Example sentences of "[unc] [noun] have been a [noun sg] " in BNC.

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1 Particularly encouraging to the E&P management has been a gain over the last year in net income to the equivalent of about $3.50 per barrel of oil produced , putting BP well ahead of the performance of most other oil majors judged by the same yardstick and only marginally behind Exxon , the largest US oil company .
2 Even so , the older woman 's reactions had been a bit over the top .
3 They all laughed , for Breeze 's untidiness had been a school joke for years .
4 As Shahid himself admits , the sight of Ian Salisbury wheeling away so productively at Lord 's might have been a factor in this sudden show of faith .
5 Underlying Mr Singh 's campaign has been an implication that boys receiving awards and honours have not really been deserving of them .
6 He said after the funeral that his brother 's marriage had been a shot-gun affair never consummated .
7 What on Hunter 's initiative had been a saving grace for the College on Vial 's death — the admission of veterinary students to lectures by surgeons and physicians — later became a source of complaint .
8 Mrs Doran 's husband had been a loser to Phipps , both at golf and in the bedroom .
9 Lady Grange 's husband had been a Jacobite and during one of their marital battles she hinted that she would expose his seditious leanings — for which he could be hanged .
10 China 's GDP has been a cause of controversy for years .
11 Mr Kinnock said that this week 's conference had been a landmark for his party .
12 But it 's still considered that Balcerowicz 's reforms have been a success .
13 Hayling 's dummy had been a marathon performance over months , whilst Sutton had had only a short time and few people .
14 Sir John 's father had been a friend of Ruskin and the family collection contained several of his watercolours of Venice .
15 Bernard 's father had been a builder , his two elder brothers were house painters ; his older sister was married to a carpenter : another just left nursing to be married ; his two younger sisters were still at school and planned to go to college against their mother 's wishes .
16 Kitty 's father had been a woodman , born more than ninety years ago , in the reign of Queen Anne , just out of the valley in Lamplugh , a village named after one of the Conqueror 's more savage barons and ever since his brutal arrival sunk in the spellbound gloom of ossified superstition .
17 Women 's bodies have been a focus of attention through the women 's movement at the different points in its history .
18 The Mahdi 's skull had been a cause célèbre .
19 Mr Savimbi 's whereabouts have been a mystery since the battle for Huambo , Unita 's headquarters , began on 9 January .
20 The county 's recruitment has been a disappointment in many ways .
21 The Store nomes liked sleeping on fancy bits of carpet , but Masklin 's bed had been a bit of wood .
22 Most of Emecheta 's life has been a fight to get what she feels is her due .
23 Asked whether yesterday 's attack had been a case of spontaneous combustion , he said : ‘ Look , it 's a reaction that I put forward there on behalf of , as much as anything else , the readers of our newspaper .
24 The butcher had lined his pockets too thickly in the past at their expense , and Faith 's will had been a warning , a pointer to their future .
25 We had just finished the Card Trio in Act 3 with Leontyne and the two other gipsy girls in splendid voice , while Karajan 's accompaniment had been an education in itself .
26 Half an hour of Basil 's time had been a godsend .
27 It was apparent that Artai 's inquisition had been a kind of test , and that he had passed .
28 Eddie 's death had been a nightmare that had haunted her family for the last ten years .
29 But the coroner said that while the man had clearly committed suicide , it was n't clear whether his wife 's death had been an accident or murder .
30 Granny 's son had been a gamekeeper on the estate , but now that he had gone elsewhere to work Sir Benson had given Granny notice that she must quit the cottage .
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