Answer: Python Puzzler #2551

The answer is B. The program prints:

mango

This answer was checked by running the program for real.

Why?

A negative position counts from the end: -1 is the last item, -2 the one before it. So -5 means item number 5 from the end.

Trace table

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

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

The code again

basket = ["melon", "mango", "banana", "apple", "grape", "pear"]
print(basket[-5])

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