Proofreading

[Anonymous]

Hello teachers!
Would you please check these sentences and correct them for me?
1. She's very brilliant/intelligent - you only have to explain something once and she takes it in immediately.
2. He stood staring at the painting(,) [taking in, appreciating] its beauty.
3. When I first saw it, I [took, was taken] aback, but after looking at it for a while, I found it somewhat cute.
4. When she told me the price of the exhibit, it took me aback - I would have to sell my house if I wanted to buy it!
5. You can't have a sandwich(,) because we've run out of bread.
6. She won't come back from [shopping, the shops] until she's run out of money.
7. We [haven't gone, didn't go] out often - today let's splash out.
Thank you very much.
Best regards.

[Pete]

1. She's very brilliant/intelligent - you only have to explain something once and she takes it in immediately. [Ok.]
2. He stood staring at the painting, [taking in, appreciating] its beauty. [Ok. Include the comma.]
3. When I first saw it, I [<strike>took,</strike> was taken] aback, but after looking at it for a while, I found it somewhat cute. [Ok.]
4. When she told me the price of the exhibit, it took me aback - I would have to sell my house if I wanted to buy it! [Usually, an "exhibit" includes a number of distinct items. You would not usually speak of buying an exhibit.]
5. You can't have a sandwich<strike>(,)</strike> because we've run out of bread. [Ok. No comma.]
6. She won't come back from [shopping, the shops] until she's run out of money. [Ok.]
7. We [haven't gone, <strike>didn't go</strike>] out often - today let's splash out. ["Didn't go" isn't absolutely wrong, but the present perfect sounds better in this context. I've never heard the idiom "splash out"; it sounds awkward to me, but someone else might be able to say if it is used this way somewhere.]