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This Central American country was ruled by an oligarchy (the dictator, vice-chairman, and brigadier general of the armed forces) which made all the key decisions that affected the people of the nation.

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Because the politician had a different message for each different ethnic group and social class, his opponents accused him of pandering for votes.

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Because Meredith is such a know-it-all, she will pontificate on any subject regardless of whether or not she knows anything about the topic.

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Since the professor always answered his students' questions in such an opaque manner, we often wondered if he really wanted to be understood at all.

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The long, dark shadows cast by furniture in the old mansion, along with the low rumble of thunder and the slow creak of footsteps on the stairs, combined to create a sinister effect during this scene of the movie.

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Alison really didn't want to go to the party (and she knew her parents would be disappointed if she went), but the hegemony of the popular crowd was something she could not overcome.

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Even though the other students had encouraged her to fill her research paper with meaningless statistics just to make it appear longer ("This teacher never even reads what you turn," they had said), Carla was too conscientious to do anything less than her best effort.

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His financial prescience helped him to predict the next big stock market depression; therefore, he had sold all of his shares ahead of time and was living in luxury while other investors lost all they had.

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Because the people in the small Vermont town had adopted an insular attitude, they were not interested at all in what was going on in any other parts of the world.

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Hitting for both power and average, having blistering speed on the base paths, and displaying gold glove defensive skills with a cannon for an arm, Mike Trout has become the quintessential baseball player for the modern era.

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By cutting off shipments of uranium and technological resources, the United States basically eviscerated the third world country's nuclear weapons program.

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After their successful business dealings enabled them to become millionaires, Sam and Linda were seen in all the tony Westside restaurants instead of the cheap, fast-food places they had gone to for most of their lives.

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A venerable actress with more than forty years of experience, Helen Martin is remembered for her many outstanding stage and film performances.

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An accomplished performer and composer by the age of six, Mozart was considered one of the most precocious musicians in all of history.

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