF A > B AND A > C

THEN
OUTPUT A
ELSE
PAGE 947

IF B > A AND B > C

THEN
OUTPUT B
ELSE
OUTPUT C
ENDIF
ENDIF

Mark as follows:
1 Declaration of all variables used (at least A, B and C)
2 Uniqueness test on A, B and C
3 Loop(s) to repeat until three unique values have been entered
4 Calculation of average value
5 Determine the largest value
6 Output of average value and largest value

© UCLES 2020 Page 7 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

2(b) One mark per correct row 5

(Completed parts shown in bold)

Expression Evaluates to

"ALARM: " & RIGHT("Time: 1202",4) "ALARM: 1202"

MID("Stepwise.",5, 4) "wise"

1.5 * LENGTH("OnePointFive") 18

NUM_TO_STRING(27.5) "27.5"

DIV(9, 4) 2

2(c) One mark per point, example points: 3

1 Subtasks make the solution more manageable // make the algorithm easier to follow
PAGE 948

2 A subtask makes the problem easier to solve / design / program than the whole task
3 A subtask is useful when a part of the algorithm is repeated

© UCLES 2020 Page 8 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
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Question Answer Marks

3(a) 'Pseudocode' solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 8
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION CheckSkid() RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Rot : ARRAY[1:4] OF INTEGER
DECLARE Average : REAL
DECLARE ThisRot : INTEGER
DECLARE Danger : BOOLEAN

FOR Index ← 1 TO 4
REPEAT
OUTPUT "Input Rotation speed for wheel ",Index
INPUT ThisRot
UNTIL ThisRot >= 0 AND ThisRot <= 1000
Rot[Index] ← ThisRot
ENDFOR

Average ← (Rot[1] + Rot[2] + Rot[3] + Rot[4]) / 4

PAGE 949

Danger ← FALSE
FOR Index ← 1 TO 4
IF Rot[Index] > (Average * 1.1) OR Rot[Index] < (Average * 0.9)
THEN
Danger ← TRUE
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF Danger = TRUE
THEN
OUTPUT "Skid Danger"
ENDIF

RETURN Danger

ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2020 Page 9 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

3(a) 1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending

2 Declare local integers for 4 rotation values and a real for the average / tolerance
3 Prompt and input four rotation values
4 Validate each input value in a loop
5 Calculate average rotation AND calculate acceptable max and min (or single tolerance, or alternative method)
6 Compare rotational value of each wheel
7 Test if rotational value of (each) wheel is within the acceptable range
8 Output a warning message and return the correct value in all cases

3(b) Example answers: 2

Test1 – No Skid detected

Value 1 Value2 Value 3 Value 4

100 100 100 100

PAGE 950

One of:

Test2 – Skid detected (one wheel too fast)

Value 1 Value2 Value 3 Value 4

100 100 100 160

Test2 – Skid detected (one wheel too slow)

Value 1 Value2 Value 3 Value 4

100 100 100 40

Independent marks: one mark each for Test1 and Test 2

© UCLES 2020 Page 10 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
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Question Answer Marks

4(a) 7

Mark as follows:
• One mark for START and END
• One mark per area outlined
PAGE 951

Outputs from conditional diamond must have at least one label

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
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Question Answer Marks

4(b)(i) One mark per region as indicated. 5

Strin String RetFl Len NextCh

Len1 X New y
g1 2 ag 2 ar
"SUB" "BUS" 3 TRUE 1
3 'S' ""
"B" 1
"BU" 2
3

"BU" 2
2 'U' ""
1
PAGE 952

"B" 2

"B" 3
1 'B' ""
1

© UCLES 2020 Page 12 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

4(b)(ii) TRUE 1

4(b)(iii) One mark for explanation of problem, one mark for test strings 2

Problem:

• The inner FOR loop removes ALL characters from String2 that match the current character from String1 and not just
one instance

Test Strings:

• ‘SAME’ and ‘MASS’ (for example)

4(b)(iv) The inner FOR loop should only remove one instance of the character from String2 1

4(b)(v) • Dry run // White-box testing 1

4(b)(vi) Max 2 marks, features include: 2

PAGE 953

• Single stepping
• Breakpoints
• Variable and expressions report window
• Syntax error highlighting

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

5(a) PROCEDURE InitArrays() 4

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

FOR Index ← 1 TO 10000

TagString[Index] ← ""
TagCount[Index] ← 0
ENDFOR

ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading and ending (as shown)

2 Declaration of Index (e.g.) as integer
3 Loop for 10000 iterations
4 Initialise TagString element to ""
PAGE 954

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Question Answer Marks

5(b) FUNCTION SaveArrays() RETURNS INTEGER 8

DECLARE Index, NumUnused : INTEGER

DECLARE FileString : STRING
CONSTANT COMMA = ','

NumUnused ← 0

OPEN "Backup.txt" FOR WRITE

FOR Index ← 1 to 10000
IF TagString[Index] <> ""
THEN
FileString ← TagString[Index] & COMMA & NUM_TO_STRING(TagCount[Index])
WRITEFILE "Backup.txt", FileString
ELSE
NumUnused ← NumUnused + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR
CLOSEFILE "Backup.txt"
PAGE 955

RETURN NumUnused
ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending

2 Open the file Backup.txt in write mode and close file
3 Loop through 10000 elements
4 Test if TagString[Index] is "" in a loop
5 If not then form FileString from array elements with separator and using NUM_TO_STRING()in a loop
6 Write string to file in a loop
7 Count the number of unused elements
8 Return NumUnused not in a loop

© UCLES 2020 Page 15 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

5(c) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 8
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.
Max 8 marks from 9 available mark points

FUNCTION LoadArrrays() RETURNS INTEGER

DECLARE ArrayIndex, Index, CountLen, Count : INTEGER

DECLARE FileString, HashTag : STRING
CONSTANT COMMA = ','

ArrayIndex ← 0 // first element

OPEN "Backup.txt" FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF("Backup.txt")
READFILE "Backup.txt", FileString
Index ← 1
HashTag ← ""
WHILE MID(FileString, Index, 1) <> COMMA // hashtag
HashTag ← HashTag & MID(FileString, Index, 1)
PAGE 956

Index ← Index + 1
ENDWHILE
TagString[ArrayIndex] ← HashTag
CountLen ← LENGTH(FileString) - LENGTH(HashTag) - 1
Count ← STR_TO_NUM(RIGHT(FileString, CountLen)) // count
TagCount[ArrayIndex] ← Count
ArrayIndex ← ArrayIndex + 1
ENDWHILE

CLOSE "Backup.txt"

RETURN ArrayIndex
ENDFUNCTION

© UCLES 2020 Page 16 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Question Answer Marks

5(c) 1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending

2 Declare and initialise ArrayIndex (or equivalent name)
3 Open the file Backup.txt in read mode and close the file
4 Loop until end of the Backup.txt file // string read is null
5 Read a line from the file in a loop
6 Extract hashtag and count in a loop
7 Store hashtag in TagString array and count in TagCount array after type conversion
8 Increment ArrayIndex in a loop
9 Return number of array elements

*** End of Mark Scheme – example program code solutions follow ***
PAGE 957

© UCLES 2020 Page 17 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Appendix: Program Code Example Solutions

Q3 (a): Visual Basic

Function CheckSkid() As Boolean

Dim Rot(3) As Integer

Dim Average As Double
Dim ThisRot As Integer
Dim Danger As Boolean

For Index = 0 To 3
Do
Console.Writeline("Enter Wheel Rotation Speed: "
ThisRot = Console.Readline()
Loop Until ThisRot >= 0 And ThisRot <= 1000
Rot(Index) = ThisRot
Next

Average = (Rot(0) + Rot(1) + Rot(2) + Rot(3)) / 4

Danger = FALSE
PAGE 958

For Index = 0 TO 3
If Rot(Index) > (Average * 1.1) OR Rot(Index) < (Average * 0.9) Then
Danger = TRUE
End If
Next

If Danger = TRUE Then

Console.Writeline("Skid Danger")
Else
Console.Writeline("No Skid Danger")
End if

RETURN Danger

End Function

© UCLES 2020 Page 18 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q3 (a): Pascal

Function CheckSkid() : Boolean;

var
Rot : array [1..4] of integer;
Average : Real;
ThisRot : Integer;
Index : Integer;
Danger : Boolean;

For Index := 1 to 4 do
begin
repeat
write('Enter rotation speed : ');
readln(ThisRot);
until (ThisRot >= 0) And (ThisRot <= 1000);
Rot[Index] := ThisRot;
end;

Average := (Rot[1] + Rot[2] + Rot[3] + Rot[4]) / 4;

PAGE 959

Danger := FALSE;
For Index := 1 to 4 do
begin
If (Rot[Index] > (Average * 1.1)) OR (Rot[Index] < (Average * 0.9)) then
Danger := TRUE;
end;

If Danger = TRUE then

writeln('Skid Danger')
Else
writeln('No Skid Danger');

CheckSkid := Danger;

end;

© UCLES 2020 Page 19 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q3 (a): Python

def CheckSkid():

# Rot[3] As Integer
# Average As Real
# ThisRot As Integer
# Danger As Boolean

Rot = [0, 0, 0, 0]
for Index in range(0, 4):
while True:
ThisRot = float(input("Enter the rotation speed of the wheel: "))
if ThisRot >= 0 and ThisRot <= 1000:
break
Rot[Index] = ThisRot
Next

Average = (Rot[0] + Rot[1] + Rot[2] + Rot[3]) / 4

Danger = False
for Index in range(0, 4):
PAGE 960

if Rot[Index] > (Average * 1.1) or Rot[Index] < (Average * 0.9):

Danger = True

If Danger == True:
print("Skid Danger")
else:
print("No Skid Danger")

return Danger

© UCLES 2020 Page 20 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q5 (c): Visual Basic

Function LoadArrrays () As Integer

Dim ArrayIndex, Index, CountLen, Count As Integer

Dim FileString, HashTag As String
Dim File As New StreamReader("Backup.txt")

Const COMMA = ','

ArrayIndex = 0 ' First element

Do While File.Peek <> -1

FileString = File.ReadLine()
Index = 1
HashTag = ""
Do While Mid(FileString, Index, 1) <> COMMA ' the hashtag
HashTag = HashTag & MID(FileString, Index, 1)
Index = Index + 1
Loop

TagString(arrayIndex) = HashTag
PAGE 961

CountLen = Len(fileString) – Len(HashTag) – 1

Count = CInt(Right(FileString, CountLen)) ' the count
TagCount(ArrayIndex) = Count
ArrayIndex = ArrayIndex + 1
Loop

File.Close

Return ArrayIndex
End Function

© UCLES 2020 Page 21 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q5 (c): Pascal

Function LoadArrrays () : Integer;

var
ArrayIndex, Index, CountLen, Count : Integer;
FileData, HashTag : String;
Backup : Textfile;

const
COMMA = ',';

begin
assignfile(Backup, 'Backup.txt');
reset(File);

ArrayIndex := 0; //First element

while not EOF(File) do

begin
readln(Backup, FileData);
PAGE 962

Index := 1;
HashTag := "";
while midstr(FileData, Index, 1) <> COMMA do // the hashtag
begin
HashTag := HashTag + midstr(FileData, Index, 1);
Index := Index + 1;
end;

TagString[ArrayIndex] := HashTag;
CountLen := length(FileData) – length(HashTag) – 1;
Count := strtoint(RightStr(FileData, CountLen)); // the count
TagCount[ArrayIndex] := Count;
ArrayIndex := ArrayIndex + 1;
end;

closefile(File);

© UCLES 2020 Page 22 of 24

9608/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED
Q5 (c): Python

def LoadArrays ():

# ArrayIndex, Index, CountLen, Count As Integer

# FileString, HashTag As String
# File As StreamReader("Backup.txt")

COMMA = ','

File = open("Backup.txt", "r")

ArrayIndex = 0 #First element

for FileString in File:

Index = 0
HashTag = ""
while FileString[Index] != COMMA: # the hashtag
HashTag = HashTag + FileString[Index]
Index = Index + 1

TagString[ArrayIndex] = HashTag
Count = int(FileString[Index+1:]) # the count
PAGE 963

TagCount[ArrayIndex] = Count
ArrayIndex = ArrayIndex + 1

File.close()

return ArrayIndex

© UCLES 2020 Page 24 of 24

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

PAGE 964

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 5 4 7 9 1 0 0 9 4 4 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9608/23

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2020
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

No additional materials are needed.

This document has 16 pages. Blank pages are indicated.

DC (JC/CT) 188579/4
© UCLES 2020 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 965

1 (a) A programmer uses the process of stepwise refinement to break down a problem.

Explain the purpose of stepwise refinement.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) Programming languages support different data types. These usually include STRING and
REAL.

Complete the table by giving four other data types and an example data value for each.

Data type Example data value

[4]

(i) State one feature of the program that she should be able to recognise.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) State the type of skill that would allow her to recognise this feature.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(d) Give three methods that may be used to identify and locate errors in a program after it has
been written.

You may include one feature found in a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
PAGE 966

2 (a) An algorithm is needed to input a list of numbers representing test marks for a class of
30 students.
The algorithm will output the number of students who have a mark greater than 75. It will also
output the average mark for the class.

Document the algorithm using structured English.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table contains an error.

State the error in each case.

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

Statement Error

Code LEFT(3, "Europe")

Hour MID("ALARM:12:02", 7, 6)

Size LENGTH(27.5)

Num INT(27 / (Count + 3)

Result "Conditional" AND "Loop"

[5]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 967

(c) Part of a program flowchart is shown.

Set Index to 0

Set Status to FALSE

LOOP

Is YES
Status = TRUE
?

NO
NO Is Index > 100
?
Set Status to TopUp()
YES

SetLevel("Super")
Set Index to Index + 1

Write program code to implement the flowchart shown. Variable declarations are not
required.

Programming language ............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
PAGE 968

3 A global 1D array, ProdNum, of type INTEGER contains 5 000 elements and is used to store
product numbers.

A procedure is needed to sort ProdNum into ascending order using a bubble sort algorithm.

Write program code for the procedure BubbleSort().

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language ....................................................................................................................

Program code

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 969

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [7]

4 (a) The following pseudocode includes a procedure that searches for a value in a 1D array and
outputs each position in the array where the value is found.

Refer to the Appendix on page 16 for the list of built-in functions and operators.

DECLARE NameList : ARRAY [1:100] OF STRING

DECLARE SearchString : STRING

PROCEDURE Search()
DECLARE Index : INTEGER

FOR Index 1 TO 100

IF NameList[Index] = SearchString
THEN
OUTPUT "Found at " & NUM_TO_STRING(Index)
ENDIF
ENDFOR
ENDPROCEDURE

The specification of module Search() changes. The pseudocode needs to be amended to

meet a new requirement.

The procedure needs to be implemented as a function, Search(), which will:

• take the search value as a parameter

• return an integer which is:

• either the index value where the search value is first found
• or –1 if the search value is not found.

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PAGE 970

Write the pseudocode for the function Search().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) A change to the specification in part (a) required a modification of the algorithm.

Give the term used for this type of modification.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(c) A change to the specification is only one reason to modify an algorithm.

Give another reason for the modification of an algorithm.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 971

(d) Consider the following pseudocode:

10 DECLARE VarA : INTEGER

11 VarA 20
12
13 CALL ProcA(VarA)
14 OUTPUT VarA // first value output
15
16 CALL ProcB(VarA)
17 OUTPUT VarA // second value output
18
19
20 PROCEDURE ProcA(BYVALUE ThisValue : INTEGER)
21 ThisValue ThisValue + 5
22 ENDPROCEDURE
23
24 PROCEDURE ProcB(BYREF ThisValue : INTEGER)
25 ThisValue ThisValue + 5
26 ENDPROCEDURE

Procedures ProcA() and ProcB() use two methods of passing parameters.

Complete the following table.

Output Explanation

.........................................................................................................
First
value
..................... .........................................................................................................
(line 14)
.........................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................
Second
value
..................... .........................................................................................................
(line 17)
.........................................................................................................
[4]

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PAGE 972

(e) The procedures ProcA and ProcB in part (d) are examples of program modules.

Give two advantages of using program modules in program design.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 973

5 A hashtag is used on a social media network to make it easier to find messages with a specific
theme or content. A hashtag is a string consisting of a hash character ‘#’ followed by a number of
alphanumeric characters.

A message may contain several hashtag strings. A hashtag may be terminated by a space
character, the start of the next hashtag, or by the end of the message.

For example, the following message contains three hashtags:

"#Alarm34 is the result of #BatteryFailure in the #PowerModule"

The hashtags in this message are "#Alarm34", "#BatteryFailure" and "#PowerModule".

A program is being developed to monitor their use.

The program will include two global arrays each containing 10 000 elements:

• A 1D array, TagString, of type STRING storing each hashtag in a single element of the
array. All unused array elements contain an empty string ("").

• A 1D array, TagCount, of type INTEGER storing a count of the number of times each hashtag
is used. The count value in a given element relates to the hashtag value stored in the element
in the TagString array with the corresponding index value.

A developer has started to define the modules. Module GetStart() has already been written.

Module Description

• Called with two parameters:

• a message of type STRING
• an integer giving the number of the required hashtag;
for example, GetStart(Message, 3) would search
GetStart()
for the third hashtag in the string Message
• Returns an integer value representing the start position of
WKHKDVKWDJLQWKHPHVVDJHRUYDOXHíLIWKDWKDVKWDJ
does not exist
• Called with a hashtag of type STRING
• Copies the hashtag to the next free element of the
TagString array, and sets the corresponding element of
AddHashtag()
the TagCount array to 1
• Returns FALSE if there are no unused elements in the
TagString array, otherwise returns TRUE
• Called with a message of type STRING
CountHashtag()
• Searches the message for hashtags using GetStart()
• Returns a value representing the number of hashtags in the
message
• Called with a hashtag of type STRING
• Increments the value of the appropriate element in the
IncrementHashtag() TagCount array if the hashtag is found
• Returns TRUE if the hashtag is found, or FALSE if the
hashtag is not found

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20

PAGE 974

(a) Write pseudocode for the module AddHashtag().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 975

(b) Write program code for the module CountHashtag().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description

• Called with a message of type STRING

CountHashtag()
• Searches the message for hashtags using GetStart()
• Returns a value representing the number of hashtags in the
message

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
PAGE 976

(c) Write program code for the module IncrementHashtag().

The module description is repeated here for reference.

Module Description

• Called with a hashtag of type STRING

• Increments the value of the appropriate element in the
IncrementHashtag() TagCount array if the hashtag is found
• Returns TRUE if the hashtag is found, or FALSE if the
hashtag is not found

Visual Basic and Pascal: You should include the declaration statements for variables.
Python: You should show a comment statement for each variable used with its data type.

Programming language .............................................................................................................

Program code

...................................................................................................................................................

(d) A procedure, OutputMostPop(), is needed to output the most popular hashtag. The most
popular hashtag is the one with the highest count value stored in the TagCount array.

As a reminder, the program includes two global arrays each containing 10 000 elements:

• A 1D array, TagString, of type STRING storing each hashtag in a single element of the
array. All unused array elements contain an empty string ("").

• A 1D array, TagCount, of type INTEGER storing a count of the number of times each
hashtag is used. The count value in a given element relates to the hashtag value stored
in the element in the TagString array with the corresponding index value.

If the maximum count value occurs once, the procedure will output the corresponding hashtag
and the count value.

It is possible for more than one hashtag to have the same highest count value. In this case,
the procedure will output the maximum count value together with the number of hashtags
with this maximum count value.

In both cases, the procedure must also output a suitable message.

You can assume that the arrays contain data for at least one hashtag.

Write pseudocode for the OutputMostPop() procedure.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20
PAGE 978

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................ . [8]

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20 [Turn over

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 979

Appendix
Built-in functions (pseudocode)
Each function returns an error if the function call is not properly formed.

LENGTH(ThisString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer value representing the length of string ThisString
Example: LENGTH("Happy Days") returns 10

LEFT(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns leftmost x characters from ThisString
Example: LEFT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "ABC"

RIGHT(ThisString: STRING, x : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns rightmost x characters from ThisString
Example: RIGHT("ABCDEFGH", 3) returns string "FGH"

MID(ThisString : STRING, x : INTEGER, y : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

returns a string of length y starting at position x from ThisString
Example: MID("ABCDEFGH", 2, 3) returns string "BCD"

INT(x : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

returns the integer part of x
Example: INT(27.5415) returns 27

NUM_TO_STRING(x : REAL) RETURNS STRING

returns a string representation of a numeric value.
Note: This function will also work if x is of type INTEGER
Example: NUM_TO_STRING(87.5) returns "87.5"

Operators (pseudocode)
Operator Description
Concatenates (joins) two strings
&
Example: "Summer" & " " & "Pudding" produces "Summer Pudding"
Performs a logical AND on two Boolean values
AND
Example: TRUE AND FALSE produces FALSE
Performs a logical OR on two Boolean values
OR
Example: TRUE OR FALSE produces TRUE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which itself is a department of the University of Cambridge.

© UCLES 2020 9608/23/O/N/20

9608/23 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November 2020
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) One mark per bullet point 2

The purpose is:

• to express the algorithm in a level of sufficient detail // to split a large task into (smaller) sub-tasks
• so that it can be programmed // so that individual tasks are easier to solve // to make the problem more manageable /
understandable

1(b) Many acceptable answers, must be four different data types together with appropriate values 4
One mark per row

For example:

Data type Example data value

BOOLEAN FALSE

CHAR '!'
PAGE 980

DATE 01/01/01

INTEGER 27

Note: STRING and REAL are excluded as these are given in the question.

