state of being verbs?

Question

my teacher gave me an assignment to change some state of being verbs on my paper to action verbs. an example she gave me: "she was a beautiful woman." to "she strutted her stuff down the hall." well, i get how some sentences could be changed, but i don't think all of them can. like, can this be changed: "i WAS five years old when i first began playing basketball."?

Answer 1

"As I undertook my fifth year of existence, I began playing basketball."

"My fourth year having passed away and my fifth dawning with all its splendour, I first began to play the noble game of basketball."

I'm not sure if this is what you're meant to do, but I hope it helps.