Example sentences of "of [noun pl] [was/were] a [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | According to this view , the working classes had more to unite them than divide them , and the separateness of states was a piece of mystification which helped to perpetuate capitalism . |
| 2 | Kepler 's concern with the formation of images was a response to a practical problem . |
| 3 | Here the decor by Miss Judy Nicholls of Images was a Renaissance theme , with gold-fringed swags and banners of ruby silk tied back with gold rope , and a canopy of sparkling lights suspended over the dance floor . |
| 4 | In a typically devious climb-down they announced they would bombard the island in future on only the odd dates of the month , as though the rain of shells was a form of parking restriction . |
| 5 | Probably the adoption of the Gothic style for church schools is not so surprising when it is considered that the design of schools was a subject in which the influential Ecclesiological Society — the significant impact of whose views on church design has already been referred to — was prepared to interest itself . |
| 6 | A further consequence of a rather haphazard system of acquiring information for the recommendation of schools was a suspicion on the part of some headteachers that the invitation to participate was based on personal contacts and the preferences and prejudices of , for example , the local inspector . |
| 7 | Yet even within this dialectic in the decade after 1823 the balance of methods was a source of tension . |
| 8 | These were their personal gifts to him , but the bride dower , without which there would be no wedding , plus the week of celebrations were a family affair . |
| 9 | Part of this sequence of attacks was a form of retaliation , this time for what Iran perceived as the provocative act of the initial invasion . |
| 10 | Wages , meanwhile , were held down — or , at best , rose only very slowly ; and it does n't need a Mr. Micawber to tell us that the net result for thousands of families was a fluctuation in living standards bordering all too often on total destitution . |
| 11 | He merely maintained that the non-recurrence of the same complexes of qualities was a probability , not a certainty . |
| 12 | Lying face-downwards in a tangle of strings was a puppet fully five feet high , a sylphide in a fountain of white tulle , fallen flat down as if someone had got tired of her in the middle of playing with her , dropped her and wandered off . |
| 13 | Boaden found no evidence that the availability of resources was a cause of spending by local authorities though the lack of them may obviously ‘ limit how far any authority can go ’ ( Boaden 1971:116 ) . |
| 14 | Eruptions of demand for really cheap transport take me back to student days , when a lack of wheels was a disaster . |
| 15 | The couple of niggles were a flat , painted giant 's face at the window of Buckingham Palace , and a slipped accent by the Queen of Sweden . |
| 16 | Communal overexploitation was averted first because of inter-personal face-to-face relationships involved in the design and implementation of forest preservation by a small community where enforcement and the meting out of punishments was a matter for the forest users themselves ; second , because of the existence of a special interest group ( carpenters ) ; and third , the shared and fierce desire of the people to remain as independent of outside influence and control as possible ( p. 434 ) . |
| 17 | If the recognition of persons was a precondition for jewellery , it is no less true that the prime purpose of wearing it was to symbolize status . |
| 18 | It is even harder to imagine his reaction , in light of his long imprisonment , to the authoritative comment of The Times on the Bedford Bunyan Festival : ‘ No one cares to remember whether the author of the most fascinating allegory that ever struck despair into the souls of imitators was a Dissenter . ’ |
| 19 | His time of 46.55secs was a second slower than David Grindley ran in Rome on Wednesday and Grindley is now favourite to be picked for the European Cup later this month . |
| 20 | Part of the crest on his ducal coat of arms was a lion , and he became known as the Lion of Venice . |
| 21 | The upshot of this conflict of interests was a compromise . |
| 22 | Miliband argued , however , that this apparent plurality of interests was a sham because all of these elites together constituted a ruling class serving the interests of capitalism . |
| 23 | He explained that the appointment and dismissal of teachers was a matter for the local authority alone and that the board had no authority other than to help supervise the ‘ educational efficiency ’ of the school . |
| 24 | His epitaph declared that for him ‘ the study of languages was a necessity , History a relaxation , Philosophy a devotion , Mathematics a delight , Music a duty , Theology a vocation ’ . |
| 25 | On the chest of drawers was a photograph of his elder brother Pedro in uniform , his pale patrician face the image of Angel 's , except for a black moustache . |
| 26 | The Rentokil convoy of vehicles was a sight to behold . |
| 27 | So anyway I eventually decided I still did n't know what I wanted to do , but I was aware that the beginnings and ends of lessons were a bit of a mess , so the idea was to film that . |
| 28 | What kind of men were a village headmaster 's daughters marrying at that period ? |
| 29 | A higher test , namely that ‘ nothing in the way of smells was a nuisance to public health unless it so nauseated the smeller that he vomited ’ was rejected . |
| 30 | For the French , who declared that old-style exploitation of colonies was a thing of the past , all that they said was necessary were economic and social programmes to dissipate ‘ the racial hatred that was drummed up by immature political leaders ’ . |