Edexcel GCSE Computer Science (1CP2) Exam Questions

Award one mark for any of the following up to a maximum of two marks:

• A binary digit (1)
• Has the value 0 or 1 (1)
• The smallest unit of data storage (1)
• A single 0 or 1 (1)

Allow binary digit/binary place value for binary digit

Allow a single binary digit for a single 0 or 1

Do not accept a group of 8 bits/half a nibble of 4 bits, which describe a byte or a nibble

Do not accept a binary number/binary on its own

Award up to two marks for a linked description such as:

• Attempts to repair/rebuild the corrupted file (1) so that it can be opened by its program again (1)
• Recovers/retrieves the parts of the file that can still be read (1) so that the user does not lose all of the data in the file (1)
• Reconstructs the file from data held in other parts of the disk (1) because part of the file/the disk is corrupted (1)
• Saves a new/repaired copy of the file (1) as some of the data in it may not be recoverable (1)

Do not accept 'it repairs the file' on its own, as this repeats the question.

Do not accept responses about restoring a backup/previous version of the file, as this is backup software.

Do not accept responses about scanning for or removing malware.

Award up to two marks for a linked description such as:

• Instructions can manipulate/control the hardware/memory/registers directly (1) so the driver can control the specific device it is written for (1)
• The code is written for one specific processor/architecture (1) so it works with the exact hardware it will control (1)
• The programmer controls exactly how memory/registers are used (1) so the code is efficient and needs little memory, which suits a device that has limited memory (1)
• Each instruction maps to one machine code instruction (1) so the driver code is small enough to fit in the memory of the device (1)

Extra detail, such as naming the device the driver controls, is not needed to earn the marks.

Do not accept 'it is closer to machine code' on its own: it must be developed to show how this helps the driver, e.g. it can control the hardware directly.

Do not accept 'it is faster/quicker' with no link to the hardware/device, e.g. the device responds quickly.

Do not accept 'it is easier to learn', 'it is easier to debug' or 'it takes less time to write'.

Award up to two marks for a linked explanation such as:

• Routers can forward the packet towards its destination (1) because they read the destination IP address in the packet header (1)
• The packet is delivered to the correct device (1) because the receiving device compares the destination IP address with its own IP address (1)
• Each packet can take a different route (1) because routers use the destination IP address to choose the next router (1)
• The packet can be passed on by each router in turn (1) because the destination IP address shows which network the packet is for (1)

For both marks, the expansion must follow/associate with the statement.

Statements such as 'so it reaches the right destination' or 'so routers know where to send it' earn the first mark only; do not award the second mark unless the reason says that the address is read from the packet header and used to forward the packet.

Do not accept 'so it knows where it came from' as this describes the source address, not the destination address.

Do not accept 'so it gets there faster' without a linked reason.