a)
\(\begin{array}{l}M = \frac{1}{7}.(\frac{{ - 5}}{8}) + \frac{1}{7}.(\frac{{ - 11}}{8})\\ = \frac{{ - 5}}{{56}} + \frac{{ - 11}}{{56}} = \frac{{ - 16}}{{56}} = \frac{{ - 2}}{7}\end{array}\)
b)
\(\begin{array}{l}M = \frac{1}{7}.(\frac{{ - 5}}{8}) + \frac{1}{7}.(\frac{{ - 11}}{8})\\ = \frac{1}{7}.[(\frac{{ - 5}}{8}) + (\frac{{ - 11}}{8})]\\ = \frac{1}{7}.\frac{{ - 16}}{8}\\ = \frac{1}{7}.( - 2)\\ = \frac{{ - 2}}{7}\end{array}\)