21.   Bank officials seem satisfied, though.

22.   Barak and American officials seem to agree that those proposals end with the departure of Barak and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

23.   Beijing recently alarmed foreign investors when a top official seemed to slam the door on foreign investment in Internet companies.

24.   A ministry official seems resigned to the idea that the project might be scrapped.

25.   Above all, Chinese officials seem irritated by what they see as American arrogance in trying to tell the world how to behave.

26.   Administration officials did not seem worried about possible resentment by the Asian countries who see themselves as rising economic powers.

27.   Administration officials seemed confident that if this path was chosen, Clinton would find a way to sell it.

28.   Administration officials seemed uncertain about how to respond.

29.   Administration officials seem eager to blunt charges from Democrats and environmentalists that their energy policy depends almost exclusively on new production, rather than on conservation.

30.   Administration officials seemed to agree.