The first two terms of a geometric progression add up to 12. The terms of the G.P. are alternately positive and negative.The statement - The sum of the third and the fourth terms is 48 holds true for the first term being

Question

$\begin {array} {1 1} (A)\;-4 & \quad (B)\;-12 \\ (C)\;12 & \quad (D)\;4 \end {array}$