The graph compares the populations of two towns over time.

The horizontal axis represents:

" Time in years "

The vertical axis represents:

" Population in thousands "

The graph shows:

Town A as the solid blue line.

Town B as the dashed blue line.

To determine which town’s population is growing faster, we compare the slopes of the two lines.

In Applied Algebra, the slope of a line represents the rate of change:

" slope " = " change in population " / " change in time "

From the graph:

" Town A grows at about " 0.9 " thousand people per year "

" Town B grows at about " 1.6 " thousand people per year "

Now compare the growth rates:

1.6 > 0.9

So Town B’s population is growing at a faster rate.

The values 8.0and 6.5describe starting populations, not growth rates. Since the question asks about growing at a faster rate, we must compare the slopes.