Reinforcement: 05-10 Years' relevant CIE questions.

Section 3.1

http://sites.google.com/site/computing9691/
Page 1 of 3

Past Papers Questions:
Section 3.1: The Functions of Operating Systems
May/J une 2000
Oct/NOV 2000
May/J une 2001
Oct/NOV 2001
May/J une 2002
Oct/NOV 2002
May/June 2003
9. Describe what happens when a processor which is currently working on a job receives an
interrupt from an external source. [6]

Oct/NOV 2003
9. (a) Describe the process of spooling when sending jobs for printing. [3]
(b) Explain the importance of job type when a number of jobs are being processed
using a multiprogramming operating system. [3]

2. Explain how memory can be managed to allow more than one large job to appear to be stored
simultaneously in the memory. [5]

May/June 2004
5. (a) Describe the objectives of scheduling in a multi-user operating system. [3]
(b) Describe two common scheduling policies. [4]
(c) State five methods by which the priority of a job may be determined. [5]

Oct/NOV 2004
3. Describe how memory is managed in a typical modern computer system. Your answer should
include an explanation of
(i) fragmentation of memory, [3]
(ii) paging, [3]
(iii) segmentation, [3]
(iv) virtual memory. [3]

May/J une 2005
Oct/NOV 2005
5. (a) State the purpose of an interrupt in a computer system. [1]
(b) Describe what is meant by a
(i) timer interrupt,
(ii) hardware interrupt. [4]

May/June 2006
9. (a) Explain the meaning of the terms;
(i) virtual memory, [2]
(ii) paging memory, [2]
(iii) segmentation of memory. [2]
(b) (i) State what is meant by the term spooling. [2]
(ii) Describe the process of sending jobs for printing using a spooler. [3]
Reinforcement: 05-10 Years' relevant CIE questions.
Section 3.1

http://sites.google.com/site/computing9691/
Page 2 of 3


Oct/NOV 2006
9. (a) Explain why the operating system, of a multi-access computer system, needs to schedule the
processing of jobs. [2]
(b) Describe how the operating system manages the throughput of jobs. Your answer should
contain references to scheduling, job queues and priorities. [5]

May/June 2007
1. (b) Describe two of the main components of a typical desktop PC operating system. [4]

Oct/NOV 2007
5. (a) State two different types of interrupt and give an example of how each may be generated.
[4]
(b) Explain the process carried out by the operating system on receipt of an interrupt. [5]

May/June 2008
8. One of the main features of an operating system is the ability to schedule job throughput.
(a) Explain the purpose of scheduling job throughput. [2]
(b) Describe three scheduling policies which lead to different scheduling algorithms. [6]

Oct/NOV 2008
6. Explain how memory is managed in a typical modern computer system.
You should use the following as headings for your answer.
(i) Paging [3]
(ii) Segmentation [3]
(iii) Virtual memory [3]

May/June 2009
9 Explain how interrupts are dealt with by a processor and how interrupted jobs may later be
resumed. [6]

Oct/NOV 2009. P31
9. (a) A typical desktop PC operating system is a single-user operating system.
(i) State what is meant by a single-user operating system. [1]
(ii) Describe two components of a typical desktop PC operating system. [4]

Oct/NOV 2009. P32
8. Explain how scheduling, job queues and priorities are used to manage job throughput.
[6]
Oct/NOV 2009. P33
May/J une 2010. P31

May/June 2010. P32
6. (a) Describe the difference between the use of pages and the use of segmentation in managing
memory. [2]
(b) A job is split by the operating system into a number of pages. At any one time, only some of
the pages are in memory.


Reinforcement: 05-10 Years' relevant CIE questions.
Section 3.1

http://sites.google.com/site/computing9691/
Page 3 of 3

May/June 2010. P33
6. (a) A job which is being processed is in one of three states: ready, running or blocked.
Explain how the scheduler manages jobs in the processor. [6]
(b) State two types of scheduling algorithm. [2]

Oct/NOV 2010. P31
5 (a) Describe two different types of interrupt. [4]
(b) Explain how interrupts are dealt with by a processor and how interrupted jobs may later
be resumed. [5]

Oct/NOV 2010. P32
5. (a) Describe two different types of interrupt. [4]
(b) Explain how interrupts are dealt with by a processor and how interrupted jobs may later
be resumed. [5]

Oct/NOV 2010. P33
5. Describe how memory is managed in a typical computer system.
Your answer should include an explanation of
(i) segmentation,
(ii) paging,
(iii) virtual memory. [9]

May/June 2011. P31
5 (a) Describe what is meant by the spooling of files. [2]

May/June 2011. P32
5. (a) Describe what is meant by the spooling of files. [2]

May/June 2011. P33
5. (a) Describe what is meant by virtual memory. [2]

Oct/NOV 2011. P31
Oct/NOV 2011. P32
Oct/NOV 2011. P33
May/J une 2012. P31
May/J une 2012. P32
May/J une 2012. P33