Answer: Python Puzzler #683

The answer is C. The program prints:

banana
What the program prints
Checked by running the program for real.

Why?

Python counts list positions from 0, so position 3 is the fourth item.

Trace table

A trace table follows the program step by step. Here’s this one:

positionnegative positionitem
0-6melon
1-5apple
2-4carrot
3-3banana
4-2pear
5-1mango

The code again

basket = ["melon", "apple", "carrot", "banana", "pear", "mango"]
print(basket[3])

Try it: change one number in the program and predict the new output before you run it.