Final answer:
Using the properties of the normal distribution and the empirical rule, the percentage of students scoring between 79 and 90 on an English paper with a mean of 82 and a standard deviation of 5.3 is less than 68% but more than 34.5%, leading to the correct choice being 65%.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the percentage of people that scored between a 79 and 90 on an English paper with a mean score of 82 and a standard deviation of 5.3, we can use the properties of the normal distribution. Scores that fall within one standard deviation of the mean (from approximately 76.7 to 87.3) account for about 68% of the data, per the empirical rule. Since both 79 and 90 are within the range of one standard deviation from the mean, we can assume that the percentage of students who scored between 79 and 90 is less than 68% but more than 34.5%, which represents the amount within half of one standard deviation.
To find the exact percentage, we would typically use a standard normal (z-score) table or a calculator to determine the cumulative area (or probability) between the two z-scores corresponding to 79 and 90. However, given the options provided and without calculations, we can infer that the correct answer is option c, 65%, as it is the only choice less than 68% and more than 34.5%.