1(c)(i) Max 1 mark, features include: 1

• Control Structures / selection statements / iteration statements / IO statements

• Modular structure (functions, procedures)
• Parameters to / from subroutines
• Variable declaration / assignment /data structures / OOP ref

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Question Answer Marks

1(c)(ii) • Transferable skill 1

1(d) Max 3 marks, methods include: 3

• IDE features: breakpoints / single stepping / watch window

• Manually check program code / reading error report
• Trace table / dry run / White-box testing
• Use of appropriate test data
• Addition of output statement to follow changes to variables

Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark per step (or equivalent): 8

1 Set Total to 0
2 Set AGradeCount to 0
3 Input Mark
PAGE 981

4 Add Mark to Total

5 If Mark > 75 then increment AGradeCount
6 Repeat from Step 3 for 30 times
7 Output AGradeCount
8 Output Total / 30

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Question Answer Marks

2(b) One mark per row: 5

Statement Error

Code ← LEFT(3, "Europe") Parameters are reversed

Third param too big (should be max 5) // string too

Hour ← MID("ALARM:12:02", 7, 6)
short

Size ← LENGTH(27.5) Invalid type – param should be a string

Num ← INT(27/ (Count + 3) Missing closing bracket

Result ← "Conditional" AND "Loop" Wrong variable types / operator

PAGE 982

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Question Answer Marks

2(c) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 6
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

Index ← 0
Status ← FALSE
WHILE Status <> TRUE
Status ← TopUp()
Index ← Index + 1
ENDWHILE

IF Index > 100

THEN
SetLevel("Super")
ENDIF

Mark as follows:

1 Set Index to 0 and Status to FALSE

PAGE 983

2 Pre-condition loop
3 Assign value of TopUp() to Status in a loop
4 Increment Index in a loop
5 Test Index greater than 100 after loop
6 If TRUE then Call to SetLevel with param "Super"

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 7
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

PROCEDURE BubbleSort()
DECLARE Temp : INTEGER
DECLARE NoSwaps : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Boundary, J : INTEGER

Boundary ← 4999
REPEAT
NoSwaps ← TRUE
FOR J ← 1 TO Boundary
IF ProdNum[J]> ProdNum[J+1]
THEN
Temp ← ProdNum[J]
ProdNum[J] ← ProdNum[J+1]
ProdNum[J+1] ← Temp
NoSwaps ← FALSE
PAGE 984

ENDIF
ENDFOR
Boundary ← Boundary - 1
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE

ENDPROCEDURE

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Question Answer Marks

3(a) Mark as follows, max 7 marks from 8 possible marks:

1 Procedure heading and ending

2 Conditional outer loop (may be count-controlled but if so must be >= 4999 iterations)
3 An inner loop
4 Correct range for inner loop
5 Comparison (element n with n + 1) in a loop
6 Swap array element in a loop
7 'No-Swap' mechanism: (both needed for mark):
o Conditional outer loop including flag reset
o Flag set in inner loop to indicate swap
8 Reducing Boundary in the outer loop
PAGE 985

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) FUNCTION Search(SearchString : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER 6

DECLARE RetVal : INTEGER

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

RetVal ← -1
Index ← 1

WHILE Index <= 100 AND RetVal = -1

IF NameList[Index] = SearchString
THEN
RetVal ← Index
ENDIF
Index ← Index + 1
ENDWHILE

RETURN RetVal

ENDFUNCTION
PAGE 986

Mark as follows:
1 Function heading and ending including parameter
2 Declaration of integer for Index
3 Initialisation and increment of Index (implied in FOR loop)
4 Conditional loop // FOR loop with immediate RETURN if SearchString found
5 Comparison of array element with SearchString AND assigning just the first occurrence to RetVal OR setting
the termination condition
6 Return RetVal (correctly in both cases)

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) • Adaptive maintenance 1

4(c) Ma 1 mark, reasons include: 1

• Program doesn’t perform as expected / does not meet the original specification
• Program contains errors / bugs
• Performance / efficiency needs improving
• New hardware has been introduced

4(d) One mark for each value 4

One mark for each explanation

Output Explanation

20 A copy of the variable itself is passed

25 A pointer to / the address of the variable is passed

PAGE 987

4(e) Max 2 marks, example answers: 2

• Allows the module to be called from many / multiple places // re-used

• Module code can be (independently) tested and debugged once and can then be used repeatedly
• If the module task changes the change needs to be made only once
• Reduces unnecessary code duplication
• Allows modules to be shared among many programmers / given to programmers with specific skills
• Makes the program easier to work on / debug / test / etc

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Question Answer Marks

5(a) FUNCTION AddHashtag (HashTag : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN 6

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE Added : BOOLEAN
CONSTANT EMPTY = ""

Added ← FALSE
Index ← 1 // first element

REPEAT
IF TagString[Index] = EMPTY
THEN
TagString[Index} ← HashTag
TagCount[Index] ← 1
Added ← TRUE
ELSE
Index ← Index + 1
ENDIF
PAGE 988

UNTIL Index > 10000 OR Added = TRUE

RETURN Added
ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Declaration of two local variables: Integer for index & Boolean for return value (unless immediate Return used)
2 Conditional loop through all elements until empty element found OR end of array
3 Test if TagString element is empty in a loop
4 If so then assign HashTag to TagString[] and 1 to TagCount[]
5 Set loop termination
6 Return Boolean (for both cases)

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Question Answer Marks

5(b) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 6
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION CountHashtag (Message : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER

DECLARE TagNum, StartPos : INTEGER
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

TagNum ← 0
Found ← TRUE

REPEAT
StartPos ← GetStart(Message, TagNum + 1)
IF StartPos = -1
THEN
Found ← FALSE
ELSE
TagNum ← TagNum + 1
ENDIF
UNTIL NOT Found
PAGE 989

RETURN TagNum

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending including parameter

2 Declaration and initialisation of local integer for count (TagNum)
3 Conditional loop through message
4 Use of GetStart() in a loop
5 Test GetStart() return value for -1 and increment count accordingly in a loop
6 Return integer value

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Question Answer Marks

5(c) ‘Pseudocode’ solution included here for development and clarification of mark scheme. 4
Programming language example solutions appear in the Appendix.

FUNCTION IncrementHashtag (HashTag : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

Found ← FALSE
Index ← 1 // first element

REPEAT
IF TagString[Index] = HashTag
THEN
TagCount[Index] ← TagCount[Index] + 1
Found ← TRUE
ELSE
Index ← Index + 1
ENDIF
UNTIL Index > 10000 OR Found = TRUE
PAGE 990

RETURN Found
ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Conditional loop until hashtag found or end of array

2 Compare element value to parameter in a loop
3 If found, increment corresponding TagCount element
4 Return Boolean correctly in both cases

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Question Answer Marks

5(d) PROCEDURE OutputMostPop() 8

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE MostPopTag : STRING
DECLARE Max : INTEGER // the integer value of the biggest number
DECLARE Count : INTEGER

CONSTANT EMPTY = ""

Max ← −1

FOR Index ← 1 To 10000

IF TagCount[Index] > Max
THEN
Max ← TagCount[Index]
Count ← 1 // there is only one max value
MostPopTag ← TagString[Index]
ELSE
IF TagCount[Index] = Max
THEN
PAGE 991

Count ← Count + 1 // another max value

ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF Count = 1
THEN
OUTPUT "The most popular hashtag is: ", MostPopTag, "It occurs: ", Max," times.”
ELSE
OUTPUT "The maximum hashtag count is: ",Max,__
"The number of hashtags with this count is: ", Count
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

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Question Answer Marks

5(d) 1 mark for each of the following:

1 Initialise Max to a value less than 1 or to TagCount[1]

2 Loop through all elements
3 Test if TagCount value > Max in a loop
4 and if so set Max to TagCount value
5 and save TagString element (or array index) and set Count to 1 (unless counting is separate)
6 ELSE If TagCount value = Max, increment Count (or via separate loop)
7 Output for single max after the loop
8 Or Output for multiple max after the loop

Alternative "two-loop" solution:

PROCEDURE OutputMostPop()
DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE MostPopTag : STRING
DECLARE Max : INTEGER //The integer value of the biggest number
DECLARE MaxCount : INTEGER
PAGE 992

CONSTANT EMPTY = ""

Max ← -1

FOR Index ← 1 To 10000

IF TagCount[Index] > Max
THEN
Max ← TagCount[Index]
MostPopTag ← TagString[Index]
ENDIF
ENDFOR

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Question Answer Marks

5(d) MaxCount ← 0
FOR Index ← 1 To 10000
IF TagCount[Index] = Max
THEN
MaxCount ← MaxCount + 1
ENDIF
ENDFOR

IF MaxCount = 1
THEN
OUTPUT "The most popular hashtag is: ", MostPopTag, ". It occurs: ", Max," times.”
ELSE
OUTPUT "The mamimum value is: ",Max, ". It occurred ", MaxCount, " times."
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

*** End of Mark Scheme – example program code solutions follow ***
PAGE 993

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PUBLISHED
Program Code Example Solutions

Q2 (c): Visual Basic

Index = 0
Status = FALSE
Do While Status <> TRUE
Status = TopUp()
Index = Index + 1
Loop

If Index > 100 Then

SetLevel("Super")
End If

Q2 (c): Pascal

Index := 0;
Status := FALSE;

while Status <> TRUE do

PAGE 994

begin
Status := TopUp();
Index := Index + 1;
end;

if Index > 100 then

SetLevel("Super");

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PUBLISHED
Q2 (c): Python

Index = 0
Status = FALSE
while Status <> TRUE:
Status = TopUp()
Index = Index + 1

if Index > 100:

SetLevel("Super")

Q3: Visual Basic

Sub BubbleSort()
Dim Temp As Integer
Dim NoSwaps As Boolean
Dim Boundary, J As Integer

Boundary = 4998
Do
NoSwaps = TRUE
PAGE 995

For J = 0 To Boundary
If ProdNum(J)> ProdNum(J+1)Then
Temp = ProdNum(J)
ProdNum(J) = ProdNum(J+1)
ProdNum(J+1) = Temp
NoSwaps = FALSE
End If
Next
Boundary = Boundary - 1
Loop Until NoSwaps = TRUE

End Sub

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Q3: Pascal

Peocedure BubbleSort();
var
Temp: Integer;
NoSwaps : Boolean;
Boundary, J : Integer;

begin
Boundary := 4999;
repeat
NoSwaps := TRUE;
for J := 1 To Boundary do
begin
if ProdNum[J] > ProdNum[J+1] then
begin
Temp := ProdNum[J];
ProdNum[J] := ProdNum[J+1];
ProdNum[J+1] := Temp;
NoSwaps := FALSE;
end;
end;
PAGE 996

Boundary := Boundary – 1;
until NoSwaps = TRUE;

end;

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PUBLISHED
Q3: Python

def BubbleSort():
# Temp As Integer
# NoSwaps As Boolean
# Boundary, J As Integer

NoSwaps = False
Boundary = 4999

while not NoSwaps:

NoSwaps = True
for J in range(Boundary):
if ProdNum[J]> ProdNum[J+1]:
Temp = ProdNum[J]
ProdNum[J] = ProdNum[J+1]
ProdNum[J+1] = Temp
NoSwaps = FALSE

Boundary = Boundary – 1
PAGE 997

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PUBLISHED
Q5 (b): Visual Basic

Function CountHashtag (Message As STRING) As INTEGER

Dim TagNum As INTEGER
Dim StartPos As INTEGER
Dim Found As BOOLEAN

TagNum = 0
Found = TRUE

Do
StartPos = GetStart(Message, TagNum + 1)
If StartPos = -1 Then
Found = FALSE
Else
TagNum = TagNum + 1
End If
Loop Until No Found

Return TagNum

End Function
PAGE 998

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Q5 (b): Pascal

Function CountHashtag (Message : STRING) : INTEGER;

var
TagNum : Integer;
StartPos : Integer;
Found : Boolean;

begin
TagNum := 0;
Found:= TRUE;

repeat
StartPos := GetStart(Message, TagNum + 1);
if StartPos = -1 then
Found := FALSE
else
TagNum := TagNum + 1;

until Not Found;

CountHashtag := TagNum;
PAGE 999

end;

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PUBLISHED
Q5 (b): Python

def CountHashtag (Message)

# TagNum, StartPos As INTEGER
# Found As BOOLEAN

TagNum = 0
Found = TRUE

while Found:
StartPos = GetStart(Message, TagNum + 1)
if StartPos == -1:
Found = FALSE
else:
TagNum = TagNum + 1

return TagNum
PAGE 1000

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Q 5 (c): Visual Basic

Function IncrementHashtag (HashTag As String) As Boolean

Dim Index As Integer
Dim Found As Boolean

Found = False
Index = 1 'First element

Do
If TagString(Index) = HashTag Then
TagCount(Index) = TagCount(Index) + 1
Found = True
Else
Index = Index + 1
End If
Loop Until Index > 10000 Or Found = True

Return Found
End Function
PAGE 1001

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Q 5 (c): Pascal

Function IncrementHashtag (HashTag : String) : Boolean;

var
Index : Integer;
Found : Boolean

begin
Found := FALSE;
Index := 1; //First element

repeat
If TagString[Index] = HashTag then
begin
TagCount[Index] := TagCount[Index] + 1;
Found := TRUE;
end
else
Index := Index + 1;

until Index > 10000 OR Found = TRUE;

PAGE 1002

IncrementHashtag := Found;

end;

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PUBLISHED
Q 5 (c): Python

def IncrementHashtag (HashTag):

# Index As Integer
# Found As Boolean

Found = FALSE
Index = 0 #First element

while not Found and Index < 10000:

if TagString[Index] == HashTag:
TagCount[Index] = TagCount[Index] + 1
Found = TRUE
else:
Index = Index + 1

Return Found
PAGE 1003

© UCLES 2020 Page 27 of 27

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN

PAGE 1004

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 0 9 1 0 1 4 3 9 3 6 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2021
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 24 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (PQ) 214717
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1005

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A program is being developed to help manage the membership of a football club.

Complete the following identifier table.

Example
Explanation Variable name Data type
value

The preferred name of the member

"Wong"
joining the football club

A value to indicate whether an

FALSE existing member of the club lives at
the same address

When the member joined the football

19/02/1983
club

The number of points a member has

1345 earned. Members of the club earn
points for different activities.
[4]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table may contain an error due to the incorrect
use of the function or operator.

Describe the error in each case, or write ‘NO ERROR’ if the statement contains no error.

You can assume that none of the variables referenced are of an incorrect type.

Statement Error

Result 2 & 4

SubString MID("pseudocode", 4, 1)

IF x = 3 OR 4 THEN

Result Status AND INT(x/2)

Message "Done" + LENGTH(MyString)

[5]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21

PAGE 1006

• student name (a string)

• test score (an integer).

State a suitable data structure and justify your answer.

Structure ...................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1007

2 (a) Four program modules form part of a program for a library.

A description of the relationship between the modules is summarised as follows:

Module name Description

UpdateLoan() • Calls either LoanExtend() or LoanReturn()

• Called with parameters LoanID and BookID
• Calls CheckReserve() to see whether the book has been
LoanExtend() reserved for another library user
• Returns TRUE if the loan has been extended, otherwise returns
FALSE
• Called with BookID
CheckReserve() • Returns TRUE if the book has been reserved, otherwise returns
FALSE
• Called with parameters LoanID and BookID
LoanReturn() • Returns a REAL (which is the value of the fine to be paid in the
case of an overdue loan)

Draw a structure chart to show the relationship between the four modules and the parameters
passed between them.

[5]
© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21
PAGE 1008

(b) The definition for module LoanReturn() is amended as follows:

Module name Description

Called with parameters LoanID, BookID and Fine
LoanReturn() The module code checks whether the book has been returned on time
and then assigns a new value to Fine

• LoanID and BookID are of type STRING

• Fine is of type REAL

Write the pseudocode header for the amended module LoanReturn().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21 [Turn over

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1009

(c) A program will:

• input 50 unique integer values

• output the largest value
• output the average of the values excluding the largest value.

Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm.

Variable declarations are not required.

It is not necessary to check that each input value is unique.

[6]
© UCLES 2021 9618/21/M/J/21
PAGE 1010

3 (a) A concert venue uses a program to calculate admission prices and store information about
ticket sales.

A number of arrays are used to store data. The computer is switched off overnight and data
has to be input again at the start of each day before any tickets can be sold. This process is
very time consuming.

(i) Explain how the program could use text files to speed up the process.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) State the characteristic of text files that allow them to be used as explained in part (a)(i).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) Information about ticket sales will be stored as a booking. The booking requires the
following data:

• name of person booking

• number of people in the group (for example a family ticket or a school party)
• event type.

Suggest how data relating to each booking may be stored in a text file.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

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(b) A procedure Preview() will:

• take the name of a text file as a parameter

• output a warning message if the file is empty
• otherwise output the first five lines from the file (or as many lines as there are in the file if
this number is less than five).

Write pseudocode for the procedure Preview().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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PAGE 1012

4 Study the following pseudocode. Line numbers are for reference only.

10 FUNCTION Convert(Name : STRING) RETURNS STRING

11
12 DECLARE Flag: BOOLEAN
13 DECLARE Index : INTEGER
14 DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR
15 DECLARE NewName : STRING
16
17 CONSTANT SPACECHAR = ' '
18
19 Flag TRUE
20 Index 1
21 NewName "" // formatted name string
22
23 WHILE Index <= LENGTH(Name)
24 ThisChar MID(Name, Index, 1)
25 IF Flag = TRUE THEN
26 NewName NewName & UCASE(ThisChar)
27 IF ThisChar <> SPACECHAR THEN
28 Flag FALSE
29 ENDIF
30 ELSE
31 NewName NewName & ThisChar
32 ENDIF
33 IF ThisChar = SPACECHAR THEN
34 Flag TRUE
35 ENDIF
36 Index Index + 1
37 ENDWHILE
38
39 RETURN NewName
40
41 ENDFUNCTION

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(a) Complete the trace table below by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result Convert("|in|a||Cup")

Note: The symbol '|' has been used to represent a space character.
Use this symbol for any space characters in the trace table.

The first row has been completed for you.

Name Flag Index NewName ThisChar

"|in|a||Cup"

[5]

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PAGE 1014

(b) The pseudocode for Convert() contains a conditional loop.

State a more appropriate loop structure.

Justify your answer.

Loop structure ...........................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Justification ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Two changes need to be made to the algorithm.

Change 1: Convert to lower case any character that is not the first character after a space.
Change 2: Replace multiple spaces with a single space.

(i) Change 1 may be implemented by modifying one line of the pseudocode.

Write the modified line.

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) Change 2 may be implemented by moving one line of the pseudocode.

Write the number of the line to be moved and state its new position.

Line number ......................................................................................................................

New position ......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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5 A global 2D array Result of type INTEGER is used to store a list of exam candidate numbers
together with their marks. The array contains 2000 elements, organised as 1000 rows and
2 columns.

Column 1 contains the candidate number and column 2 contains the mark for the corresponding
candidate. All elements contain valid exam result data.

A procedure Sort() is needed to sort Result into ascending order of mark using an efficient
bubble sort algorithm.

Write pseudocode for the procedure Sort().

..........................................................................................................................................................

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..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [8]

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PAGE 1017

6 The following diagram represents an Abstract Data Type (ADT) for a linked list.

A C D E Ø

The free list is as follows:

(a) Explain how a node containing data value B is added to the list in alphabetic sequence.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) Describe how the linked list in part (a) may be implemented using variables and arrays.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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7 A program is needed to take a string containing a full name and produce a new string of initials.

Some words in the full name will be ignored. For example, "the", "and", "of", "for" and "to" may all
be ignored.

Each letter of the abbreviated string must be upper case.

For example:

Full name Initials

Integrated Development Environment IDE

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII

The programmer has decided to use a global variable FNString of type STRING to store the full
name.

It is assumed that:

• words in the full name string are separated by a single space character
• space characters will not occur at the beginning or the end of the full name string
• the full name string contains at least one word.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with an INTEGER as a parameter, representing the number of a
word in FNString.
GetStart()
• Returns the character start position of that word in FNString or
returns –1 if that word does not exist
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetStart(3) returns 9
• Called with a parameter representing the position of the first character
of a word in FNString
GetWord() • Returns the word from FNString
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetWord(9) returns "cold"

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(a) Write pseudocode for the module GetStart().

...................................................................................................................................................

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...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

(b) The programmer has decided to use a global ten-element 1D array IgnoreList of type
STRING to store the ignored words. Unused elements contain the empty string ("") and may
occur anywhere in the array.

A new module AddWord() is needed as follows:

Module Description
• Called with a parameter representing a word
• Stores the word in an unused element of the IgnoreList array
AddWord() and returns TRUE
• Returns FALSE if the array was already full or if the word was
already in the array

Write a detailed description of the algorithm for AddWord(). Do not include pseudocode
statements in your answer.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

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PAGE 1021

(c) As a reminder, the module description of GetWord() is repeated:

Module Description
• Called with a parameter representing the position of the first
character of a word in FNString
GetWord() • Returns the word from FNString
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetWord(9) returns "cold"

Write pseudocode for the module GetWord().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]
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PAGE 1025
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) 4
Example
Explanation Variable name Data type
value

"Wong" The preferred name of the MemberName STRING

member joining the
football club

FALSE A value to indicate FamilyMember BOOLEAN

whether an existing
member of the club lives
at the same address

19/02/1983 When the member joined StartDate DATE

the football club

1345 The number of points a Points INTEGER

member has earned.
Members of the club earn
points for different
activities.

One mark for each appropriate variable name plus data type

1(b) 5
Statement Error

Should be arithmetic
Result ← 2 & 4 operator (not &) // 2 and 4
should be CHAR / STRING

SubString ← MID("pseudocode", 4, 1) NO ERROR

Not Boolean values /

IF x = 3 OR 4 THEN incorrect operator //
Condition incorrect

INT(X/2) doesn't evaluate

Result ← Status AND INT(X/2) to a boolean value /
incorrect operator

Can’t add string to number /

Message ← "Done" + LENGTH(MyString)
"Done" is not a number

One mark for each row

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Question Answer Marks

1(c) Structure: 3
• Record

Justification:
• Allows different data types
• to be stored under one identifier

Mark as follows:
One mark for Structure
Two marks for justification.

