Answer: Python Puzzler #2648

The answer is B. The program prints:

pear

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

The code again

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

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