It depends really. If you stay close to the present, then predicting future results isn't too bad. The further you go out, the more unpredictable things get. This is because the points may deviate from the line of best fit (aka regression line) as time wears on. Of course, it also depends on what kind of data we're working with. Some pairs of variables are naturally going to correlate very strongly together. An example would be temperature versus ice cream sales.
The probability that the average salary between two groups is the same, is actually low. It could be close, but it's quite difficult to get the same exact amount.
This problem involves the use of a trigonometric ratio. This one specifically involves the use of cosine as it provides the leg adjacent to the angle and the hypotenuse.