Alternative
• Two (1D) arrays
• One of string, one of integer
• Where same index links the name with the score

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Question Answer Marks

2(a) 5

One mark for:

1 All four boxes correctly labelled and positioned

2 Selection diamond (only on UpdateLoan and no iteration arrows)
3 Parameters to and from LoanExtend()
4 Parameters to and from CheckReserve()
5 Parameters to and from LoanReturn()

2(b) PROCEDURE LoanReturn (LoanID, BookID : STRING, 2

BYREF Fine : REAL)

One mark for each underlined part

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Question Answer Marks

2(c) Example solution: 6

One mark for each functional group as listed below:

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Question Answer Marks

2(c) Explanation of mark points:

1 Initialise MAX to first value input
2 Set Total to zero
3 Input 49 more values (or 50 values in total)
4 Sum all values input
5 Set new MAX when Input value > MAX in a loop
6 Sum all but largest (or subtract MAX from total), calculate and output
average

Question Answer Marks

3(a)(i) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Data from the arrays is written to the files at the end of the day / before the
program is terminated / computer is switched off
• Data can then be read from the files at the start of the next day and written to
/ stored in the arrays
• No need to (re-)enter the data manually // only need to enter data once

Note: Max 2 marks

3(a)(ii) • The data is retained when the program is terminated / after the computer is 1
switched off // data is stored permanently // non-volatile storage

3(a)(iii) One mark per bullet point: 2

• Data items are combined to form a single string / saved as a single line in the
file
• Data items are separated by a special character // make each data item a
fixed length

ALTERNATIVE:

• Convert all data items / 'number of people' to strings

• Consecutive / each line stores a separate data item

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Question Answer Marks

3(b) PROCEDURE Preview (ThisFile : STRING) 5

DECLARE LineNum : INTEGER
DECLARE ThisLine : STRING

OPENFILE ThisFile FOR READ

IF EOF(ThisFile) THEN
OUTPUT “Warning Message”
ELSE
LineNum ← 1
WHILE LineNum < 6 AND NOT EOF(ThisFile)
READFILE Thisfile, ThisLine
OUTPUT ThisLine
LineNum ← LineNum + 1
ENDWHILE
ENDIF
CLOSEFILE ThisFile
ENDPROCEDURE

Marks as follows:

1 Procedure heading (including parameter) and ending

2 File OPEN and subsequently CLOSE
3 Check if file is empty and output a warning message if it is
4 Conditional Loop
5 Output line (including blank lines) and read next line in a loop

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
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Question Answer Marks

4(a) 5
Name Flag Index NewName ThisChar

"∇in∇a∇∇Cup"

TRUE 1 ""

'∇'

"∇"

2 'i'

FALSE "∇I"

3 'n'

"∇In"

4 '∇'

TRUE "∇In∇"

5 'a'

FALSE "∇In∇A"

6 '∇'

TRUE "∇In∇A∇"

7 '∇'

"∇In∇A∇∇"

8 'C'

FALSE "∇In∇A∇∇C"

9 'u'

"∇In∇A∇∇Cu"

10 'p'

"∇In∇A∇∇Cup"

FALSE 11 "∇In∇A∇∇Cup" 'p'

Mark as follows:
• One mark for each of columns 2 to 5 (condone missing final 11)
• One mark for final row all correct (including final 11)

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) Loop structure: A count-controlled loop 2

Justification: The number of iterations is known

One mark per point

4(c)(i) A couple of solutions: 1

24 ThisChar ← LCASE(MID(Name, Index, 1)

ALTERNATIVE:

31 NewName ← NewName & LCASE(ThisChar)

Ignore line number

4(c)(ii) One mark for each: 2

Line number: 26

New position: Move to after line 27 / line 28

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
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Question Answer Marks

5 PROCEDURE Sort() 8
DECLARE Temp : INTEGER
DECLARE NoSwaps : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Boundary, Row, Col : INTEGER

Boundary ← 999
REPEAT
NoSwaps ← TRUE
FOR Row ← 1 TO Boundary
IF Result[Row, 2] > Result[Row + 1, 2] THEN
FOR Col ← 1 TO 2
Temp ← Result [Row, Col]
Result [Row, Col] ← Result [Row + 1, Col]
Result [Row + 1, Col] ← Temp
NEXT Col
NoSwaps ← FALSE
ENDIF
NEXT J
Boundary ← Boundary - 1
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE

ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1 Outer loop
2 Inner loop
3 Correct comparison in a loop
4 Correct swap of col1 array elements in a loop
5 Correct swap of col2 array elements in a loop (via loop or separate
statements)
6 'NoSwap' mechanism: Conditional outer loop including flag reset
7 'NoSwap' mechanism: Set flag in inner loop to indicate swap
8 Reducing Boundary in the outer loop

Question Answer Marks

6(a) One mark per point: 4

1 Check for a free node

2 Search for correct insertion point
3 Assign data value B to first node in free list / node pointed to by start
pointer of free list
4 Pointer from A will be changed to point to node containing B (instead of
C)
5 Pointer from B will be changed to point to node containing C
6 Start pointer in free list moved to point to next free node

Note: max 4 marks

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Question Answer Marks

6(b) One mark per point: 2

• An array (1D) to store the data and a second array (1D) to store the pointers
• An (integer) variable to hold the start pointer and an (integer) variable to store
the next free pointer

ALTERNATIVE:

• Define a record type comprising a data element and a pointer and declare an
array (1D) of this type
• An integer variable to hold the start pointer and an integer variable to store
the next free pointer

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Question Answer Marks

7(a) FUNCTION GetStart (WordNum : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER 7

DECLARE Index, ThisPos, NumFound : INTEGER
DECLARE ThisChar : Char

CONSTANT SPACECHAR = ' '

Index ← -1
Numfound ← 0
ThisPos ← 1

IF WordNum = 1 THEN // if looking for word 1...

Index ← 1 // Word 1 always starts at index
// position 1
ELSE
// Otherwise start counting spaces...
WHILE ThisPos <= LENGTH(FNString) AND Index = -1
ThisChar ← MID(FNString, ThisPos, 1)
IF ThisChar = SPACECHAR THEN
NumFound ← NumFound + 1
IF NumFound = WordNum - 1 THEN
Index ← ThisPos + 1 // the start of the
// required word
ENDIF
ENDIF
ThisPos ← ThisPos + 1
ENDWHILE
ENDIF
RETURN Index

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading, including return type and function end

2 Loop counting spaces until word found or end of FNString
3 extract a character from FNString in a loop
4 compare with SPACECHAR and increment count if equal in a loop
5 compare count with WordNum - 1 (depending on initialisation
value) in a loop
6 if equal then set flag or Index to ThisPos + 1 in a loop
7 Return Index (correctly in all cases / following a reasonable attempt)
8 Works for special case when looking for word 1

Note: Max 7 marks

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Question Answer Marks

7(b) Marks awarded for any reference to each of the following steps of the algorithm: 4

1 Mention of variable for use as array index

2 Use of a loop (to check through the array)
3 If word is the same as the current array element then return FALSE /
set flag
4 If word not already in array, loop to find unused element (second loop)
5 Store word in unused element and return TRUE, otherwise return
FALSE

VARIATION:

1 Mention of variable for use as array index

2 Use of a loop (to check through the array)
3 Save index of (first) unused element found
4 If word is the same as the current array element then return FALSE /
set flag
5 If word not already in array and unused element available, store word in
unused element and return TRUE otherwise return FALSE

Note: Max 4 marks

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Question Answer Marks

7(c) FUNCTION GetWord (Index : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING 5

DECLARE NextWord : STRING

DECLARE Done : BOOLEAN
DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR
DECLARE Index : INTEGER

CONSTANT SPACECHAR = ' '

NextWord ← ""
Done ← FALSE

REPEAT
ThisChar ← MID(FNString, Index, 1)
IF ThisChar <> SPACECHAR THEN
NextWord ← NextWord & ThisChar // build up NextWord
ENDIF
IF ThisChar = SPACECHAR OR Index = LENGTH(FNString) THEN
Done ← TRUE
ENDIF

Index ← Index + 1

UNTIL Done = TRUE

RETURN NextWord

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Conditional loop
2 Extract char from FNString and compare with SPACECHAR in a
loop
3 Concatenate with NextWord if not SPACECHAR in a loop
4 Exit loop when SPACECHAR encountered or when end of FNString
reached
5 Return NextWord (after reasonable attempt at forming, and must have
been initialised)

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Question Answer Marks

7(c) The ‘length and substring’ solution:

FUNCTION GetWord (Index : INTEGER) RETURNS STRING

DECLARE Done : BOOLEAN
DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR
DECLARE Index, NextPos : INTEGER

CONSTANT SPACECHAR = ' '

Done ← FALSE
NextPos ← Index // must be at least one character in
// the required word

REPEAT
ThisChar ← MID(FNString, NextPos, 1)
IF ThisChar = SPACECHAR OR NextPos =
LENGTH(FNString) THEN
Done ← TRUE
ELSE
NextPos ← NextPos + 1
ENDIF
UNTIL Done = TRUE

IF NextPos = LENGTH(FNString) THEN

NextPos ← NextPos - 1 // special case when last word
ENDIF

RETURN MID(FNString, Index, NextPos - Index)

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Conditional loop
2 ...extract char from FNString and compare with SPACECHAR in a
loop
3 .. increment count if word continues
4 Exit loop when SPACECHAR encountered or when end of FNString
reached
5 Apply substring function and Return

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Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 3 0 1 3 8 0 7 6 7 4 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2021
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONS
Ɣ Answer all questions
Ɣ Use a black or dark blue pen.
Ɣ Write your name, centre number and candidate number in the boxes at the top of the page.
Ɣ Write your answer to each question in the space provided.
Ɣ Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
Ɣ Do not write on any bar codes.
Ɣ You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
Ɣ Calculators must not be used in this paper.

This document has 16 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (MB/FC) 200588/5
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
PAGE 1040

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) (i) Complete the following table by giving the appropriate data type in each case.

Variable Example data value Data type

Name "Catherine"
Index 100
Modified FALSE
Holiday 25/12/2020
[4]

(ii) Evaluate each expression in the following table by using the initial data values shown in
part (a)(i).

Expression Evaluates to
Modified OR Index > 100
LENGTH("Student: " & Name)
INT(Index + 2.9)
MID(Name, 1, 3)
[4]

(b) Each pseudocode statement in the following table contains an example of selection,
assignment or iteration.

Put one tick (‘’) in the appropriate column for each statement.

Statement Selection Assignment Iteration

Index Index + 1
IF Modified = TRUE THEN
ENDWHILE
[3]

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PAGE 1041

2 (a) Examine the following state-transition diagram.

Low level detected | Activate pump

Low level detected

X S2
S1

Normal level detected Normal level detected | Deactivate pump

(i) Complete the table with reference to the diagram.

Answer
The number of transitions that result in a different state
The number of transitions with associated outputs
The label that should replace ‘X’
The final or halting state
[4]

(ii) The current state is S1. The following inputs occur.

1. Low level detected

2. Low level detected
3. Low level detected
4. Low level detected

Give the number of outputs and the current state.

Number of outputs .............................................................................................................

Current state .....................................................................................................................

[2]

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PAGE 1042

(b) A system is being developed to help manage book loans in a library.

Registered users may borrow books from the library for a period of time.

(i) State three items of data that must be stored for each loan.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

3 ........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) State one item of data that will be required in the library system but does not need to be
stored for each loan.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) One operation that manipulates the data stored for each loan, would produce a list of all
overdue books.

Identify two other operations.

Operation 1 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Operation 2 .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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PAGE 1043

3 The following diagram represents an Abstract Data Type (ADT).

A B
Dolphin Cat Fish Elk

(a) Identify this type of ADT.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(b) Give the technical term for the item labelled A in the diagram.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

Explain the meaning of the value given to this item.

Term ..........................................................................................................................................

Meaning ....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) Complete the diagram to show the ADT after the data has been sorted in alphabetical order.

Dolphin Cat Fish Elk

[2]

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4 A teacher uses a paper-based system to store marks for a class test. The teacher requires a
program to assign grades based on these results.

The program will output the grades together with the average mark.

Write a detailed description of the algorithm that will be needed.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [6]

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5 (a) A student is learning about arrays.

She wants to write a program to:

• declare a 1D array RNum of 100 elements of type INTEGER

• assign each element a random value in the range 1 to 200 inclusive
• count and output how many numbers generated were between 66 and 173 inclusive.

(i) Write pseudocode to represent the algorithm.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [6]

(ii) The student decides to modify the algorithm so that each element of the array will contain
a unique value.

Describe the changes that the student needs to make to the algorithm.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

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(b) The following is a pseudocode function.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

01 FUNCTION StringClean(InString : STRING) RETURNS STRING

02
03 DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
04 DECLARE OutString : STRING
05 DECLARE Counter : INTEGER
06
07 OutString ""
08
09 FOR Counter 1 TO LENGTH(InString)
10 NextChar MID(InString, Counter, 1)
11 NextChar LCASE(NextChar)
12 IF NOT((NextChar < 'a') OR (NextChar > 'z')) THEN
13 OutString OutString & NextChar
14 ENDIF
15 NEXT Counter
16
17 RETURN OutString
18
19 ENDFUNCTION

(i) Examine the pseudocode and complete the following table.

Answer

Give a line number containing an example of an initialisation statement.

Give a line number containing the start of a repeating block of code.

Give a line number containing a logic operation.

Give the number of parameters to the function MID().

[4]

(ii) Write a simplified version of the statement in line 12.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

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6 A procedure CountVowels() will:

• be called with a string containing alphanumeric characters as its parameter

• count and output the number of occurrences of each vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in the string
• count and output the number of occurrences of the other alphabetic characters (as a single
total).

The string may contain both upper and lower case characters.

Each count value will be stored in a unique element of a global 1D array CharCount of type
INTEGER. The array will contain six elements.

Write pseudocode for the procedure CountVowels().

..........................................................................................................................................................

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..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [8]

7 A procedure, FormatName():

• is called with a string containing words and spaces as its parameter. In this context, a word is
any sequence of characters that does not contain a space character.

• creates a new formatted string from this string with the following requirements:
1. Any leading spaces removed (spaces before the first word).
2. Any trailing spaces removed (spaces after the last word).
3. Any multiple spaces between words converted to a single space.
4. All characters converted to lower case.

The FormatName() procedure has been written in a programming language and is to be tested
using the black-box method.

(a) Give a test string that could be used to show that all four formatting requirements have been
applied correctly.

Use the symbol ‘’ to represent a space character.

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) The FormatName() procedure should assign a value to the global variable FString.

There is a fault in the program, which means that the assignment does not always take place.

Explain two ways of exposing the fault.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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PAGE 1049

8 A program is needed to take a string containing a full name and to produce a new string of initials.

Some words in the full name will be ignored. For example, “the”, “and”, “of”, “for” and “to” may all
be ignored.

Each letter of the new string must be upper case.

For example:

Full name Initials

Integrated Development Environment IDE
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII

The programmer has decided to use the following global variables:

• a ten element 1D array IgnoreList of type STRING to store the ignored words
• a string FNString to store the full name string.

Assume that:

• each alphabetic character in the full name string may be either upper or lower case
• the full name string contains at least one word.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with an INTEGER as its parameter, representing the number of
a word in FNString
GetStart() • Returns the character start position of that word in FNString or
returns -1 if that word does not exist
• For example: GetStart(3) applied to "hot and cold" returns 9
• Called with the position of the first character of a word in FNString
as its parameter
GetWord() • Returns the word from FNString
• For example: if FNString contains the string "hot and cold",
GetWord(9) returns "cold"
• Called with a STRING parameter representing a word
IgnoreWord() • Searches for the word in the IgnoreList array
• Returns TRUE if the word is found, otherwise returns FALSE
• Processes the sequence of words in the full name one word at a time
GetInitials()
• Calls GetStart(), GetWord() and IgnoreWord() to process
each word to form the new string
• Outputs the new string

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PAGE 1050

(a) Write pseudocode for the module IgnoreWord().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1051

(b) Write pseudocode for the module GetInitials().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]
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9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(i) 4
Variable Example data value Data type

Name "Catherine" STRING

Index 100 INTEGER

Modified FALSE BOOLEAN

Holiday 25/12/2020 DATE

One mark per data type

1(a)(ii) 4
Expression Evaluates to

Modified OR Index > 100 FALSE

LENGTH("Student: " & Name) 18

INT(Index + 2.9) 102

MID(Name, 1, 3) "Cat"

One mark per value

Quotation marks must be present for final row and must be capital C

1(b) 3
Statement Selection Assignment Iteration

Index ← Index + 1 9

IF Modified = TRUE THEN 9

ENDWHILE 9

One mark per row

Question Answer Marks

2(a)(i) 4
The number of transitions that result in a different state 3

The number of transitions with associated outputs 2

The label that should replace ‘X’ Start

The final or halting state S3

One mark per row

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9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

2(a)(ii) Number of outputs: 1 2

Current state: S2

2(b)(i) Answers include: 2

• User ID / Username
• Book ID
• Date of loan / return date

One mark for 1 correct

Two marks for all 3 correct

Note: Max 2 marks

2(b)(ii) Many examples but must be data that is NOT required for a loan, but which 1
COULD be required somewhere by the library system.

Note: must be data relating to users, books or loans

Answers include:
• Users name / address / phone number / DOB
• Book title / author / publisher / library rack number / ISBN number /
price
• Date of loan / return date (if not already given in part (i))
• The length of the loan (assumed to be the same for all books)

2(b)(iii) Many examples including: 2

• Create loan / borrow book

• Return book
• Send letter / email / contact a user ref an overdue book
• View the loan history for a given book
• View the loan history for a given user

One mark for each

Note: Max 2 marks

Question Answer Marks

3(a) Linked list 1

3(b) Start pointer 1

3(c) One mark for each: 2

Name: Null pointer

Meaning: There are no further nodes in the list

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PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

3(d) 2

One mark for:

• Start Pointer pointing to ‘Cat’ node

• Remaining arrows: Cat → Dolphin → Elk → Fish

Question Answer Marks

4 Marks awarded for a description of each of the following steps of the 6

algorithm:

1 Reference variables for Count of students and Total marks

2 Loop through all students (Count)
3 Input individual mark (in loop)
4 Compare mark with threshold / boundary values to determine grade
(in loop)
5 Output the grade for a student (in loop)
6 Maintain a Total (and Count if required) (in loop)
7 Calculate average by dividing Total by Count and Output (after loop)

Note: Max 6 marks

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Question Answer Marks

5(a)(i) DECLARE RNum : ARRAY[1:100] OF INTEGER 6

DECLARE Index, Count : INTEGER

Count ← 0
FOR Index ← 1 TO 100
RNum[Index] ← INT(RAND(200)) + 1
IF RNum[Index] >= 66 AND RNum[Index] <= 173 THEN
Count ← Count + 1
ENDIF
NEXT Index
OUTPUT Count

Mark as follows:
1 Array declaration
2 Loop for 100 iterations
3 Array element index 'syntax' (left-hand side of assignment
expression) in a loop
4 Use of RAND() to generate value in range (and assign to array
element) in a loop
5 Check if random number within range and if so, increment count in
a loop
6 Output of count (following a reasonable attempt) after the loop

5(a)(ii) One mark per bullet / sub-bullet point 3

1 Initialise the array to a rogue value (to indicate 'unassigned' element)

2 Add a conditional loop to:
3 Generate and store a random number (in the correct range)
4 Check the stored number against values already in the array
5 If the stored number is found then generate another random value
6 Otherwise add it to the array (and exit loop)

Note: Max 3 marks

5(b)(i) 4
Answer

Give a line number containing an example of an 07

initialisation statement.

Give a line number containing the start of a repeating 09 / 10

block of code.

Give a line number containing a logic statement. 12

Give the number of parameters of function MID(). 3

One mark for each row

5(b)(ii) IF (NextChar >= 'a') AND (NextChar <= 'z') THEN 2

One mark for IF ... AND ...

