Answer: Python Puzzler #2412

The answer is B. 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 -6 means item number 6 from the end.

Trace table

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

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

The code again

basket = ["melon", "carrot", "banana", "mango", "pear", "plum"]
print(basket[-6])

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