Really it can show anything. The main point to the question is that there is 4 of one thing, && then 18 of another. Example: i have 4 bananas && 18 grapes. I want to know how many bananas i have compared tot he grapes. The 4 would come first because i asked for how many bananas i have first then grapes would be second which would leave me with the ratio 4:18. That is just one of the millions of examples!