Final answer:
The polynomial has four terms after combining like terms and the highest degree is 7, hence the correct answer is option D: It has 4 terms and a degree of 7.
Step-by-step explanation:
The given polynomial is -3x⁴y³ + 8xy⁵ - 3 + 18x³y⁴ - 3xy⁵. First, let's combine like terms which in this case is 8xy⁵ - 3xy⁵ resulting in 5xy⁵. Thus, the polynomial simplifies to -3x⁴y³ + 5xy⁵ - 3 + 18x³y⁴. The polynomial has four terms, and the degree of a term is the sum of the exponents of the variables in that term. Here, the highest degree is 7 (from the term -3x⁴y³, where 4 + 3 = 7). Therefore, the correct statement about the polynomial is that it has 4 terms and a degree of 7, which corresponds to option D.