Answer: Python Puzzler #2516

The answer is A. The program prints:

apple

This answer was checked by running the program for real.

Why?

Python counts list positions from 0, so position 1 is the second item.

Trace table

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

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

The code again

basket = ["grape", "apple", "melon", "mango", "carrot", "pear"]
print(basket[1])

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