One mark for both conditions

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Question Answer Marks

6 PROCEDURE CountVowels(ThisString : STRING) 8

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR

FOR Index ← 1 to 6
CharCount[Index] ← 0 //initialise elements
NEXT Index
Index ← 1

FOR Index ← 1 TO LENGTH(ThisString)

ThisChar ← LCASE(MID(ThisString, Index, 1))

CASE OF ThisChar
'a' : CharCount[1] ← CharCount[1] + 1
'e' : CharCount[2] ← CharCount[2] + 1
'i' : CharCount[3] ← CharCount[3] + 1
'o' : CharCount[4] ← CharCount[4] + 1
'u' : CharCount[5] ← CharCount[5] + 1
'a' TO 'z': CharCount[6] ← CharCount[6] + 1
ENDCASE
NEXT Index

FOR Index ← 1 to 6
OUTPUT CharCount[Index] //output results
NEXT Index

ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Procedure heading (with parameter) and ending

2 Declare local variable for Index as loop counter but not CharCount
array
3 Initialise elements of CharCount array to zero
4 Loop through all characters in ThisString
5 Use of MID() to extract single character
6 Test for each vowel and increment associated count
7 Test for consonants and increment associated count
8 Output the results (supporting text not necessary) after the loop

Note: Max 7 if CharCount not used to store count

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9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2021
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

7(a) Test string should contain: 3

• At least one leading space (before the first word)

• at least one trailing space (after the last word)
• at least one instance of multiple spaces between words
• At least one upper case character

Mark as follows:
One mark for one correct
Two marks for three correct
Three marks for all correct

7(b) One mark for each: 2

• Dry run / produce a trace table / walk through the code

• Add output statements to allow the code to be tracked
• Insert a Breakpoint into the program // use single-stepping to execute
instructions // monitor variables using a watch window
• Try different test values to see which ones fail

Note: Max 2 marks

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Question Answer Marks

8(a) FUNCTION IgnoreWord (ThisWord : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN 5

DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

Found ← False
Index ← 1
ThisWord ← TO_LOWER(ThisWord)

REPEAT
IF TO_LOWER(IgnoreList[Index]) = ThisWord THEN
Found ← TRUE
ENDIF
Index ← Index + 1
UNTIL Found = TRUE OR Index > 10

RETURN Found

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Loop through array elements

2 Convert both strings to same case
3 Compare array element with parameter in a loop
4 Set a flag (or similar) if match found (after reasonable attempt at
MP3) in a loop
5 Return TRUE or FALSE in all cases

Note: Max 4 if function declaration incorrect

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Question Answer Marks

8(b) Procedure GetInitials() 8

DECLARE NewString, NextWord : STRING

DECLARE ThisWordNum, Index : INTEGER

ThisWordNum ← 0
NewString ← ""

REPEAT
ThisWordNum ← ThisWordNum + 1
Index ← GetStart(ThisWordNum)
IF Index <> -1 THEN //if there is ThisWordNum
NextWord ← GetWord(Index)
IF IgnoreWord(NextWord) = FALSE THEN
NewString ← NewString & UCASE(LEFT(NextWord, 1))
ENDIF
ENDIF

UNTIL Index = -1

OUTPUT NewString

ENDPROCEDURE

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Declare NewString and initialise to empty string
2 Conditional loop to pick out all words from FNString
3 Evaluate result of GetStart() in a loop
4 Test result <> -1 and if not:
5 Assign result of GetWord()to a variable in a loop
6 Test result of IgnoreWord()in a loop
7 If not ignored, add the next initial letter to NewString in a
loop
8 Increment ThisWordNum (must have been initialised) in a loop
9 Output NewString (must be all upper case) outside loop

Note: Max 8 marks

© UCLES 2021 Page 10 of 10

PAGE 1060

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 2 3 9 0 7 0 8 1 6 9 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2021
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (PQ) 222284
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1061

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 Sylvia is testing a program that has been written by her colleague. Her colleague tells her that the
program does not contain any syntax errors.

(a) (i) State what her colleague means by “does not contain any syntax errors”.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Identify and describe one other type of error that the program may contain.

Type of error ......................................................................................................................

Description ........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) Complete the following table by giving the appropriate data type in each case.

Use of variable Data type

The average mark in a class of 40 students
An email address
The number of students in the class
To indicate whether an email has been read
[4]

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PAGE 1062

(c) An airline wants to provide passengers with information about individual flights and allow
them to book their flight using an online booking system.

(i) Tick () one box in each row of the table to indicate whether each item of information
would be essential for the customer when making the booking.

Information Essential Not essential

Departure time
Flight number
Departure airport
Aircraft type
Ticket price
Number of seats in aircraft
[3]

(ii) Identify the technique used to filter out information that is not essential when designing
the booking system and state one benefit of this technique.

Technique ..........................................................................................................................

Benefit ...............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(iii) Identify two additional pieces of essential information that a passenger might need
when booking a flight.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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PAGE 1063

2 (a) An algorithm to sort a 1D array into ascending order is described as follows:

• move the largest value to the end

• keep repeating until the array is sorted.

Apply the process of stepwise refinement to this algorithm in order to produce a more detailed
description.

Write the more detailed description using structured English. Your explanation of the
algorithm should not include pseudocode statements.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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PAGE 1064

(b) The program flowchart shown describes a simple algorithm.

START

Set Count to 1

Set Flag to FALSE

Is Flag = YES
FALSE AND
Count <= 5 ?

NO
ReBoot()

Set Count to Count + 1

Set Flag to Check()

Is Flag = YES
FALSE ?

NO
Alert(27)

END

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PAGE 1065

Write pseudocode for the simple algorithm shown on page 6.

..................................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................................ [6]

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PAGE 1066

3 (a) The diagram below represents a queue Abstract Data Type (ADT) that can hold a maximum
of eight items.

The operation of this queue may be summarised as follows:

• The front of queue pointer points to the next item to be removed.

• The end of queue pointer points to the last item added.
• The queue is circular so that empty storage elements can be reused.

0 Frog Front of queue pointer

1 Cat
2 Fish
3 Elk End of queue pointer
4
5
6
7

(i) Describe how “Octopus” is added to the given queue.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Describe how the next item in the given queue is removed and stored in the variable
AnimalName.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(iii) Describe the state of the queue when the front of queue and the end of queue pointers
have the same value.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

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PAGE 1067

(b) Some operations are carried out on the original queue given in part (a).

(i) The current state of the queue is:

0 Frog
1 Cat
2 Fish
3 Elk
4
5
6
7

Complete the diagram to show the state of the queue after the following operations:

Add “Wasp”, “Bee” and “Mouse”, and then remove two data items.
[3]

(ii) The state of the queue after other operations are carried out is shown:

0 Frog
1 Cat
2 Fish
3 Elk Front of queue pointer
4 Wasp
5 Bee
6 Mouse End of queue pointer
7 Ant

Complete the following diagram to show the state of the queue after the following
operations:

Remove one item, and then add “Dolphin” and “Shark”.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
[2]
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PAGE 1068

(c) The queue is implemented using a 1D array.

Describe the algorithm that should be used to modify the end of queue pointer when adding
an item to the queue.

Your algorithm should detect any potential error conditions.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

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PAGE 1069

4 A program controls the heating system in a sports hall.

Part of the program involves reading a value from a sensor. The sensor produces a numeric value
that represents the temperature. The value is an integer, which should be in the range 0 to 40
inclusive.

A program function has been written to validate the values from the sensor.

(a) A test plan is needed to test the function.

Complete the table. The first line has been completed for you.

You can assume that the sensor will generate only integer data values.

Test Test data value Explanation Expected outcome

1 23 Normal data Data is accepted
2
3
4
5
[4]

(b) A program module controls the heaters. This module operates as follows:

• If the temperature is below 10, switch the heaters on.

• If the temperature is above 20, switch the heaters off.

Complete the following state-transition diagram for the heating system:

Start
Heaters Heaters
Off On

[3]

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PAGE 1070

5 The following data items will be recorded each time a student successfully logs on to the school
network:

Data item Example data

Student ID "CJL404"
Host ID "Lib01"
Time and date "08:30, June 01, 2021"

The Student ID is six characters long. The other two data items are of variable length.

A single string will be formed by concatenating the three data items. A separator character will
need to be inserted between items two and three.

For example:

"CJL404Lib01<separator>08:30, June 01, 2021"

Each string represents one log entry.

A programmer decides to store the concatenated strings in a 1D array LogArray that contains
2000 elements. Unused array elements will contain an empty string.

(a) Suggest a suitable separator character and give a reason for your choice.

Character ..................................................................................................................................

Reason .....................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) The choice of data structure was made during one stage of the program development life
cycle.

Identify this stage.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

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PAGE 1071

(c) A function LogEvents() will:

• take a Student ID as a parameter

• for each element in the array that matches the Student ID parameter:
ƕ add the value of the array element to the existing text file LogFile
ƕ assign an empty string to the array element
• count the number of lines added to the file
• return this count.

Write pseudocode for the function LogEvents().

..........................................................................................................................................................

6 A mobile phone has a touchscreen. The screen is represented by a grid, divided into 800 rows
and 1280 columns.

The grid is represented by a 2D array Screen of type INTEGER. An array element will be set to 0
unless the user touches that part of the screen.

Many array elements are set to 1 by a single touch of a finger or a stylus.

The following diagram shows a simplified touchscreen. The dark line represents a touch to the
screen. All grid elements that are wholly or partly inside the outline will be set to 1. These elements
are shaded.
The element shaded in black represents the centre point.

A program is needed to find the coordinates (the row and column) of the centre point. The centre
point on the diagram above is row 6, column 11.

Assume:

• the user may only touch one area at a time

• screen rotation does not affect the touchscreen.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Called with three parameters of type INTEGER:
SetRow() ƕa row number
(generates test ƕthe number of pixels to be skipped starting from column 1
data) ƕthe number of pixels that should be set to 1
• Sets the required number of pixels to 1
For example, SetRow(3, 8, 5) will give row 3 as in the diagram shown.
• Takes two parameters of type INTEGER:
ƕa row number
ƕa start column (1 or 1280)
SearchInRow() • Searches the given row from the start column (either left to right or right to left)
for the first column that contains an element set to 1
• Returns the column number of the first element in the given row that is set to 1
• 5HWXUQVíLIQRHOHPHQWLVVHWWR
• Takes two parameters of type INTEGER:
ƕ
a column number
ƕ
a start row (1 or 800)
SearchInCol() • Searches the given column from the start row (either up or down) for the first
row that contains an element set to 1
• Returns the row number of the first element in the given column that is set to 1
• 5HWXUQVíLIQRHOHPHQWLVVHWWR

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PAGE 1073

(a) Write pseudocode to implement the module SetRow().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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PAGE 1074

(b) The module description of SearchInRow() is provided here for reference.

Module Description
• Takes two parameters of type INTEGER:
ƕa row number
ƕa start column (1 or 1280)
SearchInRow() • Searches the given row from the start column (either left to right or right to left)
for the first column that contains an element set to 1
• Returns the column number of the first element in the given row that is set to 1
• 5HWXUQVíLIQRHOHPHQWLVVHWWR

Write pseudocode to implement the module SearchInRow().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(c) The following new module is introduced:

Module Description
• Called with a row number as an INTEGER
• Uses SearchInRow() to find the first and last columns in the given row which
GetCentreCol() have an array element set to 1
• Returns the index of the column midway between the first and last columns
• 5HWXUQVíLIQRHOHPHQWLVVHWWR

Write pseudocode to implement the module GetCentreCol().

...................................................................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................................................[6]
© UCLES 2021 9618/21/O/N/21
PAGE 1076
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(i) One from: 1

• The program obeys the rules / grammar of the programming language

used
• The program will run // it can be compiled / interpreted
• Accept by example. e.g. 'no mis-spelt keywords' / 'all brackets match'

1(a)(ii) One mark for type plus one for corresponding description 2

Type of error: A logic error

Description:
• An error in the algorithm / design of the solution
• the program does not behave as expected / give the expected output.
• Accept by example e.g. wrong arithmetic operator used / wrong loop
count

Type of error: Run-time error

Description:
• The program performs an illegal instruction / invalid operation
• Accept by example: divide by zero or endless loop or simply 'crashes' /
freezes

1(b) 4
Use of variable Data type

The average mark in a class of 40 students REAL

An email address STRING

The number of students in the class INTEGER

Indicate whether an email has been read BOOLEAN

One mark per row

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

1(c)(i) 3
Information Essential Not essential

Departure time 9

Flight Number 9

Departure airport 9

Aircraft type 9

Ticket price 9

Number of seats in aircraft 9

One mark for two rows correct

Two mark for four rows correct
Three mark for all rows correct

1(c)(ii) One mark for technique and one for benefit, Max 1 mark for 'Benefit' 2

Technique: Abstraction

Benefit:
• The solution is simplified so easier / quicker to design / implement
• The system is tailored to the need of the user

1(c)(iii) Answers include: 2

• Destination / arrival airport

• Arrival time / flight duration
• Date of flight
• Seat number
• Seat availability

Max 2 marks

Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark for reference to: 6

1 The use a variable as an index to the array

2 A loop to iterate through the array
3 An Inner loop (with a reducing range)
4 Test if current element is greater than next element
5 if so then swap elements
6 Description of swap
7 Attempt at efficient algorithm

Max 6 marks

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PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

2(b) Count ← 1 6
Flag ← FALSE
WHILE Flag = FALSE AND Count <= 5
CALL ReBoot()
Count ← Count + 1
Flag ← Check()
ENDWHILE

IF Flag = FALSE THEN

CALL Alert(27)
ENDIF

One mark per point:

1 Initialisation of Count AND Flag

2 WHILE ... ENDWHILE // REPEAT ... UNTIL loop
3 ... including both conditions
4 Call ReBoot() AND increment Count inside the loop
5 Assign return value from Check() to Flag inside the loop
6 Final test of Flag AND call to Alert(27) not in a loop

Question Answer Marks

3(a)(i) One mark per point: 2

• EoQ pointer will move to point to location 4 // incremented EoQ (by 1)

• Data value "Octopus" will be stored in location pointed to be EoQ /
location 4

3(a)(ii) One mark for each bullet 2

• Value "Frog" // value pointed to by FoQ / location 0 is assigned to variable

AnimalName
• FoQ pointer will move to point to location 1 / point to "Cat" // incremented
FoQ (by 1)

0 Frog ← Front of queue pointer

1 Cat

2 Fish

3 Elk ← End of queue pointer

3(a)(iii) There is only one data item in the queue 1

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

3(b)(i) One mark for data values plus one mark for pointers 3

0 Frog

1 Cat

2 Fish ← Front of queue pointer

3 Elk

4 Wasp

5 Bee

6 Mouse ← End of queue pointer

One mark for each pointer

One mark for three new data values

3(b)(ii) 2
0 Shark ← End of queue pointer

1 (Cat)

2 (Fish)

3 (Elk)

4 Wasp ← Front of queue pointer

5 Bee

6 Mouse

7 Dolphin

One mark for BOTH pointers

One mark for all data values as shown

3(c) One mark per point: 3

1 If incremented EoQ = FoQ then error condition: queue is full

2 Increment the EoQ
3 Manage wrap-around

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

4(a) 4
Test Test data value Explanation Expected Outcome

1 23 Normal Data Data is accepted

2 0 Boundary Data Data is accepted

3 40 Boundary Data Data is accepted

4 >= 41 Abnormal Data Data is rejected

5 <= í1 Abnormal Data Data is rejected

One mark per row for rows 2 to 5.

4(b) 3

One mark for each label:

• Temp < 10 (Heaters Off to Heaters On)

• Temp > 20 (Heaters On to Heaters Off)
• on BOTH loops (non-contradictory values)

Question Answer Marks

5(a) One mark for the character and one for the corresponding reason. 2

• Character: Any except alphabetic, numeric, ',' ':' or space

• Reason: character doesn't occur in data to be recorded

5(b) Design 1

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PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

5(c) FUNCTION LogEvents(StudentID : STRING) RETURNS INTEGER 7

DECLARE FileData : STRING

DECLARE Index, Count : INTEGER

CONSTANT LogFile = "LogFile"

Count ← 0
OPENFILE LogFile FOR APPEND
FOR Index ← 1 TO 2000
FileData ← LogArray[Index]

IF LEFT(FileData, 6) = StudentID THEN

WRITEFILE (LogFile, FileData) //brackets optional
Count ← Count + 1
LogArray[Index] ← "" // clear the element
ENDIF
NEXT Index

CLOSEFILE LogFile

RETURN Count

ENDFUNCTION

1 mark for each of the following:

1 Function heading and ending including parameter and return type

2 OPEN file LogFile for APPEND and subsequent CLOSE
3 Loop for 2000 iterations
4 Extract first 6 characters from array element in a loop
5 Compare first 6 characters with parameter in a loop
6 If equal:
• write whole array element string to file and
• increment Count and
• clear array element in a loop
7 Return Count (must have been declared and initialised)

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Question Answer Marks

6(a) PROCEDURE SetRow(Row, SkipNum, SetNum : INTEGER) 5

DECLARE Col : INTEGER

// array is 1280 x 800

FOR Col ← SkipNum + 1 TO SkipNum + SetNum

Screen[Row, Col] ← 1
NEXT Index

ENDPROCEDURE

ALTERNATIVE 1:

FOR Col ← 1 TO SetNum

Screen[Row, SkipNum + Col] ← 1
NEXT Col

ALTERNATIVE 2:

WHILE SetNum > 0

Screen[Row, SkipNum + SetNum] ← 1
SetNum ← SetNum - 1
ENDWHILE

Mark as follows:

1 Procedure heading and ending including parameters

2 Declaration of local Integer for Col
3 Count-controlled loop with meaningful start number
4 correct stop number
5 Reference Screen Array element and set to 1 in a loop

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Question Answer Marks

6(b) FUNCTION SearchInRow(ThisRow, StartCol : INTEGER) RETURNS 8

INTEGER
DECLARE ThisCol, Step : INTEGER
DECLARE Found: BOOLEAN

// array is 1280 x 800

Found ← FALSE
ThisCol ← StartCol

// first decide which way to search

IF StartCol = 1 THEN
Step ← 1
EndCol ← 1281
ELSE
Step ← -1
EndCol ← 0
ENDIF

WHILE ThisCol <> EndCol AND Found = FALSE

IF Screen[ThisRow, ThisCol] <> 1 THEN
ThisCol ← ThisCol + Step
ELSE
Found ← TRUE
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

IF Found = FALSE THEN

ThisCol ← -1
ENDIF

RETURN ThisCol

ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Interpreting StartCol parameter to determine direction of search

2 An attempt at searching both up and down
3 Conditional Loop / Count-controlled loop with use of ThisCol index
4 Using correct values for StartCol, EndCol and Step
5 Reference a Screen element and compare with 1 in a loop
6 If equal save column or immediately Return column in a loop
7 Return column number or í1
Loop(s) terminate when element with value = 1 found

Max 7 marks if function heading, including return type, and ending is incorrect
or incomplete

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Question Answer Marks

6(c) FUNCTION GetCentreCol(ThisRow : INTEGER) RETURNS INTEGER 6

DECLARE StartCol, EndCol, CentreCol : INTEGER

StartCol ← SearchInRow(ThisRow, 1)
IF StartCol = -1 THEN
CentreCol ← StartCol
ELSE
EndCol ← SearchInRow(ThisRow, 1280)
CentreCol ← INT((StartCol + EndCol)/2)
ENDIF
RETURN CentreCol
ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Declaration of local INTEGER for return value

2 Use SearchInRow() with correct parameters and check for -1
3 Use SearchInRow(ThisRow, 1) and SearchInRow(ThisRow,
1280)
4 Calculate centre column
5 Use of INT() function // use of DIV
6 Return –1 or centre value

Max 5 marks if function heading, including return type, and ending is incorrect
or incomplete

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PAGE 1085

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 9 6 0 1 3 8 7 0 0 9 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2021
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (LK/CGW) 213669/3
© UCLES 2021 [Turn over
PAGE 1086

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A programmer applies decomposition to a problem that she has been asked to solve.

Describe decomposition.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) The following pseudocode assigns a value to an element of an array:

ThisArray[n] ĸ 42
Complete the following table by writing the answer for each row.

Answer

The number of dimensions of ThisArray

The technical terms for minimum and

maximum values that the variable n may take
The technical term for the variable n in the
pseudocode statement
[3]

Any functions and operators used must be defined in the insert.

Expression Evaluates to

67
.......................................... ('C')

54
2 * ......................................... ("27")

13
................................ (27 / .................................)

"Sub" & .................... ("Abstraction" , .................... , ....................) "Subtract"

[4]

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PAGE 1087

(d) Evaluate the expressions given in the following table. The variables have been assigned
values as follows:

PumpOn ĸ TRUE
ĸ
PressureOK TRUE
HiFlow ĸ FALSE

Expression Evaluates to

PressureOK AND HiFlow

PumpOn OR PressureOK

NOT PumpOn OR (PressureOK AND NOT HiFlow)

NOT (PumpOn OR PressureOK) AND NOT HiFlow

[2]

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PAGE 1088

2 (a) An algorithm will:

1. input an integer value

2. jump to step 6 if the value is zero
3. sum and count the positive values
4. sum and count the negative values
5. repeat from step 1
6. output the two sum values and the two count values.

Draw a program flowchart on the following page to represent the algorithm.

Note that variable declarations are not required in program flowcharts.

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PAGE 1089

(b) A software company is working on a project to develop a website for a school.

The school principal has some ideas about the appearance of the website but is unclear
about all the details of the solution. The principal would like to see an initial version of the
website.

(i) Identify a life cycle method that would be appropriate in this case.

Give a reason for your choice.

Life cycle method ..............................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) The website project has progressed to the design stage.

State three activities that will take place during the design stage of the program
development life cycle.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

3 ........................................................................................................................................
[3]

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3 A programmer is writing a program to help manage clubs in a school.

Data will be stored about each student in the school and each student may join up to three clubs.

The data will be held in a record structure of type Student.

The programmer has started to define the fields that will be needed as shown in the following
table.

Field Typical value Comment

StudentID "CF1234" Unique to each student
Email "[email protected]" Contains letters, numbers and certain symbols
Club_1 1 Any value in the range 1 to 99 inclusive
Club_2 14 Any value in the range 1 to 99 inclusive
Club_3 27 Any value in the range 1 to 99 inclusive

(a) (i) Write pseudocode to declare the record structure for type Student.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) A 1D array Membership containing 3000 elements will be used to store the student
data.

Write pseudocode to declare the Membership array.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(iii) Some of the elements of the array will be unused.

Give an appropriate way of indicating an unused array element.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iv) Some students are members of less than three clubs.

State one way of indicating an unused club field.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]
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PAGE 1091

(b) A procedure GetIDs() will:

• prompt and input the number of a club

• output the StudentID of all the students who are members of that club
• output a count of all students in the given club.

Write pseudocode for the procedure GetIDs().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
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PAGE 1092

4 The following is a procedure design in pseudocode.

Line numbers are given for reference only.

