Answer: Python Puzzler #3626

The answer is B. The program prints:

YTHO

This answer was checked by running the program for real.

Why?

word[1:5] is a slice: it starts at position 1 and stops before position 5. Positions count from 0.

Trace table

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

positionletter
0P
1Y
2T
3H
4O
5N

The code again

word = "PYTHON"
print(word[1:5])

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