
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
On Saturday, Uncle Li drove back to Baoji from Xi'an, a total distance of $174$ km. He drove at a constant speed of $60$ km/h from Xi'an to Baoji. Let $x$ (in hours) represent the time Uncle Li drove, and $y$ (in km) represent the distance between Uncle Li and Baoji.  
$(1)$ Write the relationship between $y$ and $x$, and determine if $y$ is a linear function of $x.  
$(2)$ When $x=1.5$, find the value of $y$.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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