Below you will find help with selected exercises from the book.

Exercise 2-2
Exercise 2-4,10
Exercise 2-4,19
Exercise 2-6,4

Exercise 2-2

1. Weintraub's findings were based on a computer test of 1,101 doctors 28 - 92 years old.
2. She and her colleagues found that the top ten scorers aged 75 - 92 did as well as the average of men under 35.
3. "The test measures memory, attention, visual perception, calculation, and reasoning," she said.
4. "The studies also provide intriguing clues to how that happens," said Sandra Weintraub, a neuropsychologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
5. "The ability of some men to retain mental function might be related to their ability to produce a certain type of brain cell not present at birth," she said.
6. The studies show that some men manage to escape the trend of declining mental ability with age.
7. Many elderly men are at least as mentally able as the average young adult, according to recent studies.

The answer: 7-6-4-1-3-2-5. Several different clues give you this answer. A full name usually comes the first time a person is named and has to come before pronouns. So you know that (4) comes before everything but (6) and (7). (6) and (7) make the most general points, which means that they precede everything else; of the two, (7) is more general than (6). Of the remaining sentences, (1) and (3) describe the test, while (2) and (5) state and discuss its results so (1) and (3) come before (2) and (5). Of (1) and (3), the former refers to a "computer test," while the latter merely speaks of "the test": Now you know that (1) is before (3). As for the last two sentences, (5) is speculative, trying to account for the concrete results; so it comes last, after (2).

Exercise 2-4, 10.
Newspaper headline: "Police Kill 6 Coyotes After Mauling of Girl."

6 Coyotes That Maul Girl Are Killed by Police. You want to avoid the unintended implication that the police mauled the girl.

Exercise 2-4, 19.
If you crave the taste of a real German beer, nothing is better than Dunkelbrau.

Dunkelbrau--for those who crave the best-tasting real German beer. A little observation will show you how many ambiguities the word "nothing" can create. Consider the argument: Nothing is better than complete happiness in life. A nickel is better than nothing. Therefore, a nickel is better than complete happiness in life.

Exercise 2-6, 4.
The recent changes in the tax code

1. will substantially increase taxes paid by those making more than $200,000 per year
2. will increase by 4 percent the tax rate for those making more than $200,000 per year; will leave unchanged the tax rate for people making between $40,000 and $200,000; and will decrease by 2 percent the tax rate for those making less than $40,000
3. will make some important changes in who pays what in taxes
4. are tougher on the rich than the provision in the previous tax law
5. raise rates for the wealthy and reduce them for those in the lowest brackets

From vaguest to least vague: c, d, e, a, b. You probably had little trouble with this, so stop and think about how you reasoned. The presence of numbers in (a) and (b) make those obviously the least vague, and the greater detail about numbers in (b) sets it apart as least vague of all. (c)'s "important" not only puts an evaluative spin on the news item but also functions, as such words often do, to paper over the details. As for deciding between (d) and (e), the crucial matter is not the word "tougher" but the fact that both speak of what happens to the wealthy, while (e) also explains what happens to the lowest tax brackets.