The total number of muffins baked by Mary is 34 muffins.
If she gives her neighbor 17, let us assume that the amount left is x muffins.
The sum of 17 and x will give us the total number of muffins, which is 34. Therefore, we have the equation representing this situation to be:
We can solve for x by subtracting 17 from both sides of the equation:
Therefore, the correct option is the THIRD OPTION.