11.   The company said that, though its American operation was turning in a strong performance, the UK situation remained difficult.

12.   Although Foster was able to resuscitate his nomination by a strong performance at his confirmation hearings, the filibuster threat loomed.

13.   Although the movie has some genuinely touching moments and several strong performances, its screenplay by Edwin de Vries veers unsteadily between ham-fisted exposition and cloying sentimentality.

14.   American teen-agers Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes turned in strong performances and placed third and fourth in the short program, and Russian Maria Butyrskaya was a solid fifth.

15.   Analysts earlier attributed the expected gains in broadcasting to strong performances by cable channels such as ESPN and the Disney Channel.

16.   Among the most notable areas of improvement on the test is the consistently strong performance of second-graders.

17.   And both need a strong performance from their offensive line.

18.   Analysts said the comparatively strong Nasdaq performance also was due in part to the fact that tech stocks have posted smaller recent gains than the blue chips.

19.   Analysts said investors were encouraged by strong performances on Wall Street and in Tokyo.

20.   Analysts said services received a boost from strong performance in banking and financial services.