Axis of symmetry is a line passing through the vertex which divides the curge into two parts such tha each part looks the same.
For

, the 'x' part is squared and the coefficient of

is positive. Hence, the curve will be a parabola facing up which means that the axis of symmetry will be a vertical line. i.e. x = m.
Investigating, f(-1) =
f(-1.5) =

f(-2) =

From these, the curve has a vertex at point (-1.5, -6)
Therefore the axis of symmetry is line x = -1.5 (i.e. the third option)
So if there are 3 boys to every 4 girls, and there are 42 boys, the answer would be 42 to 56????? I'm not quite sure, and it's probably wrong, but that's how we learned in my school.
The longer piece of rope is 105 feet long and the short piece is 35 feet long.