1.   Bates is intense as the lonely homosexual whose obsessive selfless love is only reciprocated by a dumb animal.

2.   Scientific studies show the love affair with a team may be as emotionally intense as the real thing, and that team clashes have gladiatorial power.

3.   And with thousands of amateur and professional surf photographers, the competition among cameramen is almost as intense as the competition among surfers.

4.   At the same time, the time pressure is growing ever more intense as the weeks tick away before Election Day.

5.   But if life in London is increasingly becoming as intense as life in Silicon Valley, there are fewer reasons to stay put.

6.   But no major Western nation faces financial pressure as intense as that of Sweden, where citizens remain downright coddled by American standards.

7.   But nowhere was the action as intense as in New Hampshire.

8.   Concern with seating precedence is as intense as ever, with people jostling for a place near the celebrity petting zoo, if possible.

9.   Delicate with her suitor, Ross Yearsley, Ms. Nadeau rushed with amazing impetus into an obsessive waltz with Uko Gorter, intense as her macabre seducer.

10.   Despite all the new faces on both benches, the Rangers-Islanders rivalry remains as intense as ever.