PCEP Functions, Tuples, Dictionaries and Exceptions Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A dictionary student = {'name': 'John', 'age': 20}. To safely get the grade with a default of 'N/A', which code should be used?

Accepted Answer

student.get('grade', 'N/A'). The `get()` method of a dictionary safely retrieves the value for a given key, returning a default value (here `'N/A'`) if the key does not exist. This avoids raising a `KeyError` when the key `'grade'` is missing from the dictionary.

Answer

student['grade']

Answer

student.fetch('grade', 'N/A')

Answer

student['grade'] or 'N/A'

Question 2

Consider the code: try: try: raise TypeError except ValueError: print('A') except TypeError: print('B') finally: print('C'). What is printed?

Accepted Answer

B and C. The inner `try` raises a `TypeError`. The inner `except ValueError` does not catch it, so the exception propagates to the outer `except TypeError`, which catches it and prints 'B'. The `finally` block always executes, printing 'C'. Thus, the output is 'B' and 'C'.

Answer

A, B, and C

Answer

C only

Answer

A and C

Question 3

Which TWO of the following are valid methods that can be called on a tuple object? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

.index(). The `.index()` method is a built-in tuple method that returns the index of the first occurrence of a specified value. Tuples are immutable sequences, so they support only non-mutating methods like `.index()` and `.count()`, which do not modify the tuple.

Answer

.pop()

Answer

.append()

Answer

.sort()

Question 4

Which TWO of the following are true about function arguments in Python? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Arguments can be passed by position or keyword.. Python allows function arguments to be passed either by position (matching the order of parameters in the function definition) or by keyword (using the parameter name explicitly). This flexibility is a core feature of Python's function call semantics, enabling clearer and more flexible code.

Answer

Default arguments are evaluated each time the function is called.

Answer

*args collects keyword arguments.

Answer

**kwargs collects positional arguments.

Question 5

Which THREE of the following are valid dictionary methods? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

.values(). The `.values()` method returns a view object that displays a list of all the values in a dictionary. It is a built-in dictionary method in Python, making option A correct.

Answer

.append()

Answer

.push()

Question 6

Refer to the exhibit. What exception is raised when this code is executed?

Accepted Answer

ZeroDivisionError. The code attempts to divide by zero, which raises a ZeroDivisionError in Python. This is a specific exception for division or modulo operations where the divisor is zero, and it is a subclass of ArithmeticError.

Answer

ValueError

Answer

ArithmeticError

Answer

TypeError

Question 7

Refer to the exhibit. What happens when this code is executed?

Accepted Answer

RuntimeError: dictionary changed size during iteration. Modifying a dictionary (adding or deleting keys) while iterating over it with a for loop raises a RuntimeError in Python. The code attempts to delete keys from the dictionary `d` during iteration, which changes the dictionary's size and triggers the error before 'done' is printed.

Answer

Prints 'done' with no error

Answer

KeyError: 'a'

Answer

Nothing; the code runs silently

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. What is the output when the code is executed?

Accepted Answer

2 2 2. The code defines a tuple `t = (0, 1, 2)`. The `for` loop iterates over the tuple, but each iteration prints `t[2]`, which is the third element (index 2) with value 2. Since the value is constant, it prints '2' three times. Hence the output is '2 2 2'.

Answer

0 1 2

Answer

0 0 0

Answer

3 3 3

Question 9

What is the output of the following code?

def greet(name, greeting='Hello'):
    print(greeting, name)

greet('Alice')

Accepted Answer

Hello Alice. The function `greet` has a default parameter `greeting='Hello'`. When called with only one argument (`'Alice'`), the default value is used for `greeting`, so the output is `Hello Alice`. The `print` function outputs both arguments separated by a space.

Answer

Hello

Answer

SyntaxError

Answer

Alice

Question 10

A function returns a tuple. Which code correctly unpacks the tuple?

def min_max(numbers):
    return min(numbers), max(numbers)

result = min_max([3, 1, 2])

Accepted Answer

(a, b) = result. Both options B and C correctly unpack the tuple. Option B uses explicit parentheses, while option C uses the implicit form — both are valid tuple unpacking syntax in Python. Option A unpacks via indexing (not tuple unpacking), and option D incorrectly swaps the values.

Answer

a = result[0]; b = result[1]

Answer

a = result[1]; b = result[0]

Question 11

What is the output of the following code?

def test():
    try:
        return 1
    finally:
        return 2

print(test())

Accepted Answer

2. In Python, a `finally` block always executes, and if both `try` and `finally` contain `return` statements, the `return` in `finally` overrides the one in `try`. The function `test()` returns 2, not 1, because the `finally` block's return value is the one that is actually used.

Answer

None

Answer

Error

Answer

1

Question 12

What is the result of the following expression?

d = {'a': 1}
d.get('b', 0)

Accepted Answer

0. The `get()` method on a dictionary returns the value for the given key if it exists; otherwise, it returns the default value provided as the second argument. Since key `'b'` is not in dictionary `d`, the method returns `0` (the specified default). Option A is correct because `d.get('b', 0)` explicitly supplies a default of `0`.

Answer

None

Answer

KeyError

Answer

1

Question 13

Which code sorts a list of strings by their length in descending order?

lst = ['aa', 'b', 'ccc']

Accepted Answer

sorted(lst, key=len, reverse=True). Option A is correct. `sorted(lst, key=len, reverse=True)` sorts the list by string length in descending order. Although option C (`sorted(lst, key=lambda s: len(s), reverse=True)`) would also produce the same result, this single-answer question expects the most straightforward and Pythonic solution, which is using the built-in `len` function directly without an unnecessary lambda. Option B sorts alphabetically in reverse order, not by length. Option D sorts by length in ascending order.

Answer

sorted(lst, reverse=True)

Answer

sorted(lst, key=lambda s: len(s), reverse=True)

Answer

sorted(lst, key=lambda s: len(s))

Question 14

What is the output of the following code?

def div(a, b):
    try:
        return a / b
    except ZeroDivisionError:
        raise ValueError('Invalid division')

try:
    print(div(10, 0))
except ValueError as e:
    print(e)
except ZeroDivisionError:
    print('Zero division')

Accepted Answer

Invalid division. The `div` function catches the `ZeroDivisionError` and raises a `ValueError` with the message 'Invalid division'. The outer `try` block catches this `ValueError` and prints its message, which is 'Invalid division'.

Answer

Error: division by zero

Answer

Zero division

Answer

TypeError

Question 15

What happens when you try to modify a tuple?

t = (1, 2, 3)
t[0] = 0

Accepted Answer

A TypeError is raised. Tuples are immutable, so trying to assign to an index raises a TypeError.

Answer

A IndexError is raised

Answer

The tuple becomes (0, 2, 3)

Answer

The code runs without error