Word Processing and Spreadsheet Applications
This domain tests practical document and data skills: formatting a document properly, doing a mail merge, and writing correct formulas with the right cell references.
Word processing essentials
- Character formatting (font, size, bold) vs paragraph formatting (alignment, indentation, line spacing, bullets, numbering).
- Page setup: margins, orientation (portrait/landscape), paper size, header/footer, page numbers.
- Styles keep headings consistent and let you generate an automatic table of contents.
- Find & Replace edits repeated text in one pass; spell-check flags possible errors but does not fix names or grammar logically.
- Mail merge = main document + data source (a spreadsheet or table of records) → personalised letters, labels or envelopes.
Spreadsheet essentials
- Structure: workbook → sheet → cell. A cell address is column letter + row number, e.g. B7.
- A formula always begins with =. Functions: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT (numbers only), COUNTA (non-empty cells), MAX, MIN, IF, ROUND.
- References: relative A1 changes when copied; absolute $A$1 stays fixed; mixed A$1 or $A1 locks one part.
- Sort rearranges data; filter hides rows that do not match. Charts: column for comparison, line for trend, pie for parts of a whole.
Worked example
Marks are in B2:B6. =SUM(B2:B6) gives the total in B7. The maximum total is in B8. To compute each student's percentage in C2 and drag down, write =B2/$B$8*100. The $B$8 is absolute, so every copied row still divides by the maximum total. With a relative reference the formula would drift to B9, B10 and return wrong values or #DIV/0!.
Traps that cost marks
- Forgetting the leading
=- the entry becomes text. - Numbers typed with stray spaces are stored as text and align left; SUM then ignores them.
- Confusing COUNT with COUNTA.
- Using a pie chart for a trend over months.
- Deleting cells when you only meant to clear contents.