PCEP Timed Practice Test 2 — 10 Questions

Question 1

What is the output of: print(2 ** 3 ** 2)?

Accepted Answer

512. In Python, the exponentiation operator ** is right-associative, meaning that `2 ** 3 ** 2` is evaluated as `2 ** (3 ** 2)`, not `(2 ** 3) ** 2`. First, `3 ** 2` equals 9, then `2 ** 9` equals 512. Thus, the correct output is 512.

Answer

12

Answer

64

Answer

256

Question 2

Given the code: a = [1, 2, 3]; b = a; b.append(4). What is the value of a?

Accepted Answer

[1, 2, 3, 4]. Option A is correct because in Python, variables hold references to objects, not copies. When `b = a` is executed, both `a` and `b` point to the same list object in memory. The `append()` method modifies the list in-place, so the change is visible through both references. Thus, `a` becomes `[1, 2, 3, 4]`.

Answer

Error

Answer

[1, 2, 3]

Answer

[1, 2, 3, [4]]

Question 3

A user enters 'Alice' for name and '30' for age. What is the output?

Accepted Answer

Alice is 30 years old.. Option A is correct because the code `print(name + ' is ' + age + ' years old.')` concatenates the string `'Alice '`, the string `' is '`, the string `'30'`, and the string `' years old.'` using the `+` operator. In Python, the `+` operator performs string concatenation when both operands are strings, and since `input()` always returns a string, both `name` and `age` are strings, so no type error occurs. The output is exactly `Alice is 30 years old.` including the period at the end.

Answer

Alice is 30 years old

Answer

Error: cannot concatenate str

Answer

Name: Alice, Age: 30

Question 4

A beginner writes: x = '10'; y = 20; print(x + y). What happens?

Accepted Answer

Raises TypeError. Option A is correct because Python's type system does not allow implicit concatenation of a string and an integer. The variable `x` is a string (`'10'`), and `y` is an integer (`20`). The `+` operator with these types triggers a `TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'` (or vice versa), as Python refuses to guess the programmer's intent.

Answer

Prints 30

Answer

Prints 10 + 20

Answer

Prints 1020

Question 5

Which TWO of the following are valid variable names in Python? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

_count. Option B (_count) is correct because in Python, variable names can start with an underscore, and underscores are allowed anywhere in the name. Option E (myVar) is correct because it starts with a letter and contains only letters and digits, which is valid. Both follow Python's identifier rules: must start with a letter or underscore, followed by letters, digits, or underscores.

Answer

class

Answer

my-var

Answer

2ndPlace

Question 6

Which THREE of the following are correct uses of the print() function?

Accepted Answer

print('Hello', 'World', sep='-'). Option B is correct because the print() function in Python 3 accepts a 'sep' keyword argument that specifies the separator between multiple arguments. Here, sep='-' causes the output to be 'Hello-World', demonstrating a valid and commonly used feature of print().

Answer

print 'Hello'

Answer

print('Hello', 5)

Question 7

Refer to the exhibit. What is the output?

Accepted Answer

A
C
D. The function exception_test has a try-except-finally block. The division 1/0 raises ZeroDivisionError, which is caught by the first except clause, printing 'A'. Then the finally clause executes, printing 'C'. After the function returns, the script prints 'D'. So the output is A, C, D each on separate lines.

Answer

B
C
D

Answer

A
B
C
D

Answer

A
C

Question 8

Match each Python keyword to its use.

Question 9

Match each Python string method to its action.

Question 10

Match each Python operator to its description.