NumPy arrays support slicing using the same start:stop convention as Python sequences. To take the first five elements, you want indices 0 through 4. The slice numpy_array[:5] means “start from the beginning (default start is 0) and stop before index 5.” Because the stop index is exclusive, this returns exactly the first five elements. Printing that slice with print(numpy_array[:5]) displays a 1D view (or copy depending on context) containing those elements.
Option A, numpy_array[1:5], starts at index 1, so it returns elements 1 through 4—only four elements—and it excludes the element at index 0, so it is not the first five elements. Options B and D are incorrect because NumPy arrays do not provide a .get() method for slicing in this manner; .get() is a method associated with dictionaries, not arrays.
Textbooks stress slicing because it is efficient and expressive, especially in data analysis. With slicing, you can take prefixes, suffixes, windows, or regularly spaced samples without writing loops. In NumPy, slicing is particularly important because many slices create views into the same underlying data buffer, enabling memory-efficient operations on large datasets. Understanding inclusive start and exclusive stop boundaries is critical to avoid off-by-one mistakes and to work correctly with batches and segments of numerical data.
