def plot_scatter(data):
    """ Generates a scatter plot of the provided data. Returns the axes for further plotting ability. """

    data.columns = ['city_population', 'profit']
    axes = data.plot(x='city_population', y='profit', kind='scatter')
    axes.set_xlim(left=data['city_population'].min() - 1)
    axes.set_xlabel('Population of city in 10,000s')
    axes.set_ylabel('Profit in $10,000s')
    return axes