These are original Marlbridge practice questions, not past exam questions. All scenarios are fictional. The code is Marlbridge’s rendering of the exam reference notation (← assignment, = equality test, lists start at index 1, DISPLAY shows a value). Mark points are a suggested Marlbridge rubric, not an official scoring guideline. No calculator is needed or allowed. Try each question before opening its answer.
Question 1 (multiple choice · foundation)
What is displayed?
DISPLAY(concat("sun", "shine"))- (A) sun shine
- (B) shinesun
- (C) sunshine
- (D) sun+shine
Answer and explanation
Answer: (C). concat("sun", "shine") joins the first string then the second with nothing in between.
- (A) inserts a space that neither string contains.
- (B) reverses the order.
- (D) invents a “+” symbol; concatenation adds no characters.
Question 2 (multiple choice · core)
Using substring(text, start, length) with positions counted from 1, what does substring("computer", 2, 3) evaluate to?
- (A) com
- (B) omp
- (C) ompu
- (D) mpu
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Three characters starting at position 2 are o (2), m (3), p (4).
- (A) starts at position 1.
- (C) takes four characters.
- (D) starts at position 3.
Question 3 (multiple choice · core)
What is displayed?
word ← "banana"
part ← substring(word, 2, 3)
DISPLAY(concat(part, part))- (A) anaana
- (B) nannan
- (C) banana
- (D) ana
Answer and explanation
Answer: (A). "banana" is b-a-n-a-n-a. Three characters from position 2 are "ana". Joining it to itself gives "anaana".
- (B) starts at position 3 instead of 2, giving
"nan"twice. - (C) is the original string.
- (D) forgets the second copy.
Question 4 (multiple choice · foundation)
What does concat("12", "34") evaluate to?
DISPLAY(concat("12", "34"))- (A) “12 34”
- (B) “1234”
- (C) 46
- (D) “46”
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). The two values are strings, so they are joined end to end.
- (A) adds a space that is not in either string.
- (C) and (D) add them as numbers, but they are strings.
Question 5 (multiple choice · core)
What is displayed by the program?
s ← "hello"
t ← substring(s, 1, 2)
DISPLAY(s)- (A) hehe
- (B) hello
- (C) he
- (D) llo
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). substring builds a new string and leaves s unchanged, so the last line shows the original.
- (A) joins
tto itself, which no line does. - (C) is the value of
t, nots. - (D) is the substring from position 3, which the program never builds.
Question 6 (multiple choice · core)
What is displayed?
result ← ""
REPEAT 3 TIMES
{
result ← concat(result, "ha")
}
DISPLAY(result)- (A) hhaa
- (B) hahaha
- (C) hahah
- (D) ha
Answer and explanation
Answer: (B). Each pass adds "ha" to the end: "" → "ha" → "haha" → "hahaha".
- (A) mixes up the letters.
- (C) cuts the last character off.
- (D) shows only one pass.
Question 7 (multiple select, choose two · core)
Let word be "concatenate". Which two expressions evaluate to "cat"?
- (A)
concat(substring(word, 1, 1), "at") - (B)
substring(word, 4, 3) - (C)
concat("at", "c") - (D)
substring(word, 5, 3) - (E)
substring(word, 3, 3)
Answer and explanation
Answers: (A) and (B). "concatenate" is c-o-n-c-a-t-e-n-a-t-e. Positions 4, 5, 6 are c, a, t, and "c" joined to "at" is also "cat".
- (C) gives
"atc", the wrong order. - (D) gives
"ate". - (E) gives
"nca".
Question 8 (constructed response · core)
The variables first and last hold "Priya" and "Rao". (a) Write code that stores in label the text Rao, Priya (surname, comma, space, first name) and displays it. (b) State what is displayed. (c) State how many characters label contains.
Answer and explanation
(a) One correct answer:
label ← concat(concat(last, ", "), first)
DISPLAY(label)(b) Rao, Priya is displayed.
(c) 10 characters: R, a, o (3) + comma (1) + space (1) + P, r, i, y, a (5) = 10.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 marks)
| Mark point | Marks |
|---|---|
(a) Joins last, then a comma-and-space string, then first, in that order |
1 |
(a) Nests the two concat calls correctly and displays the result |
1 |
| (b) Rao, Priya | 1 |
| (c) 10, with the space counted | 1 |
Question 9 (constructed response · core)
Variables w1, w2 and w3 hold "random", "access" and "memory". (a) Write code that displays a three-letter code made from the first letter of each word, in order. (b) State the displayed code. (c) Explain why the order of the concat calls matters.
Answer and explanation
(a) One correct answer:
code ← concat(concat(substring(w1, 1, 1), substring(w2, 1, 1)), substring(w3, 1, 1))
DISPLAY(code)(b) ram.
(c) Concatenation joins strings in the order given, so changing the order changes the result: joining the same three letters in a different order would display a different code.
Suggested Marlbridge rubric (4 marks)
| Mark point | Marks |
|---|---|
(a) Three substring(..., 1, 1) calls, one per word |
1 |
(a) Joins them with two concat calls in the right order |
1 |
| (b) ram | 1 |
| (c) Order of joining decides order of characters | 1 |
How did you do?
Count the questions you got right first time, then read the explanation for every one you missed, including the wrong options you rejected correctly, because the distractors show you the typical slips. Anything you missed twice goes onto your revision list for the revision notes; re-read the matching section of the study guide before trying again.