1.   As if to prove their seriousness of purpose, the Dole campaign trotted out Jack Kemp and ordered him to go on the offensive.

2.   A movement that trots out Willard Scott and Ben Vereen to prove its seriousness is, not to put too fine a point on it, past mockery.

3.   The work proved its seriousness with its urgent themes.

4.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held crucial talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday, bearing new proposals on the Palestinians to prove his seriousness in seeking peace.

5.   Israelis were sceptical, although dovish Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the Palestinian leader should be given a few days to prove his seriousness.