Select the alternative that will improve the highlighted part of the sentence. In case there is no improvement, select “No improvement”.
Despite the bike was costly, she bought it.

Correct option is D

Explanation: The sentence "Despite the bike was costly" is grammatically incorrect because "despite" (and "in spite of") must be followed by a noun, pronoun, or gerund, not a full clause like "the bike was costly". The clause that follows — "the bike was costly" — requires a subordinating conjunction, not a preposition.
Therefore, the correct choice is "Though", a subordinating conjunction that introduces a dependent clause.
Correct sentence: Though the bike was costly, she bought it.
Grammatical rule used:
· Despite / In spite of = Prepositions → followed by a noun / gerund, not a clause.
· Though / Although = Subordinating conjunctions → followed by a clause (subject + verb).
Example:
· ❌ Despite the bike was costly...
· ✅ Though the bike was costly, she bought it.
· ✅ In spite of the high cost of the bike, she bought it.
Information Booster Tip:
· To follow “despite” correctly: Despite the cost of the bike or Despite being costly.
· Use “though” when introducing contrasting clauses.