Question

Paco read Olivia’s paper and suggested that she change this sentence to avoid overusing the word and.

In the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union sent ships to Cuba and the United States tried to keep the Soviet Union from putting missiles in Cuba.

What should Olivia do to make this sentence more readable?

change the first and to not
change the first and to or
change the second and to yet
change the second and to as

Answer 1

Change the second and to as.

"In the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union sent ships to Cuba as the United States tried to keep the Soviet Union from putting missiles in Cuba."

This avoids repeating "and" while keeping the intended simultaneous relationship between the actions.