Explanation:
To find out how many pages Melanie read in total in three days, we need to add up the number of pages she read on each day (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday).
Total pages read = (5x + 4) + (2x - 6) + (x + 7)
Now, let's combine like terms:
Total pages read = 5x + 4 + 2x - 6 + x + 7
Combine the x terms:
Total pages read = 8x + 5
So, Melanie read 8x + 5 pages in total over the three days.