1. **State the problem:** Zion and Taylor together made 496 penalty kicks over 31 days. Taylor makes 7 penalty kicks each day. We need to find how many penalty kicks Zion makes each day.
2. **Write the formula:** Let $z$ be the number of penalty kicks Zion makes each day. Total kicks over 31 days is given by:
$$31z + 31 \times 7 = 496$$
3. **Simplify the equation:**
$$31z + 217 = 496$$
4. **Isolate $z$:**
$$31z = 496 - 217$$
$$31z = 279$$
5. **Solve for $z$:**
$$z = \frac{279}{31} = 9$$
6. **Interpretation:** Zion makes 9 penalty kicks each day.
**Final answer:** C. 9
Penalty Kicks
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