10 PROCEDURE Check(InString : STRING)

11 DECLARE Odds, Evens, Index : INTEGER
12
13 Odds ĸ0
14 Evens ĸ0
15 Index ĸ1
16
17 WHILE Index <= LENGTH(InString)
18 IF STR_TO_NUM(MID(InString, Index, 1)) MOD 2 <> 0 THEN
19 Odds ĸ
Odds + 1
20 ELSE
21 Evens ĸ
Evens + 1
22 ENDIF
23 Index ĸ
Index + 1
24 ENDWHILE
25
26 CALL Result(Odds, Evens)
27 ENDPROCEDURE

(a) Complete the following table by giving the answers, using the given pseudocode.

Answer
A line number containing a variable being incremented

The type of loop structure

The number of functions used

The number of parameters passed to STR_TO_NUM()

The name of a procedure other than Check()

[5]

(b) The pseudocode includes several features that make it easier to read and understand.

Identify three of these features.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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PAGE 1093

State a more appropriate loop structure and justify your choice.

Loop structure ...................................................................................................................

Justification .......................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) The appropriate loop structure is now used. Two lines of pseudocode are changed and
two lines are removed.

Write the line numbers of the two lines that are removed.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

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PAGE 1094

5 A company has several departments. Each department stores the name, email address and the
status of each employee in that department in its own text file. All text files have the same format.

Employee details are stored as three separate data strings on three consecutive lines of the file.
An example of the first six lines of one of the files is as follows:

File line Comment

1 First employee name

2 First email address

3 First employee status

4 Second employee name

5 Second email address

6 Second employee status

A procedure MakeNewFile() will:

• take three parameters as strings:

ż an existing file name
ż a new file name
ż a search status value

• create a new text file using the new file name

• write all employee details to the new file where the employee status is not equal to the search
status value
• count the number of sets of employee details that were in the original file
• count the number of sets of employee details that were written to the new file
• produce a summary output.

An example summary output is as follows:

File Marketing contained 54 employee details

52 employee sets of details were written to file NewMarketingList

(a) Write pseudocode for the procedure MakeNewFile().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

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PAGE 1096

(b) An alternative format could be used for storing the data.

A text file will still be used.

(i) Describe the alternative format.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) State one advantage and one disadvantage of the alternative format.

Advantage .........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Disadvantage ....................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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PAGE 1097

6 A mobile phone has a touchscreen. The screen is represented by a grid, divided into 800 rows
and 1280 columns.

The grid is represented by a 2D array Screen of type INTEGER. An array element will be set to 0
unless the user touches that part of the screen.

Many array elements will set to 1 by a single touch of a finger or a stylus.

The following diagram shows a simplified touchscreen. The dark line represents a touch on the
screen. All grid elements that are wholly or partly inside the outline will be set to 1. These elements
are shaded.
The element shaded in black represents the centre point of the touch.

A program is needed to find the coordinates (the row and column) of the centre point. The centre
point on the diagram shown is row 6, column 11.

Assume:

• the user may only touch one area at a time

• screen rotation does not affect the touchscreen.

The programmer has decided to use global values CentreRow and CentreCol as coordinate
values for the centre point.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Searches for the first row that has an array element set to 1
FirstRowSet() • Returns the index of that row (1 is the first row)
• 5HWXUQVíLIWKHUHDUHQRHOHPHQWVVHWWR
• Searches for the last row that has an array element set to 1
LastRowSet() • Returns the index of that row
• 5HWXUQVíLIWKHUHDUHQRHOHPHQWVVHWWR
• Searches for the first column that has an array element set to 1
FirstColSet() • Returns the index of that column (1 is the first column)
• 5HWXUQVíLIWKHUHDUHQRHOHPHQWVVHWWR
• Searches for the last column that has an array element set to 1
LastColSet() • Returns the index of that column
• 5HWXUQVíLIWKHUHDUHQRHOHPHQWVVHWWR

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PAGE 1098

(a) Write efficient pseudocode for the module FirstRowSet().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]
© UCLES 2021 9618/22/O/N/21 [Turn over
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1099

(b) Describe a feature of your solution to part (a) that indicates the pseudocode represents an
efficient algorithm.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) The programmer decides to produce a single search module FindSet(), which will be able
to perform each of the individual searches performed by the first four modules in the table.

(i) Outline the changes needed to convert one of the existing modules into this single
module.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) Give one possible advantage and one possible disadvantage of combining the four
searches into a single module.

Advantage .........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Disadvantage ....................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

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PAGE 1100

(d) An additional module GetCentre() is defined as follows:

Module Description
• Calculates the coordinates of the centre point
• Uses the four modules: FirstRowSet(), LastRowSet(),
GetCentre() FirstColSet(), LastColSet()
• Assigns values to CentreRow and CentreCol
• Sets CentreRowWRíLIQRVFUHHQWRXFKLVGHWHFWHG

Write pseudocode for the module GetCentre().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]
© UCLES 2021 9618/22/O/N/21
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1101
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

1(a) The process involves: 2

1 Breaking down a problem / task into sub problems / steps / smaller parts
2 In order to explain / understand // easier to solve the problem
3 Leading to the concept of program modules // assigning problem parts to
teams

Max 2

1(b) 3
Answer

The number of dimensions of ThisArray 1

The technical terms for minimum and Lower bound, upper bound
maximum values that variable n may take

The technical term for the variable n in the Index / Subscript

pseudocode expression.

One mark per row

1(c) 4
Expression Evaluates to

ASC('C') 67

2 * STR_TO_NUM ("27") 54

INT(27 / 2) 13

"Sub" & MID("Abstraction" , 4 , 5) "Subtract"

One mark per row

Function names must be exactly as shown

1(d) 2
Expression Evaluates to

PressureOK AND HiFlow FALSE

PumpOn OR PressureOK TRUE

NOT PumpOn OR (PressureOK AND NOT HiFlow) TRUE

NOT (PumpOn OR PressureOK) AND NOT HiFlow FALSE

1 mark for any two rows correct

2 marks for all rows correct.

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9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

2(a) 5

One mark for each outlined group.

Note:
• Sum and increment steps (bottom-right rectangles) may be in reverse
order in which case sum group will have two output lines

• Max 4 for non-working solution

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9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

2(b)(i) One mark for each: 2

Life cycle method: Iterative // Rapid Application Development (RAD)

Reason: Provides a working model / prototype at an early stage for the

principal to approve / review

2(b)(ii) Decisions will be made regarding: 3

• Data structures
• Algorithms / flowcharts / pseudocode
• Program structure (modules) / use of library routines / module - team
allocation
• User interface // Web-page layout / content (for given scenario)
• Testing method / plan
• Choice of programming language / program environment
Max 3

Question Answer Marks

3(a)(i) Pseudocode: 3

TYPE Student
DECLARE StudentID : STRING
DECLARE Email : STRING
DECLARE Club_1 : INTEGER
DECLARE Club_2 : INTEGER
DECLARE Club_3 : INTEGER
ENDTYPE

Mark as follows:

• One mark for TYPE and ENDTYPE

• One mark for StudentID and Email fields as STRING
• One mark for all Club fields as INTEGER

3(a)(ii) DECLARE Membership : ARRAY [1:3000] OF Student 2

One mark per underlined phrase

3(a)(iii) One mark for any one of: 1

• Assign a value (of the corrrect data type) outside the normal range to one
of the fields
• Assign an empty string to the StudentID field / Email field
• or value out of range to any club field

3(a)(iv) A number outside the range 1 to 99 1

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Question Answer Marks

3(b) PROCEDURE GetIDs() 7

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE ThisClub, Count : INTEGER

OUTPUT "Please Input Club Number: "

INPUT ThisClub

Count ← 0

FOR Index ← 1 TO 3000

IF Membership[Index].Club_1 = ThisClub OR __
Membership[Index].Club_2 = ThisClub OR __
Membership[Index].Club_3 = ThisClub THEN
Count ← Count + 1
OUTPUT Membership[Index].StudentID
ENDIF

NEXT Index

OUTPUT "There are ", Count, " Students in the club"

ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1 Declare and initialise Count

2 Prompt and Input club number before the loop
3 Loop through 3000 elements
4 Compare one club field with number input
5 Compare all Club fields with number input
6 If number found, OUTPUT of StudentID field and increment Count
7 Final OUTPUT of Count outside the loop

Note:

Max 6 if procedure heading and ending missing or incorrect (but allow array
as parameter)

Question Answer Marks

4(a) 5
Answer
A line number containing a variable being incremented 19 / 21 / 23

The type of loop structure pre-condition

The number of functions used 3

The number of parameters passed to function 1

STR_TO_NUM()

The name of a procedure other than Check() Result

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9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

4(b) One mark per point: 3

• Meaningful variable names

• Indentation / white space / blank lines
• Capitalisation of keywords

4(c)(i) One mark per point: 2

Structure: A count-controlled loop

Justification: The number of iterations is known // repeats for the length of

InString

4(c)(ii) 15, 23 1

One mark for both line numbers

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PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

5(a) PROCEDURE MakeNewFile(OldFile, NewFile, Status : STRING) 7

DECLARE Line1, Line2, Line3 : STRING
DECLARE NumCopied, NumRecs : INTEGER

NumRecs ← 0
NumCopied ← 0

OPENFILE OldFile FOR READ

OPENFILE NewFile FOR WRITE

WHILE NOT EOF(OldFile)

READFILE OldFile, Line1
READFILE OldFile, Line2
READFILE OldFile, Line3
NumRecs ← NumRecs + 1
IF Line3 <> Status THEN
WRITEFILE NewFile, Line1
WRITEFILE NewFile, Line2
WRITEFILE NewFile, Line3
NumCopied ← NumCopied + 1
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

OUTPUT "File " , OldFile , " contained " , NumRecs ,__

" employee details"
OUTPUT Numcopied , " employee sets of details were __
written to file", NewFile
CLOSEFILE OldFile
CLOSEFILE NewFile
ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1 Procedure heading and ending, including parameters

2 OPEN OldFile for READ and NewFile for WRITE and subsequently
CLOSE both files
3 Conditional loop until EOF(OldFile)
4 Read three lines from OldFile in a loop
5 Compare 3rd line read with Status parameter and if not equal write
3 lines to NewFile in a loop
6 Count number of sets read and those written in a loop
7 Final output including both counts and file names with suitable text after a
loop

Note:
MP6: Both counts must have been declared and initialised

5(b)(i) Store all three items on one line 1

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PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

5(b)(ii) One mark per point: 2

Advantage: Fewer file operations required

Disadvantage: Algorithm to combine / extract individual data items is more

complex

Question Answer Marks

6(a) FUNCTION FirstRowSet() RETURNS INTEGER 7

DECLARE Row, Col : INTEGER
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

// array is 1280 × 800

Row ← 1

Found ← FALSE
WHILE Row <= 800 AND Found = FALSE // top to bottom
Col ← 1
WHILE Col <= 1280 AND Found = FALSE // left to right
IF Screen[Row,Col] = 1 THEN
Found ← TRUE // end function as soon as first
// found
ENDIF
Col ← Col + 1
ENDWHILE
Row ← Row + 1
ENDWHILE

IF Found = FALSE THEN // nothing found

Row ← 0
ENDIF
RETURN Row - 1
ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Function heading and ending and return type

2 (Conditional) outer loop 1 to 800 (row)
3 (Conditional) inner loop 1 to 1280 // 1280 to 1 (column)
4 Reference Screen element and test for = 1 // <> 0
5 and if true save row number and exit loops
6 Increment index variables in both inner and outer loop
7 Return Row number or í1, following a reasonable attempt

6(b) One mark for: 2

• (A flag is used to) exit the loops // iteration is terminated

• as soon as a Screen element with value 1 is found

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PUBLISHED 2021

Question Answer Marks

6(c)(i) One mark for: 2

• Parameter(s) need to be passed to the module to identify the type of
search
• Search algorithm is controlled by (global) variables / parameters

Alternative:
• The search algorithms from the original modules are included in the new
module
• The new module needs to return / store the four values (the results of the
four searches)

6(c)(ii) One mark for advantage and one for disadvantage: 2

Advantage: (max 1)
• Only have to change one module if specification changes
• Less repetitive code / fewer lines of code
• Aids re-usability

Disadvantage: (max 1)
• Single module more complex / more error prone / more difficult to
debug ...
• Single module cannot be split among programmers / teams

Max 2

6(d) PROCEDURE GetCentre () 6

DECLARE StartRow, EndRow, StartCol, EndCol : INTEGER

StartRow ← FirstRowSet()
IF StartRow = -1 THEN
CentreRow ← -1 // no 'touch' detected
ELSE
EndRow ← LastRowSet()
StartCol ← FirstColSet()
EndCol ← LastColSet()
CentreRow ← INT((StartRow + EndRow)/2)
CentreCol ← INT((StartCol + EndCol)/2)
ENDIF
ENDPROCEDURE

Mark as follows:

1 Call <any Set function> and check for -1 // check for no element set
2 ...and if so set CentreRow to –1
3 Call all 4 Set functions to get 'extremity' values
4 Calculate centre row and centre column
5 Use of INT() function or DIV operator on values from MP4
6 Assign calculated values to CentreRow and CentreCol

Note:
Max 5 if procedure heading and ending missing or incorrect (ignore array if
passed as a parameter) or any local variables are undefined or of incorrect
type

© UCLES 2021 Page 10 of 10

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1109

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 6 7 8 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2022
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (RW/CGW) 303754/3
© UCLES 2022 [Turn over
PAGE 1110

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A programmer draws a program flowchart to show the sequence of steps required to solve a
problem.

Give the technical term for a sequence of steps that describe how to solve a problem.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(b) The table lists some of the variables used in a program.

(i) Complete the table by writing the most appropriate data type for each variable.

Variable Use of variable Data type

Temp Stores the average temperature

PetName Stores the name of my pet

To calculate the number of days until my next

MyDOB
birthday

LightOn Stores state of light; light is only on or off

[4]

(ii) One of the names used for a variable in the table in part 1(b)(i) is not an example of
good practice.

Identify the variable and give a reason why it is not good practice to use that name.

Variable .............................................................................................................................

Reason ..............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Complete the table by evaluating each expression.

Expression Evaluation

INT((31 / 3) + 1)

MID(TO_UPPER("Version"), 4, 2)

TRUE AND (NOT FALSE)

NUM_TO_STR(27 MOD 3)

[4]

© UCLES 2022 9618/21/M/J/22

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1111

2 Examine the following state-transition diagram.

Button-Y
Button-Z | Output-C

START
S1 Button-Z S3

Button-Y
Button-Y | Output-A

Button-X
S2
S4

Button-Z | Output-B

(a) Complete the table with reference to the diagram.

Answer
The number of different inputs

The number of different outputs

The single input value that could result in S4

[3]

(b) The initial state is S1.

Complete the table to show the inputs, outputs and next states.

Input Output Next state

Button-Y

none

Button-Z S2

none
[4]

© UCLES 2022 9618/21/M/J/22 [Turn over

PAGE 1112

3 The manager of a cinema wants a program to allow users to book seats. The cinema has several
screens. Each screen shows a different film.

(a) Decomposition will be used to break the problem down into sub-problems.

Describe three program modules that could be used in the design.

Module 1 ...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Module 2 ...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Module 3 ...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Two types of program modules may be used in the design of the program.

Identify the type of program module that should be used to return a value.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

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PAGE 1114

4 A stack is created using a high-level language. Memory locations 200 to 207 are to be used to
store the stack.

The following diagram represents the current state of the stack.

TopOfStack points to the last value added to the stack.

Stack Pointer
Memory
Value
location
200

201

202

203 'F' TopOfStack

204 'C'

205 'D'

206 'E'

207 'H'

(a) Complete the following table by writing the answers.

Answer

The value that has been on the stack for the longest time.

The memory location pointed to by TopOfStack if three POP

operations are performed.

[2]

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PAGE 1115

(b) The following diagram shows the current state of the stack:

Stack Pointer
Memory
Value
location
200

201

202 'W' TopOfStack

203 'Y'

204 'X'

205 'Z'

206 'N'

207 'P'

The following operations are performed:

POP
POP
PUSH 'A'
PUSH 'B'
POP
PUSH 'C'
PUSH 'D'

Complete the diagram to show the state of the stack after the operations have been
performed.

Stack Pointer
Memory
Value
location
200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207
[4]

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PAGE 1116

5 Each line of a text file contains data organised into fixed-length fields as shown:

<Field 1><Field 2><Field 3>

An algorithm is required to search for the first instance of a given value of Field 2 and, if found, to
output the corresponding values for Field 1 and Field 3.

Describe the algorithm needed.

Do not include pseudocode statements in your answer.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [6]

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6 (a) An algorithm will:

• output each integer value between 100 and 200 that ends with the digit 7, for example,
107
• output a final count of the number of values that are output.

Write pseudocode for this algorithm.

Any variables used must be declared.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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PAGE 1118

(b) Study the following pseudocode.

CASE OF MySwitch
1: ThisChar 'a'
2: ThisChar 'y'
3: ThisChar '7'
OTHERWISE: ThisChar '*'
ENDCASE

Write pseudocode with the same functionality without using a CASE structure.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

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PAGE 1119

7 A string is a palindrome if it reads the same forwards as backwards.

The following strings are examples of palindromes:

"Racecar"
"madam"
"12344321"

Upper-case and lower-case characters need to be treated the same. For example, 'A' is equivalent
to 'a'.

(a) A function IsPalindrome() will take a string parameter. The function will return TRUE if the
string is a palindrome and will return FALSE if the string is not a palindrome.

Write pseudocode for IsPalindrome().

...................................................................................................................................................

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...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

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PAGE 1121

(b) Strings may consist of several words separated by spaces.

For example, the string "never odd or even" becomes a palindrome if the spaces are removed.

The program flowchart represents an algorithm to produce a string OutString by removing

all spaces from a string InString.

START

Set Index to 1

NO
B
E

YES
F
C

D
END

Complete the table by writing the text that should replace each of the labels B, C, D, F and G.

Note: the text may be written as a pseudocode statement.

Label Text

A Set OutString to ""

E Set Index to Index + 1

G
[4]
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PAGE 1122

8 A program allows a user to save passwords used to login to websites. A stored password is
inserted automatically when the user logs into the corresponding website.

A student is developing a program to generate a password. The password will be of a fixed format,
consisting of three groups of four alphanumeric characters. The groups are separated by the
hyphen character '-'.

An example of a password is: "FxAf-3haV-Tq49"

A global 2D array Secret of type STRING stores the passwords together with the website domain
name where they are used. Secret contains 1000 elements organised as 500 rows by 2 columns.

Unused elements contain the empty string (""). These may occur anywhere in the array.

An example of a part of the array is:

Array element Value

Secret[27, 1] "www.thiswebsite.com"

Secret[27, 2] "yyyyyyyyyyyyyy"
Secret[28, 1] "www.thatwebsite.com"

Secret[28, 2] "yyyyyyyyyyyyyy"

Note:
• For security, passwords are stored in an encrypted form, shown as "yyyyyyyyyyyyyy" in the
example.
• The passwords cannot be used without being decrypted.
• Assume that the encrypted form of a password will not be an empty string.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
RandomChar() • Generates a single random character from within one of the
following ranges:
ż 'a' to 'z'
ż 'A' to 'Z'
ż '0' to '9'
• Returns the character
Encrypt() • Takes a password as a parameter of type string
• Returns the encrypted form of the password as a string
Decrypt() • Takes an encrypted password as a parameter of type string
• Returns the decrypted form of the password as a string

For reference, relevant ASCII values are as follows:

Character range ASCII range

'a' to 'z' 97 to 122

'A' to 'Z' 65 to 90

'0' to '9' 48 to 57

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PAGE 1123

(a) Write pseudocode for module RandomChar().

You may wish to refer to the insert for a description of the CHR() function. Other functions
may also be required.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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PAGE 1124

(b) A new module is defined as follows:

Module Description
FindPassword() • Takes a website domain name as a parameter of type string
• Searches for the website domain name in the array Secret
• If the website domain name is found, the decrypted password
is returned
• If the website domain name is not found, a warning message
is output, and an empty string is returned

Write pseudocode for module FindPassword().

Assume that modules Encrypt() and Decrypt() have already been written.

...................................................................................................................................................

Identify a method that could have been used to test the main program before these modules
were completed. Describe how this would work.

Method ......................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(d) A validation function is written to check that the passwords generated are valid.

To be valid, each password must:

• be 14 characters long
• be organised as three groups of four case-sensitive alphanumeric characters. The
groups are separated by hyphen characters
• not include any duplicated characters, except for the hyphen characters.

Note: lower-case and upper-case characters are not the same. For example, 'a' is not the
same as 'A'.

Give two password strings that could be used to test different areas of the validation rules.

Password 1 ...............................................................................................................................

Password 2 ...............................................................................................................................
[2]

(e) The RandomChar() module is to be modified so that alphabetic characters are generated
twice as often as numeric characters.

