SAT 8, Section 3, Number 7

Hi Mike, I’m asking about SAT 8, Section 3, Number 7. Is it always best to immediately plug in answer choices on questions like this? For the algebraic practice, I rewrote the equation as a quadratic and solved for (x=5) and (x= -1). Then sub’d each value back into the given equation to find that only (x=5) worked. OK…but what a time-killer at #7 out of 20. Any other solution path to consider? Thanks!