Final answer:
To simplify the expression -1/5(5x + 20) - 1/4(4x - 28), we first distribute the coefficients across the terms in the parentheses. After distributing, we combine like terms to get -2x - 4x + 7 = -2x + 3. The correct answer is option (a).
Step-by-step explanation:
The goal is to simplify the expression -1/5(5x + 20) - 1/4(4x - 28). To simplify the expression, we distribute the multiplication for both terms inside the parentheses by their respective coefficients.
First, let's distribute -1/5 across 5x and 20: -1/5 × 5x gives us -x, and -1/5 × 20 gives us -4.
Then we do the same for -1/4 across 4x and -28: -1/4 × 4x yields -x, and -1/4 × -28 gives us 7.
Now we combine like terms. The x terms are -x and -x, which together make -2x, and the constant terms are -4 and 7, which together give us 3.
The final simplified expression is -2x + 3, which corresponds to answer option (a).