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The number of prisoners held in federal and state prisons, measured in thousands, can be described by the polynomial $-2.08 x^{2}+78.46 x+742$. The variable $x$ represents the number of years since 1990 . Estimate the number of prisoners in 1990.
The prison population in 1990 was $\square$.
Answer
The prison population in 1990 was \(\boxed{742}\) thousand.
Step 1 ：The question is asking for the number of prisoners in 1990. Since the variable $x$ represents the number of years since 1990, we can substitute $x=0$ into the polynomial to find the number of prisoners in 1990.
Step 2 ：Substitute $x=0$ into the polynomial $-2.08x^{2} + 78.46x + 742$ to get the number of prisoners in 1990.
Step 3 ：The prison population in 1990 was \(\boxed{742}\) thousand.
