21.   A policeman had fired into the air and, as the crowd closed angrily around him, the officer arrested a teen-ager and sped off.

22.   But a moment or two later, all three had closed around him in a tight circle.

23.   City officials would not say when they planned to reopen the other streets that have been closed around Times Square.

24.   Despite vast political differences and personal squabbles, members always have found a way to close ranks around water issues.

25.   Following the KCBS report, inspectors began closing restaurants around the county.

26.   Fueling the black anger, Ms. Clark-Frieson said, was the way the school board and the larger community closed ranks around the embattled principal.

27.   Hart said that while some small downtown athletic clubs closed around the country, many are being revitalized and shifting emphasis.

28.   Hands close around a throat and bodies litter the highway.

29.   I fear the circle of brutality will close around the city, and we will be part of the reason why.

30.   I knew I had only a short window in which to act, only a few minutes before my natural stoicism closed around my heart.