A student was asked to record the type of vehicle that entered the school compound through the school's main gate on a Monday morning. The passage below is an excerpt from the student's report on the assignment. "Report on the vehicular traffics at the gate on Monday.
1. Introduction; I was directed by the school principal to sit at the main gate and record the type and number of vehicles that passed through the gate on Monday morning.
2. Observation; I arrived at the gate at about 8;00am and left at 12 noon. During this period, I made the following observation; Car, bus, bus, car, lorry, motorcycle, car, tricycle, motorcycle, bus, bus."
(a) Beginning from the desktop, outline a step by step procedure of how to type the passage in MS word, using A4 paper size and portrait orientation.
(b) State the procedure for carrying out the following operations in the passage;
(i) Begin the second and third sentences in new paragraphs; (ii) Write the first sentence in capital letter underline it and bold it. (iii) Begin the first letter of a sentence with capital letters (iv) Represent the student's observation in a table with three columns under the headings; Serial Number, Type of vehicle, Number of vehicle (v) Merge the first two cells of the ast row of the table and type "Total"and give the total number of vehicles observed in the column for number of vehicles (vi) Save the document with the name: "Vehicular traffic"(vii) Print the document.
This practical question tests how to create and format a document in MS Word: opening the program, setting the page, arranging paragraphs, applying character formatting, building a table with a merged total cell, and finally saving and printing.
(a) Type the passage in MS Word using A4 size and portrait orientation (starting from the desktop)
- From the desktop, click Start, find and click Microsoft Word (or double-click its desktop icon), then choose Blank document.
- Click the Layout (Page Layout) tab, click Size and select A4.
- Still on the Layout tab, click Orientation and select Portrait.
- Type the passage of the report into the document.
- Save your work regularly as you type.
(b)(i) Begin the second and third sentences in new paragraphs
Place the cursor immediately before the first word of each of those sentences and press the Enter key to push each sentence onto its own new line/paragraph.
(b)(ii) Write the first sentence in capitals, underline it and bold it
- Select (highlight) the first sentence.
- Click the Change Case button on the Home tab and choose UPPERCASE (or retype it in capitals).
- With the sentence still selected, click U (underline) and B (bold) in the Font group.
(b)(iii) Begin the first letter of a sentence with a capital letter
Word does this automatically (AutoCapitalize) when you type; otherwise select the letter, use Change Case and choose Sentence case, or simply retype the first letter as a capital.
(b)(iv) Represent the observation in a table with three columns
Click Insert then Table, choose a table of 3 columns and enough rows, then fill it in. Summarising the student's observation gives:
| Serial Number | Type of vehicle | Number of vehicle |
|---|
| 1 | Car | 3 |
| 2 | Bus | 4 |
| 3 | Lorry | 1 |
| 4 | Motorcycle | 2 |
| 5 | Tricycle | 1 |
| Total | | 11 |
(Counting the list Car, bus, bus, car, lorry, motorcycle, car, tricycle, motorcycle, bus, bus gives 3 cars, 4 buses, 1 lorry, 2 motorcycles, and 1 tricycle, which add up to \(3+4+1+2+1 = 11\) vehicles.)
(b)(v) Merge the first two cells of the last row and type "Total"
- Select the first two cells of the last row.
- Right-click and choose Merge Cells (or use Table Tools, Layout, Merge Cells).
- Type Total in the merged cell, and in the last column of that row type the total, 11.
(b)(vi) Save the document as "Vehicular traffic"
Click File then Save As, choose a location, type the name Vehicular traffic, and click Save.
(b)(vii) Print the document
Click File then Print, confirm the printer and number of copies, and click Print (make sure the printer is switched on and has paper).
Examination reminder: when a table asks for a total, count each category carefully from the data and make the totals add up (here 11); a merged "Total" cell must sit in the correct last row with the correct sum.
