"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you've heard a lot of things from the prosecutor. You've heard me say many things as well. You've even heard the judge says things to you as this trial has gone on. What you need to keep in mind is that justice is blind. "So with your eyes closed, consider the facts. My client has not broken the law. Let me say that again. My client broke no laws. He is protected by the Bill of Rights to write an article that criticizes the governor. In fact, by exercising his right to free speech, I would say he is a true patriot. If the citizens of this country cannot criticize their leaders without being sued, then we do not deserve the right to free speech." What is the author's purpose in writing this speech?

in the problem you wrote said that the taxi charges $0.070 per mile(which would be 7 cents per mile), but then in your suggested equation you have it as $0.70 per mile (which is 70 cents per mile).

the latter seems more realistic, so i will assume that the taxi costs $5.00 and charges $0.70 per mile with tolls costing an additional $3.50. and it asks you to find how far you can travel on $36.50.

let x the number of miles traveled. since the taxi charges $0.70 per mile, multiplying this by the miles traveled (x) will yield the cost of the taxi ride as far as how far it took you. then adding this amount to the cost of the taxi ($5.00) and the additional cost for the tolls ($3.50) will give you the total cost of the taxi ride ($36.50)

that is,

            (0.70)x + 5.00 + 3.50 = 36.50

adding the like terms on the left-hand side of this equation, we arrive at the following:

            (0.70)x + 8.50 = 36.50

subtracting 8.50 from both sides of the equation, we get:

            (0.70)x = 28.00

to solve for x, divide both sides of the equation above by the coefficient of x (that being, 0.70):

            x = 40

thus, you can travel up to 40 miles on $36.50

i don't know sorry i cannot read a novel in 30 min.

explanation:

but just in case i think the answer is b.

connections  to the  book night by elie wiesel.   elie wiesel  is a holocaust survivor. as a young, jewish boy he was taken from his home with his family by the nazis. he was taken because he is jewish.