PCEP Practice Question: Data Types, Variables, Basic I/O and Operators

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  4

  Why it's wrong here

  int() truncates the fractional part rather than rounding, so 3.14 becomes 3, not 4. It is tempting because rounding to the nearest integer is a common operation, but that requires round(), whereas int() simply discards everything after the decimal point.

• ✗

  3.14

  Why it's wrong here

  int() truncates toward zero, returning the integer 3, so y cannot remain 3.14. It is tempting because the original float value is visible in the code, but assigning the converted result to y discards the fractional part entirely.

• ✗

  Error

  Why it's wrong here

  int() accepts a float argument and truncates it toward zero without raising an exception, so no error occurs. It is tempting because int() rejects non-numeric strings, but a float such as 3.14 is a valid input, yielding 3.

• ✓

  3

  Why this is correct

  Calling `int()` on a float truncates toward zero, discarding the fractional part rather than rounding to the nearest integer. For `x = 3.14`, the decimal `.14` is dropped, leaving exactly `3`. This satisfies the stem's requirement that `y` holds the integer conversion result of the float value.

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