Example sentences of "[noun prp] [verb] been [prep] pains " in BNC.
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| 1 | Following Britain 's recent dispute with China over the stationing of People 's Liberation Army troops in Hong Kong after 1997 , Whitehall has been at pains to keep its distance from the immigration row . |
| 2 | Mr Malik had been at pains to exclude what he continued to call ‘ the loonies ’ — that is to say , anyone whose attitude to the practice of his faith was , in the headmaster 's opinion , excessively enthusiastic . |
| 3 | Since Bartocci had been at pains to emphasize that his comments were ‘ off the record ’ , Zen could of course simply ignore them . |
| 4 | As Coleman had been at pains to point this out before taking on the DEA assignment , he could hardly disagree , but the risk had seemed acceptable at the time and he had taken particular care to underline his academic credentials whenever he met Hurley 's people . |
| 5 | Or rather , as Rachel had been at pains to point out , a misunderstanding of Lamark 's theory of learned characteristics being inherited . |