11.   Bursts of heartfelt partisan applause marked the opening speeches, rare in the House routine, but a vivid measure of the national passions at work.

12.   During opening speeches Monday, Christopher and Gurria hit the sensitive spots.

13.   Except for opening speeches, the actual work here took place inside the suites of the Golf Resort, with no reporters or cameras present.

14.   I was invited to participate, to give the opening speech, one of the inaugural sessions, and also to read a poem.

15.   In her opening speech, the queen noted that her countrymen tend to be skeptical of anything too grandiose.

16.   In his impassioned opening speech, Arafat called on the council not to give Israel an excuse to further delay the establishment of the Palestinian homeland.

17.   In his opening speech on Tuesday, Prime Minister Zhu Rongji repeated an offer to resume negotiations between China and Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a rogue province.

18.   In his opening speech, Bank of Japan Gov. Yasuo Matsushita said the central bank will maintain its current policy of low interest rates to boost the economy.

19.   In September, he startled the General Assembly by tossing aside the usual bland summary opening speech and arguing for overriding national sovereignty when governments abuse their citizens.

20.   In their opening speeches, the leaders of each delegation combined ringing phrases about the historic significance of the moment with distinct outlines of the main battle lines.