Describe how this might be achieved.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2022
PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) An algorithm 1

1(b)(i) 4
Variable Use of variable Data type

Temp Stores the average temperature REAL

PetName Stores the name of my pet STRING

MyDOB To calculate how many days until my DATE

next birthday

LightOn Stores state of light; light is only on or off BOOLEAN

One mark for each data type

1(b)(ii) One mark for variable name, and one for reason 2

Variable: Temp

Reason: Name does not indicate what the variable is used for

1(c) 4
Expression Evaluation

INT((31 / 3) + 1) 11

MID(TO_UPPER("Version"), 4, 2) "SI"

TRUE AND (NOT FALSE) TRUE

NUM_TO_STR(27 MOD 3) "0"

One mark per row

Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark per row 3

Answer

The number of different inputs 3

The number of different outputs 3

The single input value that could result in S4 Button-Y

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Question Answer Marks

2(b) One mark per row 4

Example answer

Note: Accept other valid answers

Question Answer Marks

3(a) One mark per description of appropriate sub-problem for given scenario. 3

Examples include:

x Allows the user to search for films being shown // input name of film they
want to see

x Allows the user to search for available seats

x Calculate cost of booking

x Book a given number of seats for a particular screening

3(b) Function 1

Question Answer Marks

4(a) One mark per row 2

Answer

The value that has been on the stack for the longest time. 'H'

The memory location pointed to by TopOfStack if three

206
POP operations are performed.

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) 4
Stack Pointer

Memory
Value
location

200

201 'D' m TopOfStack

202 'C'

203 'A'

204 'X'

205 'Z'

206 'N'

207 'P'

One mark for:

1 TopOfStack pointing to 'D'
2 Value 'D' in 201
3 Values 'C' & 'A' in 202 and 203
4 Values 'X' to 'P' unchanged (204 to 207)

Question Answer Marks

5 One mark per point to Max 6 6

1 Open file in read mode
2 Set up a conditional loop, repeating until the value is found or the EOF()
is reached
3 Read a line from the file in a loop
4 Extract Field 2
5 Description of how Field 2 could be extracted e.g. using substring
function and lengths of Field 1 and Field 2
6 Compare extracted field with search value
7 If search value found, extract Field 1and Field 3 and output them
8 Close the file after loop has finished

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme May/June 2022
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Question Answer Marks

6(a) Simple Solution: 5

DECLARE ThisInt, Count : INTEGER

Count m 0

FOR ThisInt m 100 TO 200

IF ThisInt MOD 10 = 7 THEN
OUTPUT ThisInt
Count m Count + 1
ENDIF
NEXT ThisInt

OUTPUT Count

Mark as follows:

1 Declare loop variable and counter as integers, counter initialised

2 Loop 100 to 200, no step defined
3 Test value in a loop
4 Output selected value and incrementing a counter in a loop
5 Output the counter, following a reasonable attempt, after the loop

Alternative Solution:

DECLARE ThisInt, Count : INTEGER

Count m 0

FOR ThisInt m 107 TO 197 STEP 10

OUTPUT ThisInt
Count m Count + 1
NEXT ThisInt

OUTPUT Count

Mark as follows:

1 Declare loop variable and counter as integers, , counter initialised

2 Loop (107 to 197)
3 STEP 10 or explicit increment if conditional loop used
4 Output each value and incrementing a counter in a loop
5 Output the counter, following a reasonable attempt, after the loop

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Question Answer Marks

6(b) IF MySwitch = 1 THEN 4

ThisChar m 'a'
ELSE
IF MySwitch = 2 THEN
ThisChar m 'y'
ELSE
IF MySwitch = 3 THEN
ThisChar m '7'
ELSE
ThisChar m '*'
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF

Mark as follows:

1. ANY test of MySwitch = 1, 2 or 3

2. All three comparisons and corresponding assignments
3. OTHERWISE, or initial assignment of default value
4. Completely correct IF...THEN...ELSE...ENDIF syntax

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Question Answer Marks

7(a) FUNCTION IsPalindrome(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN 7

DECLARE IsPal : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Index, Num : INTEGER
DECLARE CharA, CharB : CHAR

IsPal m TRUE
Index m 1

Num m INT(LENGTH(InString) / 2)

WHILE Index <= Num AND IsPal = TRUE

CharA m MID(InString, Index, 1)
CharB m MID(Instring, LENGTH(Instring) – Index + 1,
1)
IF UCASE(CharA) <> UCASE(CharB) THEN
IsPal m FALSE // RETURN FALSE
ENDIF
Index m Index + 1
ENDWHILE

RETURN IsPal // RETURN TRUE

ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Functions header including parameter, ending and return type

2 Calculation of number of pairs to match (length or half length)
3 Loop for half or whole string
4 …Extracting characters to compare // create reverse string
5 Convert characters to same case
6 Check for mismatch of characters inside loop / test for mismatch after
loop for reversed string
7 Returning Boolean in both cases

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Question Answer Marks

7(b) 4
Label Text

A Set OutString to ""

B Is Index > LENGTH(InString)?

C Is MID(InString, Index, 1) = " "?

Set OutString to OutString & MID(InString, Index,

D
1)

E Set Index to Index + 1

F YES

G NO

Mark for each of:

x B
x D
x C
x ...F and G

Note: The mark for F and G is dependent on a reasonable attempt at C

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Question Answer Marks

8(a) FUNCTION RandomChar() RETURNS CHAR 6

DECLARE ThisRange : INTEGER
DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR

//First select the range

ThisRange m INT(RAND(3)) + 1 // 1 to 3

CASE OF ThisRange
1: ThisChar m CHR(INT(RAND(26) + 65)) // 65 to 90:
'A' to 'Z'
ThisChar m LCASE(ThisChar) // 'a' to 'z'
2: ThisChar m CHR(INT(RAND(26) + 65)) // 65 to 90:
A to Z
3: ThisChar m NUM_TO_STR(INT(RAND(10)) // '0' to '9'
ENDCASE

RETURN ThisChar
ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Generation of any integer random number

2 Randomly decide which of the three ranges to select
3 Selection structure based on range
4 One alphanumeric character range correct
5 All alphanumeric character ranges correct
6 Return ThisChar, following a reasonable attempt to generate a
character in each range

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Question Answer Marks

8(b) FUNCTION FindPassword(Name: STRING) RETURNS STRING 7

DECLARE Index : INTEGER
DECLARE Password : STRING

Password m ""
Index m 1

WHILE Password = "" AND Index <= 500

IF Secret[Index, 1] = Name THEN
Password m Decrypt(Secret[Index, 2])
ELSE
Index m Index + 1
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

IF Password = "" THEN

OUTPUT "Domain name not found"
ENDIF

RETURN Password

ENDFUNCTION

Mark as follows:

1 Declare all local variables used, attempted solution has to be reasonable

2 Conditional loop while not found and not end of array
3 Compare value of element in column 1 with parameter passed into
function
4 ...and use Decrypt() with element in column 2 as parameter
5 …use the return value of Decrypt()
6 Output warning message if parameter not found
7 Return STRING value

8(c) One mark for the name, one for the description 3
Name:
x Stub testing

Description:
x A simple module is written to replace each of the modules.
x The simple module will return an expected value // will output a message
to show they have been called

8(d) Accept one example of a valid password to Max 2 2

One mark for each password example that breaks one of the rules due to:
x Length too long // length too short
x Invalid character
x Incorrect grouping (including number of hyphens)
x Duplicated characters

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Question Answer Marks

8(e) One mark for each part: 3

x Generate a random integer divisible by 3

x Split range into 1/3 and set as numeric
x Else alphabetic character

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Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 6 6 4 6 7 4 9 2 2 0 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2022
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (KN/SW) 303772/3
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MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1137

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A programmer is testing a program using an Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

The programmer wants the program to stop when it reaches a specific instruction or program
statement in order to check the value assigned to a variable.

Give the technical term for the position at which the program stops.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

(b) The following table lists some activities from the program development life cycle.

Complete the table by writing the life cycle stage for each activity.

Activity Life cycle stage

An identifier table is produced.

Syntax errors can occur.

The developer discusses the program requirements with the customer.

A trace table is produced.

[4]

(c) An identifier table includes the names of identifiers used.

State two other pieces of information that the identifier table should contain.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(d) The pseudocode statements in the following table may contain errors.

State the error in each case or write 'NO ERROR' if the statement contains no error.

You can assume that none of the variables referenced are of an incorrect type.

Statement Error

Status TRUE AND FALSE

IF LENGTH("Password") < "10" THEN

Code LCASE("Electrical")

Result IS_NUM(-27.3)

[4]

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2 An algorithm is described as follows:

1. Input an integer value.
2. Jump to step 6 if the value is less than zero.
3. Call the function IsPrime() using the integer value as a parameter.
4. Keep a count of the number of times function IsPrime() returns TRUE.
5. Repeat from step 1.
6. Output the value of the count with a suitable message.

Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm.

START

END

[4]

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PAGE 1139

3 (a) The module headers for five modules in a program are defined in pseudocode as follows:

Pseudocode module header

FUNCTION Mod_V(S2 : INTEGER) RETURNS BOOLEAN
PROCEDURE Mod_W(P4 : INTEGER)
PROCEDURE Mod_X(T4 : INTEGER, BYREF P3 : REAL)
PROCEDURE Mod_Y(W3 : REAL, Z8 : INTEGER)
FUNCTION Mod_Z(F3 : REAL) RETURNS INTEGER

An additional module Head() repeatedly calls three of the modules in sequence.

A structure chart has been partially completed.

(i) Complete the structure chart to include the information given about the six modules.

Do not label the parameters and do not write the module names.

B C D

E F

[3]

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(ii) Complete the table using the information in part 3(a) by writing each module name to
replace the labels A to F.

Label Module name

F
[3]

(b) The structure chart represents part of a complex problem. The process of decomposition is
used to break down the complex problem into sub-problems.

Describe three benefits of this approach.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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PAGE 1141

4 (a) A procedure LastLines() will:

• take the name of a text file as a parameter
• output the last three lines from that file, in the same order as they appear in the file.

Note:
• Use local variables LineX, LineY and LineZ to store the three lines from the file.
• You may assume the file exists and contains at least three lines.

Write pseudocode for the procedure LastLines().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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PAGE 1142

(b) The algorithm in part (a) is to be amended. The calling program will pass the number of lines
to be output as well as the name of the text file.

The number of lines could be any value from 1 to 30.

It can be assumed that the file contains at least the number of lines passed.

Outline three changes that would be needed.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

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PAGE 1143

5 Study the following pseudocode. Line numbers are for reference only.

10 PROCEDURE Encode()
11 DECLARE CountA, CountB, ThisNum : INTEGER
12 DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR
13 DECLARE Flag : BOOLEAN
14 CountA 0
15 CountB 10
16 Flag TRUE
17 INPUT ThisNum
18 WHILE ThisNum <> 0
19 ThisChar LEFT(NUM_TO_STR(ThisNum), 1)
20 IF Flag = TRUE THEN
21 CASE OF ThisChar
22 '1' : CountA CountA + 1
23 '2' : IF CountB < 10 THEN
24 CountA CountA + 1
25 ENDIF
26 '3' : CountB CountB - 1
27 '4' : CountB CountB - 1
28 Flag FALSE
29 OTHERWISE : OUTPUT "Ignored"
30 ENDCASE
31 ELSE
32 IF CountA > 2 THEN
33 Flag NOT Flag
34 OUTPUT "Flip"
35 ELSE
36 CountA 4
37 ENDIF
38 ENDIF
39 INPUT ThisNum
40 ENDWHILE
41 OUTPUT CountA
42 ENDPROCEDURE

(a) Procedure Encode() contains a loop structure.

Identify the type of loop and state the condition that ends the loop.

Do not include pseudocode statements in your answer.

Type ..........................................................................................................................................

Condition ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]
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PAGE 1144

(b) Complete the trace table below by dry running the procedure Encode() when the following
values are input:

12, 24, 57, 43, 56, 22, 31, 32, 47, 99, 0

The first row is already complete.

ThisNum ThisChar CountA CountB Flag OUTPUT

0 10 TRUE

[6]

Describe integration testing.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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PAGE 1145

6 A string represents a series of whole numbers, separated by commas.

For example:
"12,13,451,22"

Assume that:
• the comma character ',' is used as a separator
• the string contains only the characters '0' to '9' and the comma character ','.

A procedure Parse will:

• take the string as a parameter
• extract each number in turn
• calculate the total value and average value of all the numbers
• output the total and average values with a suitable message.

Write pseudocode for the procedure.

PROCEDURE Parse(InString : STRING)

..........................................................................................................................................................

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..........................................................................................................................................................

ENDPROCEDURE [7]

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PAGE 1147

7 A programming language has string functions equivalent to those given in the insert.

The language includes a LEFT() and a RIGHT() function, but it does not have a MID() function.

(a) Write pseudocode for an algorithm to implement your own version of the MID() function
which will operate in the same way as that shown in the insert.

Do not use the MID() function given in the insert, but you may use any of the other functions.

Assume that the values passed to the function will be correct.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) The values passed to your MID() function in part (a) need to be validated.

Assume that the values are of the correct data type.

State two checks that could be applied to the values passed to the function.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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PAGE 1149

8 A program allows a user to save passwords used to log in to websites. A stored password is then
inserted automatically when the user logs in to the corresponding website.

A global 2D array Secret of type STRING stores the passwords together with the website domain
name where they are used. Secret contains 1000 elements organised as 500 rows by 2 columns.

Unused elements contain the empty string (""). These may occur anywhere in the array.

An example of a part of the array is:

Array element Value

Secret[27, 1] "thiswebsite.com"
Secret[27, 2] "yyyyyyyyyyyy"
Secret[28, 1] "thatwebsite.com"
Secret[28, 2] "yyyyyyyyyyyy"

Note:
• For security, the passwords are stored in an encrypted form, shown as "yyyyyyyyyyyy" in the
example.
• The passwords cannot be used without being decrypted.
• You may assume that the encrypted form of a password will NOT be an empty string.

The programmer has started to define program modules as follows:

Module Description
• Takes two parameters:
ż DVWULQJ
ż DFKDUDFWHU
Exists()
• Performs a case-sensitive search for the character in the string
• Returns TRUE if the character occurs in the string, otherwise
returns FALSE
• Takes a password as a parameter of type string
Encrypt()
• Returns the encrypted form of the password as a string
• Takes an encrypted password as a parameter of type string
Decrypt()
• Returns the decrypted form of the password as a string

Note: in a case-sensitive comparison, 'a' is not the same as 'A'.

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(a) Write pseudocode for the module Exists().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

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(b) A new module SearchDuplicates() will:

• search for the first password that occurs more than once in the array and output a
message each time a duplicate is found.
For example, if the same password was used for the three websites ThisWebsite.com,
website27.net and websiteZ99.org, then the following messages will be output:

"Password for ThisWebsite.com also used for website27.net"

"Password for ThisWebsite.com also used for websiteZ99.org"

• end once all messages have been output.

The module will output a message if no duplicates are found.

For example:
"No duplicate passwords found"

Write efficient pseudocode for the module SearchDuplicates(). Encrypt() and

Decrypt() functions have been written.

Note: It is necessary to decrypt each password before checking its value.

...................................................................................................................................................

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...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

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(c) A password has a fixed format, consisting of three groups of four alphanumeric characters,
separated by the hyphen character '-'.

An example of a password is:

"FxAf-3haV-Tq49"

Each password must:

• be 14 characters long
• be organised as three groups of four alphanumeric characters. The groups are separated
by hyphen characters
• not include any duplicated characters, except for the hyphen characters.

An algorithm is needed for a new function GeneratePassword(), which will generate and
return a password in this format.

Assume that the following modules have already been written:

Module Description
• Takes two parameters:
ż DVWULQJ
ż DFKDUDFWHU
Exists() • Performs a case-sensitive search for the character in the
string
• Returns TRUE if the character occurs in the string, otherwise
returns FALSE
• Generates a single random character from within one of the
following ranges:
ż D WR ]
RandomChar()
ż $ WR =
ż WR
• Returns the character

Note: in a case-sensitive comparison, 'a' is not the same as 'A'.

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Describe the algorithm for GeneratePassword().

Do not use pseudocode statements in your answer.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

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PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

1(a) Correct answer only: 1

Breakpoint

1(b) One mark per row 4

Activity Life cycle stage

An identifier table is produced. Design

Syntax errors can occur. Coding

The developer discusses the program requirements with the Analysis

customer.

A trace table is produced. Testing

1(c) One mark per bullet point to Max 2 2

x A description of what the identifier is used for / the purpose of the identifier
x The data type of the identifier
x The number of elements of an array // the length of a string
x An example data value
x Value of any constants used
x The scope of the variable (local or global)

1(d) One mark per row 4

Statement Error

Status m TRUE AND FALSE NO ERROR

IF LENGTH("Password") < "10" shouldn’t be a string // must be an

"10" THEN integer

Code m Parameter must be a char // cannot be a

LCASE("Electrical") string
Alternative:
LCASE should be TO_LOWER

Result m IS_NUM(-27.3) Parameter must be a string / char //

cannot be a number

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Question Answer Marks

2 4

One mark per point:

1 Initialise Count before loop AND Input NextNum in a loop

2 Loop until NextNum < 0 AND OUTPUT statement including Count plus a
message
3 Use of IsPrime(NextNum)as a function (must return a value)
4 Check return value AND increment Count if appropriate

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Question Answer Marks

3(a)(i) One mark per red annotation 3

3(a)(ii) 3
Label Module name

A Head

B Mod_W

C Mod_X

D Mod_V

E Mod-Z

F Mod_Y

Marks as follows:
x Two rows correct – one mark
x Four rows correct – two marks
x All rows correct – three marks

3(b) One mark per point: 3

x Breaking a complex problem down makes it easier to understand / solve //
smaller problems are easier to understand / solve
x Smaller problems are easier to program / test / maintain
x Sub-problems can be given to different teams / programmers with different
expertise // can be solved separately

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) PROCEDURE LastLines(ThisFile : STRING) 6

DECLARE ThisLine, LineX, LineY, LineZ : STRING

OPENFILE ThisFile FOR READ

LineY m ""
LineZ m ""

WHILE NOT EOF(ThisFile)

READFILE Thisfile, ThisLine // read a line
LineX m LineY
LineY m LineZ
LineZ m ThisLine
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE ThisFile

OUTPUT LineX
OUTPUT LineY
OUTPUT LineZ

ENDPROCEDURE

Marks as follows to Max 6:

1 Procedure heading (including parameter) and ending

2 Declaration of local variables for three lines AND File OPEN in READ mode AND
CLOSE
3 Loop until EOF(ThisFile)
4 Read line from file... in a loop
5 Attempt at a shuffle… in a loop
6 Correctly shuffle LineX, LineY and LineZ in a loop
7 OUTPUT the three lines in correct sequence, following reasonable attempt

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Question Answer Marks

4(a) Alternative (using two loops):

PROCEDURE LastLines(ThisFile : STRING)

DECLARE ThisLine, LineX, LineY, LineZ : STRING
DECLARE Count, Count2 : INTEGER

Count m 0
OPENFILE ThisFile FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF(ThisFile)

READFILE Thisfile, ThisLine // read a line
Count m Count + 1
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE ThisFile
OPENFILE ThisFile FOR READ

FOR Count2 m 1 TO Count - 3

READFILE Thisfile, ThisLine // read a line
NEXT Count2

READFILE Thisfile, LineX

READFILE Thisfile, LineY
READFILE Thisfile, LineZ

OUTPUT LineX
OUTPUT LineY
OUTPUT LineZ

CLOSEFILE ThisFile

ENDPROCEDURE

Marks as follows to Max 6:

1 Procedure heading (including parameter) and ending

2 Declaration of local variables for three lines AND (at least one) File OPEN in
READ mode AND CLOSE
3 Loop until EOF(ThisFile)
4 Read line from file and increment Count in a loop
5 Two separate loops, closing and re-opening the file between loops

6 Read Count - 3 lines from the file

7 OUTPUT the last three lines in correct sequence, following reasonable attempt

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Question Answer Marks

4(b) One mark per point to Max 3: 3

1 Change the procedure header to include a (numeric) parameter (as well as the
filename)
2 Replace LineX, Y and Z with an array
3 Amend shuffle mechanism
4 Use new parameter to determine first line to output
5 Output the lines in a loop

Alternative 'two loop' solution to Max 3:

1 Change the procedure header to include a numeric parameter (as well as the
filename)
2 A loop to count the total number of lines in the file
3 Ref use of single variable rather than LineX, LineY and LineZ
4 Close and re-open the file
5 Use the new parameter value to determine first line to output
6 Output the lines in a loop

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PUBLISHED

Question Answer Marks

5(a) One mark for type and one mark for condition: 2
Independent marks

Type: pre-condition
Condition: when the value of ThisNum / the input value is equal to zero

5(b) 6
ThisNum ThisChar CountA CountB Flag OUTPUT

0 10 TRUE

12 '1' 1

24 '2'

57 '5' "Ignored"

43 '4' 9 FALSE

56 '5' 4

22 '2' TRUE "Flip"

31 '3' 8

32 '3' 7

47 '4' 6 FALSE

99 '9' TRUE "Flip"

0 4

Marks as follows:
One mark per outlined group
If no marks per group then mark by columns (columns 3 to 6) for max 4

5(c) One mark per point: 2

x Modules that have already been tested individually
x are combined into a single (sub) program which is then tested as a whole

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Question Answer Marks

6 PROCEDURE Parse(InString : STRING) 7

DECLARE Count, Total, Index : INTEGER
DECLARE Average : REAL
DECLARE NumString : STRING
DECLARE ThisChar : CHAR

CONSTANT COMMA = ','

Count m 0
Total m 0
NumString m ""

FOR Index m 1 to LENGTH(InString)

ThisChar m MID(InString, Index, 1)
IF ThisChar = COMMA THEN
Total m Total + STR_TO_NUM(NumString)
Count m Count + 1
NumString m ""
ELSE
NumString m NumString & ThisChar // build the number
string
ENDIF
NEXT Index

// now process the final number

Total m Total + STR_TO_NUM(NumString)
Count m Count + 1

Average m Total / Count

OUTPUT "The total was ", Total, " and the average was ",
Average

ENDPROCEDURE

Marks as follows:
1 Declare and initialise Count, Total and NumString
2 Loop for number of characters in InString
3 Extract a character and test for comma in a loop
4 If comma, convert NumString to integer and update Total and Count
5 and reset NumString
6 Otherwise append character to NumString
7 Calculate average AND final output statement(s) outside the loop

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Question Answer Marks

7(a) FUNCTION MID(InString : STRING, Start, Num : INTEGER) 4

RETURNS STRING
DECLARE MidString : STRING
DECLARE InStringLen : INTEGER

InStringLen m LENGTH(InString)

// solution for RIGHT() then LEFT()

MidString m RIGHT(InString, InStringLen – Start + 1)
MidString m LEFT(MidString, Num)

// alternative solution for LEFT() then RIGHT()

MidString m LEFT(InString, Start + Num - 1)
MidString m RIGHT(MidString, Num)

RETURN MidString
ENDFUNCTION

Marks as follows:
1 Function heading and ending including parameters and return type
2 Correct use of one substring functions
3 Correct use of both substring functions (in correct sequence)
4 Return substring after a reasonable attempt

7(b) One mark per point 2

Check that:
x Start and/or Num are >= 1 // positive
x Length of InString is "sufficient" for required operation

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Question Answer Marks

8(a) FUNCTION Exists(ThisString : STRING, Search : CHAR) 5

RETURNS BOOLEAN
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN
DECLARE Index : INTEGER

Found m FALSE
Index m 1

WHILE Found = FALSE AND Index <= LENGTH(ThisString)

IF MID(ThisString, Index, 1) = Search THEN
Found m TRUE
ELSE
Index m Index + 1
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

RETURN Found

ENDFUNCTION

Marks as follows (Conditional loop solution):

1 Conditional loop while character not found and not end of string
2 Extract a char in a loop
3 Compare with parameter without case conversion in a loop
4 If match found, set termination logic in a loop
5 Return BOOLEAN value

ALTERNATIVE (Using Count-controlled loop):

FOR Index m 1 TO LENGTH(ThisString)
IF MID(ThisString, Index, 1) = Search THEN
RETURN TRUE
ENDIF
NEXT Index
RETURN FALSE

Marks as follows (Count-controlled loop variant):

1 Loop for length of ThisString (allow from 0 or 1)
2 Extract a char in a loop
3 Compare with parameter without case conversion in a loop
4 If match found, immediate RETURN of TRUE
5 Return FALSE after the loop // Return Boolean if no immediate RETURN

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Question Answer Marks

8(b) PROCEDURE SearchDuplicates() 8

DECLARE IndexA, IndexB : INTEGER
DECLARE ThisPassword, ThisValue : STRING
DECLARE Duplicates : BOOLEAN

Duplicates m FALSE
IndexA m 1

WHILE Duplicates = FALSE AND IndexA < 500

ThisValue m Secret[IndexA, 2]
IF ThisValue <> "" THEN
ThisPassword m Decrypt(ThisValue)
FOR IndexB m IndexA + 1 TO 500 //
IF Secret[IndexB, 2] <> "" THEN
IF Decrypt(Secret[IndexB, 2]) = ThisPassword
THEN
OUTPUT "Password for " & Secret[IndexA, 1] &
"also used for " & Secret[IndexB, 1]
Duplicates m TRUE
ENDIF
ENDIF
NEXT IndexB
ENDIF
IndexA m IndexA + 1
ENDWHILE

IF Duplicates = FALSE THEN

OUTPUT "No duplicate passwords found"
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

Marks as follows to Max 8:

1. (Any) conditional loop...

