Example sentences of "[vb past] [verb] [pron] [prep] a [adj] " in BNC.

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1 In the US , for example , where the socialist party failed to establish itself as a major party after a fairly rapid growth in the first decade of this century , it has long been argued that the presidential system is a major obstacle to the development of third parties , and undoubtedly these constitutional factors have been important ; but it is clear that many other social and economic characteristics of the US have had a preponderant influence in determining the absence of a large-scale independent socialist movement or party there ( Sombart , 1906 ; Laslett and Lipset , 1974 ) .
2 By looking after its past employees , the army sought to position itself as a caring organisation which would encourage new recruits .
3 The defendant then made an agreement with the plaintiffs in which ‘ in consideration that the plaintiffs , at the request of the defendant , would deliver to the defendant ’ the cargo of coal , the defendant promised to unload it at a stated rate .
4 In time , academic anthropology became less directly associated with evolutionary ideas , and it tried to establish itself as a respectable , if not conservative , branch of the social sciences .
5 After the series of treaties in 1854 – 58 which helped to launch her on a rapid and irreversible process of change it could even still be questioned whether full-scale diplomatic representation there was worth what it cost .
6 The 30-year-old man , who has not been named , died despite the efforts of coastguards and ambulancemen , who tried to revive him after a failed rescue attempt by surfers .
7 She called a gangcult a gangcult , but the Daughters tried to sell themselves as a Conservative Pressure Group .
8 Under the influence of this late surge of rational speculation I tried to view myself in a different light .
9 Dr Neil tried to calm himself by a grave examination of the doll , as though it were one of his patients , holding the tiny wrist to take the pulse , only to see the laughter on her face , and for that to provoke him to further inward excesses .
10 The crew tried to sail her through a narrow gap at a bridge in Purton .
11 He tried to leaven it with a minor joke .
12 She leaned against the wooden wall , and tried to flatten herself as a tall thin man came out of an adjacent door and turned in her direction .
13 It looked as if the builder had started off with the plans of a Tudor manor house , swapped them for an Early English cathedral in mid-storey , and then suffered a total loss of confidence and tried to convert it into a Dutch barn .
14 They invited people whose backgrounds were very different to join this ‘ high class Jewish fraternity , ’ and tried to run it as a continuous party .
15 For a bit , she tried to turn Yeats into a warrior , and he tried to turn her into a high priestess of the Celtic mysteries — and thus , of course , into a ‘ moderate ’ .
16 Last week he promised to supply us with a written explanation of the way his company had treated Debbie , but it never arrived .
17 Cati went in to Rosa , who lay gripping the down coverlet , to cram it into her face and muffle her sobs ; she climbed up next to her , and stroked her head , and tried to cradle her with a thin arm across her shaking shoulders and felt herself going dry in her throat and choked up too ; Rosa twisted , her red face glowered up at Cati .
18 Middlesbrough were stronger defensively in the second half as , surprisingly , Swindon tried to upset them with a long-ball game rather , than with their usual slick passing style .
19 A paper boy on his morning round was grabbed by a man who then tried to drag him into a waiting car .
20 The boy was deliverying papers in Kingham village just before seven this morning when a man tried to drag him into a waiting estate car .
21 ‘ I tried to tell her in a matter-of-fact way that when you die you leave your body behind and go to Heaven .
22 And the recreation committee yesterday agreed to replace it with a new wooden one costing £9,500 .
23 That reminds me : I asked whether he 'd heard anything within a few minutes of seeing young Hamnett , hoping he 'd say a shot , of course , which really would have been too good to be true .
24 ‘ You might cook him a wonderful pie and then you 'd find he 'd given it to a drunken beggar , and no matter how kind you thought him after a while you 'd want to kill him .
25 I first met him when he came to interview me as a young reporter .
26 As soon as voters came to see it as a real choice between Labour and the Conservatives , thousands of waverers who had told the polls they were going to vote Labour or Liberal Democrats , clearly decamped .
27 She 'd thrown herself at him , and then when she 'd panicked he 'd dropped her like a hot potato … what a fool she 'd been !
28 I decided I did n't want a toffee-apple any more , even though I 'd seen one with a great wedge of toffee stuck to the bottom , so I pretended I 'd seen Marie passing in front of the window and I ran out and shouted , " Wait on , Marie , I 've an important message for you . "
29 Her father 's expression was the warmest she 'd seen it for a long time .
30 My God , for 15 years I 'd written nothing but a few songs . ’
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