USACO | USACO Solutions in C

I'm getting this runtime error for the 2017 USACO Bronze question 1. I am using python to solve it. Runtime errors are pretty common for me and I really have a hard time fixing them. Can someone help me figure out which part of my code is bad. I am very new to competitive programming (in fact this is the first USACO question I have solved) so please bear with me. Here is the problem http://www.usaco.org/index.php?page=viewproblem2&cpid=759

I am currently trying to solve a simple version of checkers with python. Specifically, I am trying to solve the problem "checkers" from USACO 2008 December Bronze contest. (Problem Link)

My idea is to run a recursive dfs function on the location of each of the kings. However, I have encountered some issues with my dfs function. When I run my dfs function multiple times, the function produces different outputs, even with the same parameters. Specifically, it only produces the right outputs in the first time. I don't know what is happening, any help will be appreciated, thank you! (I am using Python 3.7)

Here is my dfs function:

Hello I am a new to USACO and I found out that it uses File input and output rather than standard input output on CodeForces. I am used to copying and pasting the input into my ide where the output is then shown to me. I use IntelliJ Java.

This is what happens when I run it

How test input and output through files? Any links or comments would be helpful :) Sorry for being a noob.

Okay, so I was doing some practice problems for USACO and noticed that for one of the problems, you needed to add all values of an array up to a certain value. For an example, say that a = [0, 5, 7, 3, 9]. You need to find the value of all the sum of the numbers up to a certain value, but you don't know what the value is( Like the value could be a[2], a[3], a[4] or anything) Also, the array is different every time. How would you find the sum of all values up to a certain place in the array?

How can I rewrite my function so that when it runs, it changes the variables input as arguments? I have read you have to write global before each variable name but writing global before a, b, c parameters doesn't work and I can't figure out another way to make it work.

I'm having trouble with Usaco training gate's milking time problem (aka milk2). My code works for the first few problems, but then doesn't work for one of the cases.

The problem is here:http://jeremiahflaga.blogspot.com/2011/09/milking-cows-programming-problem-from.html

The case that doesn't work is: [1, 2] [3, 4] [5, 6] [7, 8] [9, 10] [11, 12] [13, 14] [15, 16] [17, 18] [19, 20] [1, 20]

I think it is because of the last [1, 20], and it makes my code not work as I don't think I'm managing the merging correctly, but I've tried for some time and ended up making the code worse.

This is the problem description:

and here is my code:

Beginner to python here.

I am writing a program that involves opening and reading input from another file. The python file is called paint.py, while my input file is paint_test.in

I tried making a question on this earlier and did a horrible job of explaining what I wanted. Hopefully the information I provide in this one is more helpful.

The program I am trying to make will take read input from a file in the form of the following: (there will be multiple varying test cases)