My calculus teacher assigns us online homework to do. He never went over any question that looks like this (he in fact said we shouldn't be concerned with this):
Yet, I need to answer this right to progress with my homework. It stinks because if I get it wrong, I lose points on my homework average.
So, could someone help explain to me what's going on here, and perhaps guide me to a point where I can try to figure out the solution myself? I'm not asking for a straight answer (although if thats what you want to provide, go for it [since I was told I don't have to know this stuff]), but this stuff really confuses me. Thank you for your help.
Oh, and in case you need it, here's the original prompt (the question I posted above is just a part of a series of questions that go along with this prompt):