1. The problem is to find the slope of the line passing through the points given in the table: (3,7), (8,5), (13,3), and (18,1). 2. The formula for the slope $m$ between two points $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ is: $$m = \frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1}$$ 3. We can use any two points from the table to calculate the slope. Let's use the first two points: $(3,7)$ and $(8,5)$. 4. Substitute the values into the formula: $$m = \frac{5 - 7}{8 - 3} = \frac{-2}{5}$$ 5. This fraction is already simplified, so the slope of the line is: $$m = -\frac{2}{5}$$ 6. To confirm, check with another pair of points, for example $(8,5)$ and $(13,3)$: $$m = \frac{3 - 5}{13 - 8} = \frac{-2}{5}$$ 7. The slope is consistent for all pairs, so the final answer is: $$\boxed{-\frac{2}{5}}$$