IMC 1995 Problem 10

a) Prove that for every $\epsilon>0$ there is a positive integer $n$ and real numbers $\lambda_{1},\dots,\lambda_{n}$ such that $$\max_{x\in [-1,1]}|x-\sum_{k=1}^{n}\lambda_{k}x^{2k+1}|<\epsilon.$$ b) Prove that for every odd continuous function $f$ on $[-1,1]$ and for every $\epsilon>0$ there is a positive integer $n$ and real numbers $\mu_{1},\dots,\mu_{n}$ such that $$\max_{x\in [-1,1]}|f(x)-\sum_{k=1}^{n}\mu_{k}x^{2k+1}|<\epsilon.$$