Question

read the following excerpt from a student essay. how can the writer best improve his or her word choice? in 410 ce, a mean group of guys called the visigoths tore into the city of rome. led by a king called alaric, the dudes burned loads of buildings, got rid of important romans, and swiped all kinds of stuff. luckily, many of romes cool buildings and monuments survived. when st. jerome, a smart guy who was around then, heard the news about rome, he said, the city which had taken the whole world was itself taken. by using more appropriate academic language by using words with more positive connotations

Explanation:

The excerpt uses informal and colloquial terms like "guys", "dudes", "loads", "got rid of", "swiped", "stuff", "cool", "smart guy". Academic writing requires more formal and precise language. Using positive - connotation words is not the main issue here; the main issue is the lack of formality.

Answer:

by using more appropriate academic language