2. ... from 1 to 499 while (attempt at) no duplicate
3. Skip unused password
4. Use Decrypt() and assign return value to ThisPassword
5. Inner loop from outer loop index + 1 to 500 searching for duplicates
6. Compare ThisPassword with subsequent passwords (after use of
Decrypt())
7. If match found, set outer loop termination
8. and attempt an Output message giving duplicate
9. Output 'No duplicate passwords found' message if no duplicates found after the
loop

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Question Answer Marks

8(c) One mark for each point that is referenced: 6

1 Initialise password to empty string at the start and return (attempted) password
at the end of the function
2 Two loops to generate 3 groups of 4 characters // One loop to generate 12 / 14
characters
3 Use of RandomChar()to generate a character in a loop
4 Reject character if Exists()returns TRUE, otherwise form string in a loop
5 (Attempt to) use hyphens to link three groups
6 Three groups of four characters generated correctly with hyphens and without
duplication (completely working algorithm)

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Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 7 3 4 4 0 3 2 3 6 4 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2022
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

DC (PQ) 302745/3
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Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) An algorithm includes a number of complex calculations. A programmer is writing a program

to implement the algorithm and decides to use library routines to provide part of the solution.

State three possible benefits of using library routines in the development of the program.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) The following pseudocode is part of a program that stores names and test marks for use in
other parts of the program.

DECLARE Name1, Name2, Name3 : STRING

DECLARE Mark1, Mark2, Mark3 : INTEGER
INPUT Name1
INPUT Mark1
INPUT Name2
INPUT Mark2
INPUT Name3
INPUT Mark3

(i) The pseudocode needs to be changed to allow for data to be stored for up to 30 students.

Explain why it would be good practice to use arrays to store the data.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [3]

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(ii) The following pseudocode statement includes array references:

OUTPUT "Student ", Name[Count], " scored ", Mark[Count]

State the purpose of the variable Count and give its data type.

Purpose .............................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Data type ...........................................................................................................................

[2]

State the error in each case or write ‘NO ERROR’ if the statement contains no error.

Assume that any variables used are of the correct type for the given function.

Statement Error

IF EMPTY ĸ "" THEN

Status ĸ IS_NUM(-23.4)
X ĸ STR_TO_NUM("37") + 5
Y ĸ STR_TO_NUM("37" + "5")
[4]

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2 A system is being developed to help manage a car hire business. A customer may hire a car for a
number of days.

An abstract model needs to be produced.

(a) Explain the process of abstraction and state four items of data that should be stored each
time a car is hired.

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Item 1 ........................................................................................................................................

Item 2 ........................................................................................................................................

Item 3 ........................................................................................................................................

Item 4 ........................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Identify two operations that would be required to process the car hire data.

Operation 1 ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Operation 2 ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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3 A 1D array Data of type integer contains 200 elements. Each element has a unique value.

An algorithm is required to search for the largest value and output it.

Describe the steps that the algorithm should perform.

Do not include pseudocode statements in your answer.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [5]

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4 (a) The following diagram shows an Abstract Data Type (ADT) representation of an ordered
linked list. The data item stored in each node is a single character. The data will be accessed
in alphabetical order.

The symbol Ø represents a null pointer.

Start pointer

'C' 'J' 'L' Ø

(i) Nodes with data 'A' and 'K' are added to the linked list. Nodes with data 'J' and 'L' are
deleted.

After the changes, the data items still need to be accessed in alphabetical order.

Complete the diagram to show the new state of the linked list.

Start pointer

'C' 'J' 'L'

[4]

(ii) The original data could have been stored in a 1D array in which each element stores a
character.

For example:

'C' 'J' 'L'

Explain the advantages of making the changes described in part (a)(i) when the data is
stored in the linked list instead of an array.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]
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(iii) Explain the disadvantages of making the changes described in part (a)(i) when the data
is stored in the linked list instead of an array.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(b) A program will store data using a linked list like the one shown in part (a).

Explain how the linked list can be implemented.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

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5 A program uses two 1D arrays of type integer. Array1 contains 600 elements and Array2
contains 200 elements.

Array1 contains sample values read from a sensor. The sensor always takes three consecutive
samples and all of these values are stored in Array1.

A procedure Summarise() will calculate the average of three consecutive values from Array1
and write the result to Array2. This will be repeated for all values in Array1.

The diagram below illustrates the process for the first six entries in Array1.

Array1 Array2 Comment

}
10 15 average of first three values

20 41 average of next three values

}
40

Write pseudocode for the procedure Summarise().

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [5]

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6 The following pseudocode algorithm attempts to check whether a string is a valid email address.

FUNCTION IsValid(InString : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Index, Dots, Ats, Others : INTEGER
DECLARE NextChar : CHAR
DECLARE Valid : BOOLEAN

Index ĸ 1
Dots ĸ0
Ats 0ĸ
Others ĸ 0
Valid ĸ TRUE

REPEAT
NextChar ĸ
MID(InString, Index, 1)
CASE OF NextChar
'.' : Dots Dots + 1 ĸ
'@' : Ats Ats + 1 ĸ
IF Ats > 1 THEN
Valid FALSE ĸ
ENDIF
OTHERWISE : Others Others + 1 ĸ
ENDCASE

IF Dots > 1 AND Ats = 0 THEN

Valid FALSE ĸ
ELSE
Index ĸ
Index + 1
ENDIF

UNTIL Index > LENGTH(InString) OR Valid = FALSE

IF NOT (Dots >= 1 AND Ats = 1 AND Others > 8) THEN

Valid FALSE ĸ
ENDIF

RETURN Valid

ENDFUNCTION

(a) Part of the validation is implemented by the line:

IF NOT (Dots >= 1 AND Ats = 1 AND Others > 8) THEN

State the values that would result in the condition evaluating to TRUE.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

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(b) (i) Complete the trace table by dry running the function when it is called as follows:

Result ĸ IsValid("Liz.123@big@net")
Index NextChar Dots Ats Others Valid

[5]

(ii) State the value returned when IsValid() is called using the expression shown in
part (b)(i).

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

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7 A simple arithmetic expression is stored as a string in the format:

$QRSHUDWRUFKDUDFWHULVRQHRIWKHIROORZLQJ í

Example arithmetic expression strings:

"803+1904"
"34/7"

(a) A procedure Calculate() will:

• take an arithmetic expression string as a parameter

• evaluate the expression
• output the result.

Assume:

• the string contains only numeric digits and a single operator character
• Value1 and Value2 represent integer values
• 9DOXHDQG9DOXHDUHXQVLJQHG WKH\ZLOOQRWEHSUHFHGHGE\ RU í

(i) Write pseudocode for the procedure Calculate().

...........................................................................................................................................

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...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [7]

(ii) Calculate() is changed to a function that returns the value of the evaluated
expression.

Write the header for the function in pseudocode.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) A string representing an arithmetic expression could be in the correct format but be impossible
to evaluate.

Give an example of a correctly formatted string and explain why evaluation would be
impossible.

Example string ..........................................................................................................................

Explanation ...............................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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8 A teacher is designing a program to perform simple syntax checks on programs written by

students. Student programs are submitted as text files, which are known as project files.

A project file may contain blank lines.

The teacher has defined the first program module as follows:

Module Description
• takes the name of an existing project file as a parameter of type
string
CheckFile()
• returns TRUE if the file is valid (it contains at least 10 non-blank
lines), otherwise returns FALSE

(a) Write pseudocode for module CheckFile().

...................................................................................................................................................

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...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

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Further modules are defined as follows:

Module Description
• takes a line from a project file as a parameter of type string
CheckLine() • returns zero if the line is blank or contains no syntax error,
otherwise returns an error number as an integer
• takes two parameters:
ż the name of a project file as a string
ż the maximum number of errors as an integer
• uses CheckFile() to test the project file. Outputs an error
CountErrors() message and ends if the project file is not valid
• calls CheckLine() for each line in the project file
• counts the number of errors
• outputs the number of errors or a warning message if the
maximum number of errors is exceeded

(b) CountErrors() is called to check the project file Jim01Prog.txt and to stop if more than
20 errors are found.

Write the pseudocode statement for this call.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(c) Write pseudocode for module CountErrors(). Assume CheckFile() and CheckLine()
have been written and can be used in your solution.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

(d) Module CheckLine() includes a check for syntax errors.

Two examples of syntax error that cannot be detected from examining a single line are
those involving selection and iteration.

Give two other examples.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[2]

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9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

1(a) One mark per point: 3

1 They are tried and tested so free from errors

2 They perform a function that you may not be able to program yourself
(for example encryption)
3 They are readily available / speed up development time

1(b)(i) One mark per point: 3

1 Algorithm to process / search / organise the data is easier to implement

// Values may be accessed via a loop-controlled variable / iterated
through using index
2 Makes the program easier to design / code / test / understand
3 Multiple instances referenced via a single identifier / so fewer identifiers
needed // Easier to amend the program when the number of students
increases

1(b)(ii) One mark per point: 2

Purpose: It identifies / references an individual array element // provides the

index to the array

Data type: Integer

1(c) One mark per row: 4

Statement Error

IF EMPTY m "" THEN Should be "=" not m

Status m IS_NUM(-23.4) Parameter should be a string (or

char) // should not be a real

X m STR_TO_NUM("37") + 5 NO ERROR

Y m STR_TO_NUM("37" + "5") Wrong operator – should be & or

Parameter is not a string

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PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

2(a) One mark for Explanation: 3

x Abstraction is used to filter out information / data that is not necessary

for the task

Or the opposite:

x To keep only information / data that is necessary for the task

One mark for each TWO data items (not dependent on 'Explanation'):

Items include:

x Car details: ID, Car Registration, car type etc

x Customer details: ID, name, address, licence details etc
x Start date (of hire)
x Return date / Number of days (of hire)
x Cost of hire

2(b) One mark for each (Max 2) 2

Examples include:

1 Input customer details

2 Input car details
3 Input payment details
4 Create hire / start hire
5 Return car / end hire
6 Change / check car status (hired / available / written-off)
7 Cancel hire
8 Process payment / calculate hire cost

Question Answer Marks

3 One mark per point (Max 5): 5

1 Declare a variable / an integer Max

2 Assign value of first / any element to Max
3 Set up a loop to repeat 200 times / from start to end of array
4 Use the loop counter as the array index
5 If value of current element is greater than Max...
6 ...then assign value to Max
7 After the loop, Output Max

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1185
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

4(a)(i) One mark for each: 4

1 Data A and K stored in new / existing nodes

2 Start pointer points to Node A
3 Node A points to Node C and Node C points to Node K
4 Node K contains Null Pointer

4(a)(ii) One mark per point: 2

1 Pointers determine the ordering of data // only the pointers need to be

changed when data changed
2 Easier to add / delete data (to maintain correct sequence) in a linked list
// description of moving data to maintain correct sequence when array
used

4(a)(iii) One mark per point: 2

1 Need to store pointers as well as data

2 More complex (to setup / implement)

4(b) One mark per point (Max 4): 4

1 Declare two (1D) arrays

2 One for data, one for pointers
3 Elements from same index represent one node
4 Declare an integer / variable for StartPointer // explain its use
5 Define appropriate value for null pointer // explain its use
6 Declare an integer / variable for FreeList pointer // explain its use
7 Routines are needed to add / delete / search

Alternative MP1, 2 and 3 for record-based implementation:

1 Define a record type with fields for data and pointer

2 Declare one (1D) array
3 ...of the defined record type

PAGE 1186
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

5 Mark as follows (Max 5): 5

1 Procedure heading and ending and declaration of both indexes

2 Loop to process all elements from Array1
3 Sum (any) three consecutive values from Array1 and divide by 3
in a loop
4 Convert result to Integer
5 Assign value to correct element of Array2 in a loop
6 Increment Array2 index in a loop

PROCEDURE Summarise()
DECLARE Value : REAL
DECLARE IxA, IxB : INTEGER // Index variables

IxB m 1

FOR IxA m 1 TO 598 STEP 3

Value m Array1[IxA] + Array1[IxA + 1] + Array1[IxA + 2]
Value m Value / 3
Array2[IxB] m INT(Value)
IxB m IxB + 1
NEXT IxA

ENDPROCEDURE

Question Answer Marks

6(a) One mark for any part correct (accept equivalent wording) (Max 1): 1

x Condition evaluates to TRUE if bracket contents evaluate to FALSE:

x Bracket contents evaluate to FALSE if:

x Dots: zero / less than one

or
x Ats: not equal to one
or
x Others: less than nine

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1187
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

6(b)(i) One mark for each area as outlined: 5

Index NextChar Dots Ats Others Valid

0 0 0 TRUE

1 'L' 1

2 'i' 2

3 'z' 3

4 '.' 1

5 '1' 4

6 '2' 5

7 '3' 6

8 '@' 1

9 'b' 7

10 'i' 8

11 'g' 9

12 '@' 2 FALSE

6(b)(ii) FALSE 1

PAGE 1188
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

7(a)(i) One mark per point (Max 7) as follows: 7

1 Declaration of local variables for Par1 Par2 and Par3

2 Loop to end of (parameter) string // until operator is found
3 Extract a character in a loop...
4 Attempt at extraction of three parts of expression using substring
functions
5 Completely correct extraction of all three parts of expression
6. Convert string to Integer using STR_TO_NUM(<something
sensible>)
7 Attempt to interpret at least two operators (Par2): + - * /
8 Corresponding correct calculation (all operators) and final Output of
result

PROCEDURE Calculate(Expression : STRING)

DECLARE Val1, Val2, Index : INTEGER
DECLARE Result : REAL
DECLARE Par1, Par2, Par3 : STRING

CONSTANT PLUS = '+'

CONSTANT MINUS = '-'
CONSTANT MULTIPLY = '*'
CONSTANT DIVIDE = '/'

FOR Index m 1 TO LENGTH(Expression) //search for

operator
ThisChar m MID(Expression, Index, 1)
IF IS_NUM(ThisChar) = FALSE THEN
Par1 m LEFT(Expression, Index – 1)
Par2 m ThisChar
Par3 m RIGHT(Expression, LENGTH(Expression) –
Index)
ENDIF
NEXT Index

Val1 m STR_TO_NUM(Par1)
Val2 m STR_TO_NUM(Par3)

CASE OF Par2
PLUS : Result m Val1 + Val2
MINUS : Result m Val1 - Val2
MULTIPLY : Result m Val1 * Val2
DIVIDE : Result m Val1 / Val2
ENDCASE

OUTPUT Result

ENDPROCEDURE

7(a)(ii) FUNCTION Calculate(Expression : STRING) RETURNS REAL 1

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1189
9618/21 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

7(b) Example string: "23/0" (Any divide by zero example) 2

Reason: The result is infinity / cannot be represented / is undefined // will

cause the program to crash

Question Answer Marks

8(a) One mark for each point (Max 7) as follows: 7

1 Function heading and ending including parameter and return type
2 Declaration and initialisation of local Integer for Count
3 OPEN in READ mode and CLOSE
4 Conditional loop until EOF()
5 Read a line in a loop
6 If non-blank, increment count in a loop
7 Terminate loop when 10 non-blank lines have been read
8 Return Boolean in both cases

FUNCTION CheckFile(Thisfile : STRING) RETURNS BOOLEAN

DECLARE Valid : BOOLEAN
DECLARE ThisLine : STRING
DECLARE Count : INTEGER

Count m 0
Valid m FALSE
OPEN ThisFile FOR READ

WHILE NOT EOF(ThisFile) AND Valid = FALSE

READFILE ThisFile, ThisLine
IF ThisLine <> "" THEN
Count m Count + 1
IF Count > 9 THEN
Valid m TRUE
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

CLOSEFILE ThisFile
RETURN Valid

ENDFUNCTION

8(b) CALL CountErrors("Jim01Prog.txt", 20) 2

One mark for each:

1 Module name, at least one parameter in brackets and one parameter

correct
2 Completely correct statement

PAGE 1190
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PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

8(c) Mark as follows: 8

1 Procedure heading and ending including parameters
2 Declaration and initialisation of local Integer value for ErrCount
3 Use of CheckFile(), output message and terminate if it returns
FALSE
4 Conditional loop until EOF()
5 ...or ErrCount > MaxErrors
6 Read line and use as parameter to CheckLine()in a loop
7 Test return value and increment ErrCount if non-zero in a loop
8 Output either message once only as appropriate

PROCEDURE CountErrors(ThisFile : STRING, MaxErrors :

INTEGER)
DECLARE ErrCount, ThisError : INTEGER
DECLARE ThisLine : STRING

ErrCount m 0

IF CheckFile(ThisFile) = FALSE THEN

OUTPUT "That program file is not valid"
ELSE
OPEN ThisFile FOR READ

REPEAT
READFILE, ThisFile, ThisLine
ThisError m CheckLine(ThisLine)
IF ThisError <> 0 THEN
ErrCount m ErrCount + 1
ENDIF
UNTIL ErrCount > MaxErrors OR EOF(ThisFile)

IF EOF(ThisFile) = FALSE THEN

OUTPUT "Check terminated – too many errors"
ELSE
OUTPUT "There were ", ErrCount, " errors."
ENDIF

CLOSEFILE ThisFile
ENDIF

ENDPROCEDURE

8(d) One mark for each (Max 2): 2

Examples:
1 Incorrect block structure. Missing keyword denoting part of block (for
example ENDPROCEDURE, ENDFUNCTION, ENDTYPE)
2 Data type errors, for example, assigning an integer value to a string
3 Identifier used before it is declared
4 Incorrect parameter use

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1191

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 5 9 0 4 1 3 6 4 7 7 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/22

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills October/November 2022
2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 (a) A programmer is developing an algorithm to solve a problem. Part of the algorithm would be
appropriate to implement as a subroutine (a procedure or a function).

(i) State two reasons why the programmer may decide to use a subroutine.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) A procedure header is shown in pseudocode:

PROCEDURE MyProc(Count : INTEGER, Message : STRING)

Give the correct term for the identifiers Count and Message and explain their use.

Term ..................................................................................................................................

Use ....................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(b) The algorithm in part (a) is part of a program that will be sold to the public.
All the software errors that were identified during in-house testing have been corrected.

Identify and describe the additional test stage that may be carried out before the program is
sold to the public.

Test stage .................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[4]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1193

(c) Part of an identifier table is shown:

Variable Type Example value

FlagDay DATE 23/04/2004
CharList STRING "ABCDEF"
Count INTEGER 29

Complete the table by evaluating each expression using the example values.

Expression Evaluation
MID(CharList, MONTH(FlagDay), 1)
INT(Count / LENGTH(CharList))
(Count >= 29) AND (DAY(FlagDay) > 23)
[3]

2 (a) An algorithm will process data from a test taken by a group of students. The algorithm will
prompt and input the name and test mark for each of the 35 students.

The algorithm will add the names of all the students with a test mark of less than 20 to an
existing text file Support_List.txt, which already contains data from other group tests.

(i) Describe the steps that the algorithm should perform.

Do not include pseudocode statements in your answer.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [5]

PAGE 1194

(ii) Explain why it may be better to store the names of the students in a file rather than in an
array.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) Explain why WRITE mode cannot be used in the answer to part 2(a)(i).

