Which expression shows the first step in simplifying 2x – 3(x + 2y) – 5(y – 7x)? a2x-8(x+2y)+(y-7x) b2x-3-5(3y-6x) c2x-3x-6y-5y+35x d2x+3x+6y+5y-35x,

C. 2x - 3x - 6y - 5y + 35x Let's start to simplify 2x – 3(x + 2y) – 5(y – 7x) ourself and see if any of the options match. For me, the first thing to do is take advantage of the distributive property of multiplication to get rid of those parenthesis, so: 2x – 3(x + 2y) – 5(y – 7x) 2x – (3x + 3*2y) – (5y – 5*7x) 2x – (3x + 6y) – (5y – 35x) What we have now doesn't quite match any of the available options. So let's go a bit further and actually remove those pesky parenthesis, properly dealing with the signs. 2x – (3x + 6y) – (5y – 35x) 2x – 3x - 6y – 5y + 35x And what we now have is an exact match for option "C". So that's the answer.