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Review: Positive and Negative
Explanation
We are told that a is negative. Our mission is to attempt to determine
definitively whether b is positive or
not. On to the statements, separately first.
Statement (1) tells us that
is negative.
As examining cases can confirm, we can conclude that b is positive. Otherwise dividing a, which is negative, by b would
violate the statement. Therefore Statement (1) is sufficient.
Statement (2) can be simplified by multiplying by 2 and
adding a to both sides, yielding
. We could meet that condition with a case in which b is positive, and also in another case
in which b is negative but still
greater than a. Therefore, Statement
(2) is insufficient.
The correct answer is (A).
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