the easiest way to solve this is to get rid of all the extra signs!
just remember that a - times a - is equal to a positive, then go from left to right
so starting from left to right, we have
[tex]4 + ( - 2)[/tex]
we know that 4 minus 2 is 2, so we know that
[tex]4 + ( - 2) - ( - 2)[/tex]
is the same thing as
[tex]2 - ( - 2)[/tex]
we also know that two negative signs make a positive sign! so that means that -(-2) is the same thing as +2!
so now we have
[tex]2 + 2[/tex]
and we know the answer is 4!
