To solve this problem, we can use the proportion of unsharpened pencils in the sample to estimate the expected number of unsharpened pencils in the total basket.
In the sample of 50 colored pencils, 2 are unsharpened. So, the proportion of unsharpened pencils in the sample is:
\[ \frac{2}{50} = 0.04 \]
If we apply this proportion to the total of 300 colored pencils in the basket, we can estimate the expected number of unsharpened pencils:
\[ 0.04 \times 300 = 12 \]
Therefore, the expected number of unsharpened pencils in the basket is 12.
So the correct response is:
12