This PCAP practice question tests your understanding of object-oriented programming. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An engineer is debugging an application that uses inheritance. The base class 'Vehicle' defines a method 'start()' that prints 'Vehicle started'. The subclass 'Car' overrides 'start()' to print 'Car started'. The code contains a function that accepts a Vehicle object and calls 'start()'. What is the output if a Car object is passed?
'Car started Vehicle started'
Why wrong: No super call is made in the override.
'Vehicle started'
Why wrong: This would be the output without overriding, but Car overrides start.
'Car started'
Polymorphism: the overridden method in Car is called.
AttributeError
Why wrong: The method exists in both classes, no error occurs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
'Car started'
When a Car object is passed to a function expecting a Vehicle reference, Python uses dynamic dispatch (late binding) to call the overridden `start()` method defined in the Car class. Since the actual runtime type is Car, the overridden version executes, printing 'Car started'. This is a fundamental principle of polymorphism in Python.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
'Car started Vehicle started'
Why it's wrong here
No super call is made in the override.
'Vehicle started'
Why it's wrong here
This would be the output without overriding, but Car overrides start.
'Car started'
Why this is correct
Polymorphism: the overridden method in Car is called.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AttributeError
Why it's wrong here
The method exists in both classes, no error occurs.
Common exam traps
Python Institute often tests the misconception that the declared parameter type (Vehicle) determines which method runs, leading candidates to pick 'Vehicle started', when in fact Python always uses the actual object's type at runtime.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
This would be the output without overriding, but Car overrides start.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, Python stores method references in the class's __dict__ and resolves them via the MRO (Method Resolution Order) at runtime. When `start()` is called on a Car instance, the interpreter looks up the method in Car's namespace first, finding the override, and executes it without consulting the base class. This dynamic dispatch is implemented via the `__getattribute__` mechanism and is central to Python's object model, enabling polymorphic behavior in frameworks like Django's class-based views.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Object-Oriented Programming — This question tests Object-Oriented Programming — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 'Car started' — When a Car object is passed to a function expecting a Vehicle reference, Python uses dynamic dispatch (late binding) to call the overridden `start()` method defined in the Car class. Since the actual runtime type is Car, the overridden version executes, printing 'Car started'. This is a fundamental principle of polymorphism in Python.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This PCAP practice question is part of Courseiva's free Python Institute certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCAP exam.
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