Python functions MCQ questions with answers

Answer: A

greeting uses its default "Hello" only when the call leaves it out. The second call passes "Hi", which replaces the default for that call only. The return line always puts the greeting before the name.

Answer: C

show(4) prints 8 while it runs, then returns None because it has no return statement. The outer print then prints that None on the next line.

Answer: D

Keyword arguments are matched by name, not by position, so age gets 16 and city gets "Pune" whatever order they are written in. print with several values separates them with single spaces.

Answer: B

fact(5) = 5 * fact(4) = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * fact(1), and fact(1) returns 1, so the result is 120. 24 is fact(4), 720 is fact(6), and 15 would be the sum 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5.

Answer: A

*rest collects the extra positional arguments into a tuple, not a list. With no extra arguments it is an empty tuple (), never None.

Answer: C

**details gathers the keyword arguments into a dictionary, in the order they were passed. The loop prints each key and value, and print puts a space between its three arguments, so the lines read lang = Python and level = 3.

Answer: D

change() declares global x, so it updates the module-level x from 5 to 15. local_change() has no global statement, so its x = 100 creates a local variable that disappears when the function returns.

Answer: B

nonlocal n makes inner change the n that belongs to outer, so every call adds 1 to the same variable. After three calls n is 3, and the third call's return value is what outer returns. Without nonlocal, n += 1 would raise UnboundLocalError.

Answer: A

The recursive call comes before the print, so countdown(3) waits for countdown(2), which waits for countdown(1). The prints happen as the calls return, deepest first: 1, then 2, then 3. The call with n == 0 returns without printing.

Answer: C

The default list is created once, when def runs, and every call that leaves out items shares it. Calls 1, 2 and 4 append to that one list (lengths 1, 2, 3). The call that passes its own [] uses a fresh list, returns 1 and leaves the shared list alone.

Answer: B

A default value is evaluated once, when the def statement runs. At that moment rate was 5, so r stays 5 even after rate changes to 10. 200 * 5 / 100 is 10.0, a float because / always returns a float.

Answer: D

items starts as another name for the list data refers to, so append(4) changes data. items = [9, 9] then points the local name at a new list; the later append(5) changes only that new list, not data.

Answer: A, TypeError: area() missing 1 required positional argument: 'width'

A parameter without a default must receive an argument. area(5) gives length the 5 and nothing to width, so the call raises TypeError. It is not a SyntaxError, because the code is valid Python until the call runs.

Answer: C, SyntaxError: parameter without a default follows parameter with a default

Parameters with default values must come after all parameters without defaults. Python checks this when it compiles the def, so the program stops with SyntaxError before any line runs, even though the call passes author by name.

Answer: B, UnboundLocalError: cannot access local variable 'total'

Because add assigns to total, Python treats total as a local variable in the whole function. The right side total + n then reads that local before it has a value, raising UnboundLocalError. Adding global total as the first line would make it print 5.

Answer: D, None

Every function returns something. When execution reaches the end of the body, or a bare return, the function returns None. Python does not return the last expression the way some other languages do.

Answer: A, Local, Enclosing, Global, Built-in

This is the LEGB rule: the function's own names first, then those of any enclosing function, then the module's global names, and finally built-ins such as len. The first match wins, which is why a local variable hides a global one with the same name.

Answer: C, Only by keyword, as in send("hi", retries=3)

A bare * in the parameter list makes every parameter after it keyword-only, so send("hi", 3) raises TypeError. Unlike *args, a bare * collects nothing; it only marks where the keyword-only parameters start. retries has no default, so it is required.

Answer: B

*nums packs any number of positional arguments into a tuple, which sum adds up. A plain nums parameter accepts one argument only, and **nums collects keyword arguments, so total(1, 2, 3) raises TypeError with those.

Answer: D

A recursive function needs a base case that stops the calls and a step that moves toward it. Without the if, the calls never stop and Python raises RecursionError. The second option forgets to add n and the third multiplies by 0 in the end, so both always return 0.