Question

Find the z-score such as 88% of the area under the normal curve is to the left of the z-score

Answer 1

If you have a calculator with statistical functions, that's the way to go.

On my TI-83, I typed in  invNorm(0.88) and got the result z = 1.17.

88% of the area under the normal curve is to the left of z = 1.17.