Which phrase is the best description of the association between variables  x  and  y? moderate negative associationstrong positive associationmoderate positive associationstrong negative association

The variables have a negative association/correlation, because when one value increases (ex: x) the other decreases (see y)
If you would put a line through the dataset most of the points would be quite a bit off the line so the association is only moderate and not strong

so the answer is it is a "moderate negative association"