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) Examine the following state-transition diagram.

Input-A Output-X
Input-B Output-W

Input-B
START
S1 S2
S3

Input-A
Input-A

Input-B
S4 Input-A Output-W

Complete the table to show the inputs, outputs and next states.

Input Output Next state

Input-A

Output-W

[4]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1195

3 A stack is used in a program to store string data which needs to be accessed in several modules.

(a) A stack is an example of an Abstract Data Type (ADT).

Identify one other example of an ADT and describe its main features.

Example ....................................................................................................................................

Features ...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(b) Explain how the stack can be implemented using an array.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [5]

PAGE 1196

(c) A second stack is used in the program. The diagram below shows the initial state of this
stack. Value X is at the top of the stack and was the last item added.

Upper-case letters are used to represent different data values.

Stack operations are performed in three groups as follows:

Group 1:
PUSH D
PUSH E

Group 2:
POP
POP
POP

Group 3:
PUSH A
PUSH B
POP
PUSH C

Complete the diagram to show the state of the stack after each group of operations has been
performed.

Include the current stack pointer (SP) after each group.

Memory Initial After After After

location state Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

957

956

955

954

953 X ĸSP
952 Y

951 Z

950 P

[5]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1197

BLANK PAGE

PAGE 1198

4 The program flowchart represents a simple algorithm.

START

INPUT UserID

Set Average to
GetAverage(UserID)

Set Total to 0

Set Index to 4

Add 1 to Index

YES
Is Index < 7 ?

NO Set Last to
SameMonth[Index]

Is Average NO
> Last ? Add Last to Total

YES

Add Average to Total

Update(UserID, Total)

END

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1199

(a) Write the equivalent pseudocode for the algorithm represented by the flowchart.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

(b) Give the name of the iterative construct in the flowchart.

............................................................................................................................................. [1]

PAGE 1200

5 Examine the following pseudocode.

IF A = TRUE THEN
IF B = TRUE THEN
IF C = TRUE THEN
CALL Sub1()
ELSE
CALL Sub2()
ENDIF
ENDIF
ELSE
IF B = TRUE THEN
IF C = TRUE THEN
CALL Sub4()
ELSE
CALL Sub3()
ENDIF
ELSE
IF C = FALSE THEN
CALL Sub3()
ELSE
CALL Sub4()
ENDIF
ENDIF
ENDIF

A programmer wants to re-write the pseudocode as four separate IF...THEN...ENDIF

statements, each containing a single CALL statement. This involves writing a single, simplified
logic expression as the condition in each statement.

Write the amended pseudocode.

1 .......................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

2 .......................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

3 .......................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

4 .......................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................
[4]
© UCLES 2022 9618/22/O/N/22
MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1201

BLANK PAGE

PAGE 1202

6 (a) The factorial of an integer number is the product of all the integers from that number down
to 1.

In general, the factorial of n is n ) Qí ) ... ) 2 ) 1

For example, the factorial of 5 is 5 ) 4 ) 3 ) 2 ) 1 = 120

In this question, n will be referred to as the BaseNumber.

A function FindBaseNumber() will:

• be called with a positive, non-zero integer value as a parameter
• return BaseNumber if the parameter value is the factorial of the BaseNumber
• UHWXUQíLIWKHSDUDPHWHUYDOXHis not a factorial.

For example:

Parameter value Value returned

120 5
12 í
6 3
1 1

FindBaseNumber(12)ZLOOUHWXUQíEHFDXVHLVQRWDIDFWRULDO

You may use the rest of this page for rough working.

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1203

Write pseudocode for the function FindBaseNumber().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [7]

PAGE 1204

(b) A program is written to allow a user to input a sequence of values to be checked using the
function FindBaseNumber().

The user will input one value at a time. The variable used to store the user input has to be of
type string because the user will input ‘End’ to end the program.

Valid input will be converted to an integer and passed to FindBaseNumber() and the return
value will be output.

Complete the table by giving four invalid strings that may be used to test distinct aspects of
the required validation. Give the reason for your choice in each case.

Input Reason for choice

......................................................................................................

[4]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1205

BLANK PAGE

PAGE 1206

7 A teacher is designing a program to perform simple syntax checks on programs written by

students.

Two global 1D arrays are used to store the syntax error data. Both arrays contain 500 elements.
• Array ErrCode contains integer values that represent an error number in the range 1 to 800.
• Array ErrText contains string values that represent an error description.

The following diagram shows an example of the arrays.

Index ErrCode ErrText

1 10 "Invalid identifier name"
2 20 "Bracket mismatch"
3 50 "Undeclared variable"
4 60 "Type mismatch in assignment"

500 999 <Undefined>

Note:
• There may be less than 500 error numbers so corresponding elements in both arrays may be
unused. Unused elements in ErrCode have the value 999. The value of unused elements in
ErrText is undefined.
• Values in the ErrCode array are stored in ascending order but not all values may be present,
for example, there may be no error code 31.

The teacher has defined two program modules as follows:

Module Description

• takes two parameters as integers:

ż a line number in the student’s program
ż an error number
• searches for the error number in the ErrCode array:
OutputError() ż if found, outputs the corresponding error description and the
line number, for example:
"Bracket mismatch on line 34"
ż if not found, outputs the line number and a warning, for
example:
"Unknown error on line 34"

SortArrays() sorts the arrays into ascending order of ErrCode

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1207

(a) Write efficient pseudocode for module OutputError().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [6]

PAGE 1208

(b) Write an efficient bubble sort algorithm in pseudocode for module SortArrays().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [8]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1209

(c) Two 1D arrays were described at the beginning of the question. Both arrays contain 500
elements.
• Array ErrCode contains integer values that represent an error number in the range
1 to 800.
• Array ErrText contains string values that represent an error description.

The two arrays will be replaced by a single array. A user-defined data type (record structure)
has been declared as follows:
TYPE ErrorRec
DECLARE ErrCode : STRING
DECLARE ErrText : STRING
ENDTYPE

(i) State the error in the record declaration.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) State two benefits of using the single array of the user-defined data type.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(iii) Write the declaration for the single array in pseudocode.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

PAGE 1210
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

1(a)(i) One mark for each point (Max 2): 2

x When a task which is repeated / reused / performed in several places

x When a part of an algorithm performs a specific task
x Reduces complexity of program / program is simplified // subroutine
already available
x Testing / debugging / maintenance is easier

1(a)(ii) One mark for each part: 2

Term: Parameter(s)

Use: to pass values / arguments to the procedure

1(b) One mark for test stage, one mark for each description point 4
(Max 3 for Description)

Test stage: Beta testing

Description:

1 Testing carried out by a small group of (potential) users

2 Users will check that the software works as required / works in the real
world / does not contain errors
3 Users will feedback problems / suggestions for improvement
4 Problems / suggestions identified are addressed (before the program is
sold)

1(c) One mark per row: 3

Expression Evaluation

MID(CharList, MONTH(FlagDay), 1) 'D'

INT(Count / LENGTH(CharList)) 4

(Count >= 99) AND (DAY(FlagDay) > 23) FALSE

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1211
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

2(a)(i) One mark per step (or equivalent): 5

1 Open file in APPEND mode (and subsequent Close)

2 Prompt and Input a student name and mark
3 If mark greater than or equal to 20 jump to step 5
4 Write only the name to the file
5 Repeat from Step 2 for 35 times / the number of students

2(a)(ii) Data in a file is saved after the computer is switched off / stored 1
permanently // no need to re-enter the data when the program is re-run

2(a)(iii) Example answer: 1

So that existing file data is not overwritten.

2(b) One mark per row (row 2 to 5): 4

Input Output Next state

Input-A Output-X S2

Input-A (none) S2

Input-B Output-W S3

Input-A Output-W S4

PAGE 1212
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

3(a) One mark for name, Max two for features (Max 3 in total) 3

Name: Queue

Features:
1 Each queue element contains one data item
2 A Pointer to the front / start of the queue
3 A Pointer to the back / end of the queue
4 Data is added at back / end and removed from front / start // works on a
FIFO basis
5 May be circular

ALTERNATIVE:

Name: Linked List

Features:
1 Each node contains data and a pointer to the next node
2 A Pointer to the start of the list
3 Last node in the list has a null pointer
4 Data may be added / removed by manipulating pointers (not moving
data)
5 Nodes are traversed in a specific sequence
6 Unused nodes are stored on a free list // a free-list pointer to the Free
List

3(b) One mark per point (Max 5): 5

1 Declare a (1D) array of data type STRING

2 The number of elements in that array corresponds to the size of the
required stack
3 Declare an integer / variable for StackPointer
4. Declare an integer / variable for the size of the stack // for the max value
of StackPointer
5 Use the StackPointer as an index to the array
6 Pointers and variables initialised to indicate empty stack
7 Store each item on the stack as one array element / Each stack item
maps to one array element
8 Attempt to describe Push and Pop operations
9 Push and Pop routines need to check for full or empty conditions

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1213
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

3(c) One mark for each: 5

1 Data 'After Group 1' (as shown, including blank cells)

2 Data 'After Group 2' (as shown, including blank cells)
3 Data 'After Group 3' (as shown, including blank cells)
4 SP 'After Group 1' pointing to location 955
5 Final two SPs pointing to locations 952 and 954

PAGE 1214
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

4(a) One mark per point: 6

1 Input UserID and use of GetAverage()and assignment

2 Initialisation of Total to zero and Index to 4
3 Conditional loop with Index from 4 to 6
4 Assignment of Last from element SameMonth[Index] in a loop
5 Structure: IF...THEN...ELSE...ENDIF in a loop
6 Correct assignments and final call to Update()after the loop

INPUT UserID
Average m GetAverage(UserID)
Total m 0
Index m 4

WHILE Index < 7 // REPEAT

Last m SameMonth[Index]
IF Average > Last THEN
Total m Total + Average
ELSE
Total m Total + Last
ENDIF
Index m Index + 1
ENDWHILE // UNTIL Index = 7

CALL Update(UserID, Total)

Alternative solution using FOR loop:

One mark per point FOR loop solution:

1 Input UserID and use of GetAverage()and assignment
2 Initialisation of Total to zero
3 loop Index from 4 to 6
4 Assignment of Last from array SameMonth in a loop
5 Comparison IF...THEN...ELSE...ENDIF in a loop
6 Appropriate assignments in a loop AND final call to Update()after
the loop

INPUT UserID
Average m GetAverage(UserID)
Total m 0
FOR Index m 4 TO 6
Last m SameMonth[Index]
IF Average > Last THEN
Total m Total + Average
ELSE
Total m Total + Last
ENDIF
NEXT Index

CALL Update(UserID, Total)

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1215
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

4(b) Pre-condition (loop) / count-controlled (loop) 1

Question Answer Marks

5 One mark per IF...THEN...ENDIF clause: 4

1 IF A AND B AND C THEN

CALL Sub1()
ENDIF

2 IF (A AND B) AND NOT C THEN

CALL Sub2()
ENDIF

3 IF (NOT A) AND (NOT C) THEN

CALL Sub3()
ENDIF

4 IF (NOT A) AND C THEN

CALL Sub4()
ENDIF

PAGE 1216
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

6(a) Example by repeated multiplication: 7

Mark as follows (multiplication solution), (Max 7):

1 Function heading and ending including parameter and return type

2 Declaration and initialisation of local Num
3 Any conditional loop
4 Conditional loop until ThisValue found or Try out of range
5 Multiply Try by Num in a loop
6 Compare Try with ThisValue and set termination if the same in
a loop
7 Increment Num and repeat in a loop
8 Attempt to Return Num if ThisValue is a factorial or -1 otherwise

FUNCTION FindBaseNumber(ThisValue : INTEGER) RETURNS

INTEGER
DECLARE Num, Try : INTEGER
DECLARE Found : BOOLEAN

Num m 0
Found m FALSE
Try m 1

WHILE Try <= ThisValue AND Found = FALSE

Num m Num + 1
Try m Try * Num
IF Try = ThisValue THEN //BaseNumber found
Found m TRUE
ENDIF
ENDWHILE

IF Found = TRUE THEN

RETURN Num
ELSE
RETURN -1
ENDIF

ENDFUNCTION

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1217
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

6(a) Alternative FOR LOOP solution.

Mark as follows:
1 Function heading and ending including parameter and return type
2 Declaration of local Integer value for Num and Try
3 Count-controlled Loop from 1 to ThisValue
4 Multiply Try by Num in a loop
5 Compare Try with ThisValue in a loop
6 ...Immediate return of Num if they are the same in a loop
7 Return –1 if ThisValue not found after loop

FUNCTION FindBaseNumber(ThisValue : INTEGER) RETURNS

INTEGER
DECLARE Num, Try : INTEGER

Try m 1

FOR Num m 1 TO ThisValue

Try m Try * Num
IF Try = ThisValue THEN //BaseNumber found
RETURN Num
ENDIF
NEXT Num

RETURN -1

ENDFUNCTION

6(b) One mark per row. 4

Examples of invalid strings:

1 Non-numeric but not "End" // contains space or other non-numeric

characters
2 Real number
3 Integer value out of range (i.e. <= 0)
4 Empty string
5 Correct word but wrong case e.g. "end" rather than "End"

Input Reason for choice

"Aardvark" Non-numeric (and not "End")

"27.3" Numeric but not an integer

"-3" // "0" A non-positive integer

"" An empty string

PAGE 1218
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

7(a) One mark per point (Max 6): 6

1 Procedure heading and ending including parameters

2 Conditional loop containing incrementing Index...
3 ...terminating when ErrNum found
4 ...terminating when ErrCode[Index] > ErrNum (i.e. ErrNum
not found)
5 ... OR after element 500 tested
6 Test if found and OUTPUT 'Found' message
7 ...otherwise OUTPUT 'Not Found' message

PROCEDURE OutputError(LineNum, ErrNum : INTEGER)

DECLARE Index : INTEGER

Index m 0

// Search until ErrNum found OR not present OR end of

array

REPEAT
Index m Index + 1
UNTIL ErrCode[Index] >= ErrNum OR Index = 500

IF ErrCode[Index] = ErrNum THEN

OUTPUT ErrText[Index], " on line ", LineNum
//Found
ELSE
OUTPUT "Unknown error on line ", LineNum //Not
found
ENDIF

ENDPROCEURE

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1219
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

7(b) One mark per point (Max 8): 8

1 Procedure heading and ending as shown

2 Conditional loop correctly terminated
3 An inner loop
4 Correct range for inner loop
5 Comparison (element J with J+1) in a loop
6 Swap elements in both arrays in a loop
7 'No-Swap' mechanism:
x Conditional outer loop including flag reset
x Flag set in inner loop to indicate swap
8 Efficiency (this scenario): terminate inner loop when ErrCode = 999
9 Reducing Boundary in the outer loop

PROCEDURE SortArrays()
DECLARE TempInt, J, Boundary : INTEGER
DECLARE TempStr : STRING
DECLARE NoSwaps : BOOLEAN

Boundary m 499

REPEAT
NoSwaps m TRUE
FOR J m 1 TO Boundary
IF ErrCode[J]> ErrCode[J+1] THEN
//first swap ErrCode elements
TempInt m ErrCode[J]
ErrCode[J] m ErrCode[J+1]
ErrCode[J+1] m TempInt
//now swap corresponding ErrText elements
TempStr m ErrText[J]
ErrText[J] m ErrText[J+1]
ErrText[J+1] m TempStr
NoSwaps m FALSE
ENDIF
NEXT J
Boundary m Boundary - 1
UNTIL NoSwaps = TRUE

ENDPROCEDURE

7(c)(i) ErrCode should be an INTEGER // ErrCode should not be a STRING 1

PAGE 1220
9618/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme October/November
PUBLISHED 2022

Question Answer Marks

7(c)(ii) Benefits include: 2

1 Array of records can store mixed data types / multiple data types under
a single identifer
2 Tighter / closer association between ErrCode and ErrText // simpler
code as fields may be referenced together // values cannot get out of
step as with two arrays
3 Program easier to design / write / debug / test / maintain / understand

One mark per point

Note: Max 2 marks

7(c)(iii) DECLARE Error : ARRAY[1:500] OF ErrorRec 1

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1221

Cambridge International AS & A Level

* 1 2 8 1 9 6 8 3 4 2 *

COMPUTER SCIENCE 9618/21

Paper 2 Fundamental Problem-solving and Programming Skills May/June 2023

2 hours

You must answer on the question paper.

You will need: Insert (enclosed)

This document has 20 pages. Any blank pages are indicated.

Refer to the insert for the list of pseudocode functions and operators.

1 A programmer has written a program which includes the function Calculate().

When the program is run, the function returns an unexpected value.

(a) Describe how a typical Integrated Development Environment (IDE) could be used to help
debug the program to find the errors in the function Calculate().

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) The algorithm for function Calculate() contains the three pseudocode statements shown.

Describe the error in each statement or write ‘no error’ if the statement contains no error.

Assume any variables used are of the correct type for the given function.

Statement 1: Index STR_TO_NUM(("27") + 2)

Error ..........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Statement 2: Index STR_TO_NUM(MID("CPE1704TKS", 4, 2))

Error ..........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

Statement 3: IF MONTH(ThisDate) > '6' THEN

Error ..........................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1223

(c) The program contains variables with values as follows:

Variable Value
Active TRUE
Points 75
Exempt FALSE

(i) Complete the table by evaluating each expression.

Expression Evaluation

1 (Points > 99) OR Active

2 (Points MOD 2 = 0) OR Exempt

3 (Points <= 75) AND (Active OR Exempt)

4 (Active OR NOT Active) AND NOT Exempt

[2]

(ii) Write expression 4 from the table in part (c)(i) in its simplest form.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

PAGE 1224

2 A program contains an algorithm to output a string of a specified length containing identical

characters.

(a) The algorithm is described as follows:

1. prompt and input a character and store in MyChar
2. prompt and input an integer and store in MyCount
3. generate a string consisting of MyChar repeated MyCount times
4. output the string.

Draw a program flowchart to represent the algorithm.

START

END

(b) A different part of the program uses the variable StartDate.

Write pseudocode statements to declare StartDate and assign to it the date corresponding
to 15/11/2005.

Declaration ...............................................................................................................................

Assignment ...............................................................................................................................
[3]

PAGE 1226

3 Customers collect points every time they make a purchase at a store.

A program is used to manage the points system and the table lists some of the information stored
for one customer.

Information Data type required

Name String
Number of points collected Integer
Date of birth Date

(a) (i) Identify a suitable structure for storing the information for one customer. Explain the
advantage of using this structure.

Structure ............................................................................................................................

Advantage .........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[4]

(ii) Describe a data structure that could be used to store the information for all customers.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1227

(b) Customers receive points depending on the amount they spend. The number of points
depends on the band that the amount falls into:

Band Amount Points

1 Less than $10 5 per whole dollar ($)
2 Between $10 and $100 inclusive 7 per whole dollar ($)
3 Over $100 10 per whole dollar ($)

For example, if the amount is $99.77, this amount is in band 2 and therefore the number of
points is 7 ) 99, which is 693 points.

The algorithm to calculate the points from a given amount is expressed as follows:
• work out the appropriate band
• calculate and output the number of points.

Apply the process of stepwise refinement to increase the detail of the algorithm. Structure
your algorithm into a sequence of five steps that could be used to produce pseudocode.

Write the five steps.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

2 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

4 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

5 ................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[5]
© UCLES 2023 9618/21/M/J/23 [Turn over
PAGE 1228

4 Function Replace() will:

1. take three parameters:
• a string (the original string)
• a char (the original character)
• a char (the new character)

2. form a new string from the original string where all instances of the original character are
replaced by the new character

3. return the new string.

Write pseudocode for function Replace().

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [6]

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1229

5 Several companies are developing websites to market a new type of games console. The company
that is first to create a website that can demonstrate the interactive features of the games console
will have an advantage over the others. The requirements for the website are likely to change as
more information about the features of the console are made available.

One company has decided to develop their website using a program development life cycle based
on the waterfall model.

(a) (i) Give two reasons why this may not be the most appropriate model to use in this case.

Reason 1 ...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Reason 2 ...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................
[2]

(ii) Identify a more appropriate program development life cycle model for this scenario.

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(b) The website has been running in test mode for several weeks.

Identify and describe a final stage of testing that should take place before the website is
made available to all customers.

Stage ........................................................................................................................................

Description ................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................
[3]

PAGE 1230

6 A video-conferencing program supports up to six users. Speech from each user is sampled and
digitised (converted from analogue to digital). Digitised values are stored in array Sample.

The array Sample consists of 6 rows by 128 columns and is of type integer. Each row contains
128 digitised sound samples from one user.

The digitised sound samples from each user are to be processed to produce a single value which
will be stored in a 1D array Result of type integer. This process will be implemented by procedure
Mix().

A procedure Mix() will:

• calculate the average of each of the 6 sound samples in a column
• ignore sound sample values of 10 or less
• store the average value in the corresponding position in Result
• repeat for each column in array Sample

The diagram uses example values to illustrate the process:

1 2 3 ... 126 127 128

1 20 20 20 30 30 2
2 20 20 30 50 30 3
3 20 20 40 40 40 4
Sample:
4 20 20 50 40 50 20
5 20 3 5 6 60 4
6 20 4 2 4 70 30

Result: 20 20 35 40 46 25

MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN
PAGE 1231

Write pseudocode for procedure Mix().

Assume Sample and Result are global.

..........................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................... [6]

PAGE 1232

7 A school has a computerised library system that allows students to borrow books for a fixed length
of time. The system uses text files to store details of students, books and loans.

A new module is to be written which will generate emails to each student who has an overdue
book.

(a) Decomposition will be used to break down the problem of designing the new module into
sub-problems.

Identify three program modules that could be used in the design and describe their use.

Module 1 ...................................................................................................................................

Use ...........................................................................................................................................