2.  Dull: The garden was beautiful.  Engaging: The lush, flowering garden was beautiful.  Dull: The crowd cheered the winning basket.  Engaging: The enthusiastic, home crowd loudly cheered the winning basket.  Dull: Tim ran a poor race.  Engaging: Plodding down the course, Tim ran a poor race.

3.  Dull: Erin went shopping.  Better: Before her party, Erin went shopping at the mall.  Dull: The cool rain felt good.  Better: After the hot afternoon, the cool rain felt good on my skin.

4.  Participles are verbs that act as adjectives. They most often end in –ing in the present tense and –ed or –en in the past.  Dull: Lisa ran into Steve at the store.  Better: Looking like a drowned rat, Lisa ran into Steve at the store.  Dull: The babysitter yelled at the screaming children.  Better: Having reached the end of her rope, the babysitter yelled at the screaming children,