Edexcel GCE
Unit 3
6953/01
Edexcel GCE
Applied Information and
Communication Technology
Unit 3: The Knowledge Worker
May 2006
Scenario
Please open this material immediately. It should be distributed to candidates no
sooner than three working weeks before the examination. The description overleaf
will be used as the scenario for the above specification, and will be reissued with the
examination paper. This scenario should be used in conjunction with the spreadsheet
model supplied with the scenario, for the purposes of preparing candidates for the
examination. This material must not be taken into the examination.
Further details are in the Instructions for the Conduct of Examinations, available
from the Edexcel website for this qualification subject.
Edexcel will not accept any request for special consideration should candidates be
given the incorrect scenario for the examination they are sitting.
Twisted Pear May 2006
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Edexcel GCE
Unit 3
Twisted Pear - The Capital Punishment Tour
The Problem
Twisted Pear are a five piece rock band formed in 1998 by brothers, Neil and Terry
White, from Leeds. Terry is an accomplished guitarist and Neil plays keyboards.
Other members of the group are Mel Green (percussion), Stacey Beardmore (bass)
and Ruth Nixon (vocals). Although they have had a number of successful recordings
their reputation is mainly as a live act. For the last four years they have toured the
UK with spectacular shows. Each year the lighting and effects have been more
spectacular and, consequently, more expensive than the previous year and this year
has proved no exception. This year's tour includes a large laser show which would
take 15 days to assemble from scratch. As it is not feasible to dismantle it and erect
it each concert, the laser show has been split into three pieces and can be loaded
onto a huge lorry. This lorry has to be escorted by police as it is classified as a wide
load. The UK tour has been hailed as the best Twisted Pear tour ever!
News of the tour, and particularly its spectacular laser show, has spread into Europe
where Twisted Pear already has a big following. So much interest has been shown
that the band decided they would like to tour Europe. The Marketing Department of
the band's management group, AC Enterprises, came up with the idea of 'The Capital
Punishment Tour' where the band would hold concerts in a number of European
capital cities playing for a single night only at a large open-air arena, usually a
football stadium. The tour would start at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on the 9th
September and finish at Highbury in London on Christmas Eve. Having finalised the
arrangements with the Millennium Stadium and Highbury, the management company
contacted a number of venues in European capital cities and asked for details about
hire costs and available dates.
The laser show is too heavy and too large to travel by plane so it will still have to
travel by lorry. Ferries have been booked from Dover to Calais on the 1Oth
September and from Calais to Dover on the 22nd December. The laser show lorry
and two smaller lorries will drive from one venue to the next. Owing to its size the
laser show lorry can only travel 150 miles a day. The laser show itself will take
two days to erect and one to dismantle.
Planning the Tour
You have been employed by AC Enterprises to advise it on the itinerary of the tour.
It has been decided that the same ticket price (subject to fluctuations in the
exchange rate) should be charged at each venue. AC Enterprises has asked you to
recommend this ticket price. Your predecessor in the job has made a start and has
left you a model which will help you make your decisions. Unfortunately the model is
incomplete. The incomplete model is in your examination folder and is called 'Twisted
Pear Model'.
Twisted Pear May 2006
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Edexcel GCE
Unit 3
Description of the model
(Warning: - Hidden columns in the model contain formulae which are
not protected. There should be no reason to change these formulae.
If any are changed the model may not work properly. Areas where the
model does not require changes are protected. There is no reason to
change these areas but if you wish to the password is "edexcel".)
Worksheet
Description
Concert Dates
When the model is complete this is the input screen into which you
type the proposed dates for each of the concerts.
This worksheet will contain the distances the lorries have to travel.
It already contains the distances between Calais and the UK
venues. Distances between all the European venues will have to be
filled in. The distance between Calais and all the European venues
will have to be filled in.
This is a multi purpose worksheet. Once the concert dates have
been entered the spreadsheet will work out when the lorry has to
arrive in order for the laser show to be set up in time for the
concert. There is a sort button which will sort the venues in the
worksheet into order using the date of the concert. This should be
done each time a new set of dates is tried in the model. Should
there be a problem with the itinerary, for instance the lorries not
being able to arrive in time to set up for the next concert, this will
be highlighted in red. This worksheet, when complete, will also
calculate the total cost of the venues and the total number of
tickets which could be sold.
This worksheet will hold details about the venues, such as how
much they cost to hire and the number of tickets that will be
available.
This worksheet will hold the major costs and is used to test out the
profitability of the European tour.
This worksheet, when complete, will calculate the profit made at
different ticket prices.
Distances
Dates
Arena
Costs
Revenue
Twisted Pear May 2006
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