31.   The actor Lewis J. Stadlen played Mason in the first reading of the play last week.

32.   The actress Stephanie Gordon remembers volunteering her apartment for the first reading, with Wilson and Mason doing all the roles as the actors sat in a circle.

33.   The bill was passed in a first reading last year, and needs three readings to become law.

34.   The bill passed its first reading last week.

35.   The budget has its first reading in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, in mid-September.

36.   The bill passed its first reading on Tuesday, but has been placed in legislative limbo in a deal pushed by Netanyahu.

37.   The computer industry even has a quick retort for those pesky users who ask questions without first reading the supplied manual.

38.   The Duma rejected the first reading of the budget twice.

39.   The first reading was in the Beverly Hills office of Bernie Brillstein, a prominent show business manager whose clients include Zweibel and who represented Radner.

40.   The first reading will probably be his cabinet choices.