Example sentences of "the first thing to " in BNC.

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1 When times are good , people spend relatively more on gambling ; when they are bad , gambling expenditure is one of the first things to be cut back .
2 Mr Marchant said nationally arts cost very little but was one of the first things to be cut .
3 Enter Lucignano and one of the first things to immediately impress the first-time visitor is the peace and quiet of the town 's narrow streets and alleyways .
4 Whenever oligarchy took over from democracy , pay for office was one of the first things to be abolished .
5 He wore an open-neck shirt and trousers that needed pressing , but he 'd apologized for his ‘ unkempt ’ condition when he 'd first greeted them , explaining that he 'd been decorating at home and had pulled on the first things to hand in his haste to get to the waxworks .
6 Given the propensity of many modern breweries and their designers to impose an overall , single-period ‘ look ’ , however , the Georgian fabric that does exist is often the first thing to be swept away — to make way for a sham-Victorian world of clumsy stained glass and ugly stained hardwood .
7 Then we all started demanding cheap food and the first thing to be sacrificed , along with the freedom of a chicken to scratch for worms , was flavour .
8 In any study being undertaken , the first thing to be done is the obvious one of finding out what organisations exist and whether they are part of a national body — such as the Women 's Institute , Mothers ' Union , Guides or Scouts — or purely local , such as the Film Club or the Debating Society .
9 The first thing to be said about Bateman is that he was a Londoner !
10 Victory , perhaps to their own surprise , now seemed almost within the invaders ' grasp but at a Council of War , held at the prince 's headquarters in Exeter House , Derby , on the morning of Thursday 5 December , Lord George Murray , whose tactics so far had been masterly , astounded his fellow-commanders by remarking that ‘ the first thing to be spoken of was how far it was prudent to advance further ’ .
11 The first thing to be said in reply is a familiar Popperian theme : a clearly articulated hypothesis , which fails to match the facts in certain specifiable ways , can be a crucial stage in the development of a more satisfactory scientific understanding .
12 Down on the ground the first thing to be heard is a distant squeal , and a sharp-sighted man might just discern a black dot like a bird high in the sky .
13 The first thing to be said is that the ‘ circumstantial variables ’ of a president 's incumbency may give him important advantages .
14 The first thing to work is when to buy .
15 The first thing to be done is to draw up a list of such works to be read in school . "
16 The first thing to be clear about is that sex is a natural instinct : we are born as sexual beings .
17 And the first thing to be said is that , on their own , beliefs do n't cause actions .
18 The first thing to be said in relation to the merits of the appeal is that none of the parties to the appeal , all represented here today , opposes it .
19 The first thing to be said about it is that , whatever background you choose , it must mesh in well with the murder plot .
20 The first thing to be said about mistake is that it does not usually provide a defence , for liability in conversion is strict :
21 remember what we said the first thing to date you have to understand what you 're trying to do
22 I mean , I think one , the first thing to be said is that one can assure members covering all the other C A B's was that they actually got their bids in full .
23 The first thing to be done is to make more precise the role of the tonic syllable in the tone-unit .
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