Example sentences of "[to-vb] [adj] than a [adj] " in BNC.

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1 For Stenton , the half century before 716 when no Anglo-Saxon king had been able to establish more than a local ascendancy , had ‘ little significance in English political history ’ because it had given no promise of the great advance , as he saw it , towards the unity of England which was to be made by the Mercian kings before the end of the eighth century .
2 Efforts to chart continuities in maladjustment almost invariably fail to find more than a small relationship between early attachment or infant behaviour and later emotional or behavioural adjustment , and although very early relationships and behaviour are seen to be very important , most researchers aiming to demonstrate this fact end by concluding that discontinuity rather than continuity is the rule ( e.g. Lewis et al. , 1984 ; Fischer et al. , 1984 ) .
3 Clearly the whole point of the exchange , namely a request for specific information and an attempt to provide as much of that information as possible , is not directly expressed in ( 2 ) at all ; so the gap between what is literally said in ( 2 ) and what is conveyed in ( 3 ) is so substantial that we can not expect a semantic theory to provide more than a small part of an account of how we communicate using language .
4 Although this research is expected , and intended , to have practical educational relevance , it is hoped to provide more than a descriptive analysis of classroom practice .
5 Strict separation was the order of the day , forcing some couples to leave notes in drainpipes and resort to all kinds of strategies if they wished to communicate more than a passing word .
6 The apparatus required for imprinting , and then for measuring the efficacy of the imprinting response , was large and elaborate ; it was impossible to train more than a few birds at a time .
7 Even with six vehicles it is not possible to visit more than a small percentage of the schools in England , Scotland and Wales .
8 Norwegian rules generally forbid foreign investors to own more than a third of an insurer .
9 WHEN you 've dragged two successive bosses from burning office blocks , you 're entitled to expect more than a departmental memo by way of thanks .
10 Lima , where it rains so seldom that the city 's roofs are not designed to withstand more than a mild shower , the inhabitants are anxiously awaiting the worst .
11 The International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) was reported in early August to be unable to trace more than a few hundred of the many thousands of Iraqi soldiers who died in the Gulf war fighting , nor had details been given of the location of mass graves .
12 When this last measure failed to force some authorities sufficiently into line , the Conservative government , in 1984 , introduced a measure called rate capping that made it illegal for authorities designated by the Secretary of State to levy more than a certain amount in rates , their only form of independent finance .
13 If such phrases always fail to extend more than a few words , through failing to match the input , then we can afford to delay the interpretation without placing too much of a burden on higher level components .
14 It is impossible to give more than a brief and partial account of it .
15 He 'd have to judge the force of the blow very carefully and you 'd expect it to leave more than a slight bump . ’
16 Two other grandmothers who came on regular visits , one ‘ very generous ’ and the other an eloquent ‘ martinet ’ , died too soon to leave more than a dim recollection . ’
17 But within a few days , all her mother 's youth and vigour were gone and the energetic , independent woman whose health and dependability she had taken for granted for so long had turned into a helpless invalid , unable to hold down the thinnest gruel , unable to sleep more than a few minutes at a time , unable even to answer the calls of nature on her own , so that she had to be lifted like a child onto the pot and lifted back into the jumble of stinking bedclothes .
18 This will be the case where negotiations or discussions are extended to embrace more than a small group of people or where they are at such an advanced stage that the target is reasonably confident that an offer will be made for its shares ; where secrecy can not be maintained ; or if security is breached .
19 Where the returns from criminal work had been too limited to support more than a small number of firms , they had now increased while other firms felt under economic threat .
20 He had not had time to compare more than a few paragraphs scattered throughout each text , but he had seen enough to know that their contents were practically identical .
21 It is also difficult to see more than a small part of the action while defending oneself , and difficult to convey to magistrates the naked aggression displayed .
22 They hesitated among the thick heather , unable to see more than a few feet ahead .
23 It was now impossible to see more than a few yards .
24 She had been caught between relief and disappointment in that moment , but one of the waitresses had materialised at her side to ask a question , and for the rest of the evening she had been too busy to spare more than a passing occasional thought for the man with the still dark eyes .
25 As a result of the MRC 's calculations Martin claims , in an article in the spring issue of the Journal of the Society for Radiological Protection , that ‘ 300 rads average bone marrow dose is unlikely to kill more than a small percentage of those exposed ’ .
26 It was difficult for our branch of the bank , which was not allowed to keep more than a certain amount of money in the safe , and often had to send documents and money to the head branch in Parma .
27 However , it will never be practicable to convert more than a small percentage of this into useful energy .
28 It has in the past been notorious that a pupil in an English school , having learned French for seven years , and having even passed at grade A at A level , may yet be unable to utter more than a few halting sentences , and be hardly able to follow a simple conversation with a native speaker .
29 As the ash dries hard it is dug out for sale for the construction industry , yet another habitat is created With the layers of rock compacted over millions of years , this soft ash forms perfect artificial gifts for burrowing animals like rabbits For this young fox , what better place to practise digging than a soft cliff of ash , watched nervously by potential lunch Another predator not necessarily fond of the ash , but very keen on the animals that it attracts , is the polecat ferret Once used by poachers many of these agile hunters are now wild and range freely over the rough ground near power stations in search of prey Round at the top of the ash are the nest borrows of one of Britain 's rarest bird , the sand martin the monitor of this power station has ensured special in there so the birds can find ideal nest sites .
30 There are many ways in which these emotional drives can be channelled , and I could not hope to name more than a few of them .
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