You can use desmos.com/calculator to graph the function. It helps a lot when you need to visualize.
Looking at the graph, when x = 2, y = 4.25, but when x = 7, y = 5.5.
Calculating the rate of change is like calculating the slope.
(5.5-4.25)/(7-2)
This is equal to 0.25.
The final answer is 1/4