21.   Copper consumption is linked to economic activity, since the metal is used in products ranging from refrigerators and automobiles to plumbing fixtures and telecommunications cable.

22.   Demand for copper tends to weaken in the northern hemisphere summer as factories that use the metal close or reduce output for routine maintenance.

23.   Do not use metal.

24.   General Motors Corp., which uses both metals in its catalytic converters, has tried to seek platinum and palladium from a variety of producers to avoid supply disruptions.

25.   Industrial growth is an important gauge of copper consumption as the metal is used for many products from cars to computers to houses and buildings.

26.   Japan is the fifth-largest gold buyer, using the metal mainly to make jewelry.

27.   Japan uses the metals mostly to make jewelry, though platinum is also used in auto pollution-control devices.

28.   Molten Metal is a Waltham, Massachusetts, company that recycles radioactive materials, using molten metal to break down the waste.

29.   Richardson announced last month that the department would seek to compensate weapons plant employees made ill by exposure to beryllium, a metal used in making nuclear bombs.

30.   Rockhill has designed three metal cottages using folded metal cut into overlapping shingles to fit in with their Victorian neighbor.