Which statement is true of x2 + 8x – 6?

Use the factor theorem: if (x − a) is a factor, substituting x = a into x² + 8x − 6 must give 0. The choices correspond to testing x = 2, −2, 4: the values are 14, −18, and 42, respectively, so none of those binomials is a factor. The quadratic has no integer factorization and is prime, so the true statement is “The polynomial is prime.”

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