Answer: Python Puzzler #444

The answer is B. The program prints:

mango
What the program prints
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
0-6mango
1-5carrot
2-4plum
3-3pear
4-2banana
5-1apple

The code again

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

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