C. Third degree polynomial with three terms.
Terms are, by definition, the number of nonzero coefficients for powers of x. In this case, there are 3 nonzero coefficients (3 terms) because [tex]-1=-1x^0[/tex]. For example, [tex]2x^3[/tex] has one term, but [tex]0[/tex] has 0 terms.
The degree of a polynomial is the highest power involved in the expression. In this case, it's [tex]4x^3[/tex], so the degree is 3.
