Answer: Python Puzzler #2626

The answer is A. The program prints:

melon

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 -4 means item number 4 from the end.

Trace table

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

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

The code again

basket = ["banana", "mango", "melon", "carrot", "grape", "pear"]
print(basket[-4])

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