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Quiz: Making Decisions with If/Else

Test your understanding of Boolean values, comparison operators, and if/elif/else branching with these questions. Click "Show Answer" to reveal the correct answer and explanation.

1. What are the only two possible values of a Boolean in Python?

  1. yes and no
  2. 1 and 0
  3. True and False
  4. on and off
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. In Python, Boolean values are written exactly as True and False — with a capital first letter. They belong to the type bool. Booleans are the result of comparisons and are used in if statements to decide which branch of code to run.

Concept Tested: Boolean Type

2. What is the difference between = and == in Python?

  1. = compares two values; == assigns a value to a variable
  2. = assigns a value to a variable; == compares two values for equality
  3. Both do the same thing — they are interchangeable
  4. = works with numbers; == works with strings
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. = is the assignment operator: x = 5 stores the value 5 in the variable x. == is the equality comparison operator: x == 5 checks whether x currently holds the value 5 and returns True or False. Using = inside an if condition causes a SyntaxError — this is one of the most common beginner mistakes.

Concept Tested: Comparison Operators

3. What will this code print when score = 75?

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if score >= 60:
    print("Passing!")
else:
    print("Try again!")
  1. Try again!
  2. Both Passing! and Try again!
  3. Passing!
  4. Nothing — the program skips both branches
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. When score = 75, the condition score >= 60 evaluates to True (75 is greater than or equal to 60). So Python runs the if block and prints "Passing!". Since the if block ran, Python skips the else block entirely. An if/else always runs exactly one of the two branches.

Concept Tested: if...else Block

4. What does the elif keyword do in a chain of conditions?

  1. It runs alongside the if block every time the program runs
  2. It creates a new variable to store a condition result
  3. It checks an additional condition only if all previous conditions were False
  4. It restarts the entire if/elif/else chain from the beginning
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. elif (short for "else if") adds another branch to a decision chain. Python checks conditions from top to bottom and runs the body of the first branch whose condition is True, then skips all remaining branches. If no if or elif is True, the else branch runs (if one exists).

Concept Tested: elif Chains

5. What does the and logical operator require for a combined condition to be True?

  1. At least one of the conditions must be True
  2. Neither condition can be True
  3. Both conditions must be True
  4. The conditions must be exactly equal to each other
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. The and operator returns True only when both conditions on its left and right are True. If either one is False, the whole expression is False. This is different from or, which returns True when at least one condition is True.

Concept Tested: Logical Operators

6. What is the result of not True?

  1. True
  2. 0
  3. None
  4. False
Show Answer

The correct answer is D. The not operator flips a Boolean value: not True becomes False, and not False becomes True. It is useful for making conditions more readable — for example, if not is_finished: reads naturally as "if we are not finished yet."

Concept Tested: Logical Operators

7. Which grade will Python print for score = 83 in this code?

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if score >= 90:
    print("A")
elif score >= 80:
    print("B")
elif score >= 70:
    print("C")
else:
    print("D")
  1. A
  2. C
  3. B
  4. Both B and C
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Python checks conditions from top to bottom and stops at the first True one. 83 >= 90 is False, so it moves to 83 >= 80, which is True. Python prints "B" and skips all remaining branches, including elif score >= 70. Even though 83 >= 70 is also True, it is never checked because a branch already ran.

Concept Tested: elif Chains

8. What does this chained comparison check?

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if 0 <= age < 18:
  1. Whether age equals 0 or equals 18
  2. Whether age is between 0 and 18, including 0 but not including 18
  3. Whether age is negative or greater than 18
  4. Whether age is exactly 0 or exactly 18
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. The chained comparison 0 <= age < 18 checks whether age is at least 0 AND less than 18. This is equivalent to age >= 0 and age < 18. Python allows this math-like notation for range checks. Age 0 would pass (0 <= 0 is True) but age 18 would not (18 < 18 is False).

Concept Tested: Chained Comparisons

9. What is a nested if statement?

  1. An if statement written on a single line with no colon
  2. An if statement placed inside the body of another if statement
  3. An if statement that checks more than three conditions at once
  4. An if statement that runs backwards from bottom to top
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. A nested if is an if statement written inside the body (indented block) of another if statement. This allows you to check a second condition only when the first condition is already True. Nesting gives you fine-grained control, but too many levels of nesting can make code hard to read.

Concept Tested: Nested if Statements

10. Which condition correctly checks if a variable n is both greater than 0 AND even?

  1. if n > 0 or n % 2 == 0:
  2. if n > 0 and n % 2 == 0:
  3. if n > 0 and n % 2 != 0:
  4. if n > 0 not n % 2 == 0:
Show Answer

The correct answer is B. To require both conditions, use and. n > 0 checks that the number is positive, and n % 2 == 0 checks that the remainder after dividing by 2 is zero (meaning it is even). Using or would make the condition True if only one of them is satisfied, which is not what we want.

Concept Tested: Logical Operators