So, if losing yards represented by negatives and gaining yards is represented by positives, the equasion whould look like this:
7+(-2)+4+(-1)
The assosiative property tells us that we can group numbers together, like this:
7+4+(-2)+(-1)
And if it helps, add parentheses like this:
(7+4)+(-2)+(-1)
And solve those first:
(11)+(-2)+(-1)
And solve -2+-1
(11)+(-3)
And that equals:
-8
Hope this helps you out!