The sentences below use too many words. Edit them carefully to reduce the number of words, but do not cut out important information. If necessary, rewrite the sentence complete in the space below the sentence.

1. Owing to the fact that the prerequisite courses had not been taken by John, he was having a great deal of difficulty and had to spend a lot of time figuring out his schedule for the semester that is coming up.

2. There is little consideration given by our professors to the very real problem that our textbooks are often extremely costly and expensive.

3. Alex said that the thing to do if he wanted to improve his writing would be to read as many good books as he could possibly read in the time available to him.

4. Baseball has always been thought of as the national past-time, but for all intents and purposes, football has replaced baseball as the favorite sport for many people across this country.

5. During the period of time that included most of February, Laura stayed cooped up in her room and tried to fight off the effects of a very bad and debilitating cold.

6. Basically, I have a disinclination and a disinterest in helping people who are not willing to do some things such as show up for work on time and put forth the effort that it often takes to succeed in this life.