We walked one step at a time, slowly, really slowly, because it would seem that to most if not all of us the worst and most avoided event was the first day of school.

1. What is the best way to rewrite the sentence?
We walked one step at a time because it seemed to most of us that was the worst.
×We walked slowly to avoid the first day of school.
We walked really slowly as we tried to avoid the worst, first day of school.

A flying, feathered animal that rises before the sun often has better luck than its peers when looking for and obtaining a meal of a long, soft-bodied animal.

2. What is the best way to rewrite the sentence?
×A bird that looks for worms before other birds do will probably be successful.
Animals with feathers wake up before animals with long, soft bodies.
A bird that flies can get food more easily than worms that crawl on the ground.