1.   Becoming a doctor would be a step up the social ladder.

2.   Each step up the stairway was rank with smells.

3.   He expects the jump from county to Test cricket to be another step up in terms of bowling and concentration.

4.   Once again, this progress could be seen as a step up the ladder of emotional development.

5.   Through the information technologies they have spawned, computers step up the pace of the ticking.

6.   Disruption in schools in England and Wales will escalate this week as the two biggest teaching unions step up industrial action in support of their pay claim.

7.   Analysts say the proposed merger will give BP Amoco a step up in an oil industry that has been consolidating rapidly.

8.   And it may bolster growth in the first quarter as companies step up production to bring stock levels in line with demand.

9.   And although the place is awash in antiques stores and impressive Victorian houses that step up the hill from the waterfront, quaint has not yet arrived here.

10.   And the next step up the evolutionary ladder might already be on the horizon.