Look at this fragment and see how a native speaker can be creative in expressing the same basic idea…
“in the computers category, Dell bumped up its customer-satisfaction index from 74 to 75, while HP skidded from 76 to 73. In search engines, Yahoo slipped from 79 to 77, MSN held steady at 75 and AOL inched from 67 to 69.”
To drown in deep thought is better than to be buried in a shallow grave.
Trapped in his own freedom, his silent cries could be heard a mile away.
He waded knee-deep in thought, through the desert-
The grains of time ran motionless as the wind swept dust out of his eyes.
Light echoed through the woods. The silence was almost blinding.