Answer: Python Puzzler #709

The answer is C. The program prints:

mango
What the program prints
Checked by running the program for real.

Why?

Python counts list positions from 0, so position 4 is the fifth item.

Trace table

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

positionnegative positionitem
0-6carrot
1-5apple
2-4plum
3-3grape
4-2mango
5-1banana

The code again

basket = ["carrot", "apple", "plum", "grape", "mango", "banana"]
print(basket[4])

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