Example sentences of "[was/were] setting [adv prt] " in BNC.

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1 When we were setting up Eurofest ‘ 75 — an evangelistic congress for 8,000 young people in Brussels in 1975 — a number of advertising agents came to ‘ sell ’ me on their company .
2 Though he could n't hear them , Trent knew that they were setting up a race .
3 Into this I placed little ‘ oily ’ pools where cancer cells were setting up their colonies and I imagined the cells themselves as amoeba or tadpole like creatures , smooth , slippery and with large eyes .
4 They finished and we were backstage and our guys were setting up our stuff and all these bikers in the audience started to chant , ‘ Poofter , poofter , ’ which was aimed at me , and we were thinking , ‘ Oh know , this is ugly . ’
5 Without any fuss they were setting up a machine-gun while a party came straight up the hill towards the ambush positions .
6 They were setting up an introduction agency for Thai women and British men .
7 Thinking they were doing the right thing , some schools set out to understand and respond to the particular problems faced by children of West Indian origin — only to discover that their parents , dissatisfied with ‘ low expectations ’ and ‘ lack of discipline ’ , were setting up their own alternative , strict , traditional schools that their children were being sent to on Saturdays .
8 When the Royal Africa Company collapsed under the weight of its fixed costs , the need for permanent bases on the West African coast — essential if only because half-a-dozen other European countries were setting up forts there — led the government first to try to organize the slave-trading merchants into a loosely organized company which would be responsible for looking after the forts , and then to provide a subsidy to keep them going .
9 While the mechanics were setting up the cars , she thought she 'd go outside into one of the empty stands to try to find a breath of wind , anything rather than standing in the back of the pits in the high humidity which made her skin glow .
10 In a statement broadcast on national radio , the soldiers , who appeared to be led by Capt. Valentine Strasser , announced that they were setting up a National Provisional Defence Council .
11 ‘ You be careful of those tiles ! ’ he yelled towards the boys in the bathroom who were setting up a step-ladder in the bath .
12 The swimmers and sunbathers had all gone , getting ready for dinner , and the groundsmen were setting up the tables and lighting the barbecue .
13 Today the organisers were setting up .
14 ‘ When we were setting up our flagship London/Glasgow service , it took us seven months of negotiation with BR to get an acceptable time slot , ’ he claimed .
15 And as I said , I spoke to the supervisor , switchboard supervisor , Di Combes , when we were setting up the course , and asked her what sort of things she would like to put across at a course like this which would make the switchboard 's job easier .
16 Mr Harris , 51 , and his wife were setting out for church in Lisburn , Co Antrim .
17 As Cole points out , the Pioneers ‘ were setting out to be at one and the same time a Producers ’ and a Consumers ' Society ; and this seemed natural to them because all their endeavours were meant to lead to the creation of a Co-operative Community on the Owenite model , in which the distinction between producers and consumers would not exist . ’
18 Statement of objectives : clear statements of what departments were setting out to do were required .
19 At around the same time the police were setting out to interview Pascoe again .
20 The taxi driver who left us at the station , enchanted by the idea that we were setting off for the source of the Nile , refused to accept any fare .
21 Keeping under cover , Adam followed a group who were setting off from their barracks .
22 For most of the children it was a big adventure , at least when they were setting off with their school friends .
23 Why did you suppose we were setting off with a stretcher and torches , at this time of night ? ’
24 But he stood there watching until the little car had disappeared , as though Ellen were setting off on a long and dangerous journey from which she might never return .
25 They were on a school trip to Pembroke Dock in West Wales and were setting off on their last visit when the crash happened .
26 They said they were setting off at nine o'clock as if to go
27 It was as if the graft was setting up a whole new embryo and re-specifying the positions of the cells in its vicinity .
28 The Judge declared that the foundation to this treason was setting up a false religion .
29 Fortunately for all concerned we learnt that General De Gaulle was setting up a headquarters in Putney , and we could have help from there .
30 For appearances ' sake I maintained the fiction that I was setting up an independent enterprise in the EFL field .
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