do a study of the effects	CHANGE TO	study the effects
have a tendency to	CHANGE TO	tend to
is indicative of	CHANGE TO	indicates
make changes in	CHANGE TO	change
make decisions about	CHANGE TO	decide on
make progress toward	CHANGE TO	progress toward
provide a summary of	CHANGE TO	summarize
serve to make reductions	CHANGE TO	reduce

This formula changes the objective noun to a verb and displaces the pretender. Take care, however, not to be too zealous in applying this formula, or you will end up with such artificial verbs as prioritize, concretize, or incentivize.

The second class of superfluous verb is found in clauses that modify nouns. Such verbs, along with the pronouns and helping verbs that precede them, can often be deleted.

the ice that is contained in	CHANGE TO	the ice in
the people who are concerned are	CHANGE TO	the people are
the argument that is included in	CHANGE TO	the argument in
the tasks that are involved in	CHANGE TO	the tasks in
the people who are located in	CHANGE TO	the people in
the numbers shown in	CHANGE TO	the numbers in
the estimates presented in	CHANGE TO	the estimates in
the facts given in	CHANGE TO	the facts in