1.   At times, in fact, it acts so deliberately that work grinds to a standstill.

2.   While the media were obsessing on Paula-Monica-and-whomever, the serious work of government ground on.

3.   The contractor who dug up the earth at the site had left it exposed when work ground to a halt.

4.   A review commission was set up last year to reconsider some of those sentences but its work has ground to a halt with the present crisis.

5.   A defense ministry official said work nearly ground to a halt at the Defense Command and the defense and foreign ministries as switchboards were jammed with calls.