Target question: Is \(x^{-y}\)>0

When I scan the two statements, they both feel insufficient, AND I’m pretty sure I can identify some cases with conflicting answers to the target question. So, I’m going to head straight to……

Statements 1 and 2 combined
There are several values of \(x\) and \(y\) that satisfy BOTH statements. Here are two:
Case a: \(x = -1\) and \(y = -1\). In this case, \(x^{-y}=(-1)^{-(-1)}=(-1)^{1}=-1\), which means the answer to the target question is NO, \(x^{-y}\) is not greater than 0
Case b: \(x = -1\) and \(y = -2\). In this case, \(x^{-y}=(-1)^{-(-2)}=(-1)^{2}=1\), which means the answer to the target question is YES, \(x^{-y}\) is greater than 0

Since we can’t answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer: E
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