Answer
This statement is false. To make it true, you add a negative sign to the $5$ on the right-hand side of the equation to get the following statement:
The equation $2y + 5 = 0$ is equivalent to $2y = -5$.
Work Step by Step
The statement if false because the first step to solving the equation would be to subtract $5$ on both sides. If we do this, we would get the following equation:
$$2y = -5$$
The $5$ on the right-hand side of the equation would be negative, not positive.
To make the equation a true statement, you would just add a negative sign to the $5$ to get the following statement:
The equation $2y + 5 = 0$ is equivalent to $2y = -5$.
