I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a community centre British English , community center American English (= where people can go for social events, classes etc )
▪
A community centre is the ideal place for local residents to get together to discuss crime prevention.
a conference centre (= a building or group of buildings used for conferences )
a craft centre British English , a craft center American English (= building where you can see different crafts and buy things )
a garden centre British English , a garden center American English (= a shop selling plants and things for the garden )
▪
I bought the plants at the garden centre.
a leisure centre/complex (= a place where you can play sports etc )
▪
The local leisure centre has a swimming pool and a sauna.
a resort town/area/centre
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They're only a five minute stroll away from the main resort centre with all its bars, restaurants and nightlife.
a tourist destination/centre/spot
▪
Egypt became a popular tourist destination in the nineteenth century.
a weather centre British English , a weather bureau American English (= a place where information about the weather is collected and where reports are produced )
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The London Weather Centre has issued a warning that there could be extremely heavy rain and high winds over the next 24 hours.
an advice centre/service/desk/bureau
▪
They offer a 24-hour advice service to customers.
an exhibition centre British English , an exhibition center American English (= a large building for holding exhibitions )
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The exhibition will be held in the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
be at the centre of a scandal British English , be at the center of a scandal American English
▪
The banker at the centre of the scandal has disappeared.
be at the centre of a storm British English , be at the center of a storm American English (= be the person or thing that is causing strong protest, criticism etc )
▪
He has been at the centre of a storm surrounding donations to the party.
call centre
centre forward
centre of gravity
city centre
civic centre
community centre
correctional facility/institution/centre (= a prison )
day care centre/services/facilities
▪
subsidized day care facilities
day centre
▪
a local day centre for homeless people
detention centre
ExCeL Exhibition Centre, the
garden centre
health centre
information centre
job centre
leisure centre
nerve centre
▪
the ship’s nerve center
reception centre
remand centre
shopping centre
sports centre
the centre of a controversy
▪
The idea became the centre of a bitter controversy.
the centre of town/the town centre British English , the center of town/the town center American English
▪
The hotel was right in the center of town.
the centre of town/the town centre British English , the center of town/the town center American English
▪
The hotel was right in the center of town.
the city centre British English , the city center American English
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The hotel is in the city centre.
the middle/centre ground (= opinions that are not extreme that most people would agree with )
▪
Both parties are battling to occupy the centre ground .
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Careful, Laura. You could be treading on dangerous ground expressing opinions etc that might offend someone .
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Each side was unwilling to give ground change their opinion .
town centre
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
commercial
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Portree has long been the commercial centre of the Isle of Skye.
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Yet a one man business for immigrants in the commercial centre of the city was an anachronism.
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Twenty years ago London Road was a busy, thriving commercial centre thronged with shoppers.
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Over the next few hundred years, Tewkesbury remained a busy commercial centre , often ranked only second to Gloucester.
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The church dominates the commercial centre with its clock tower visible from the housing developments on the outskirts.
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It is renowned as a business and commercial centre .
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Things could get especially complicated in Kano, the north's biggest commercial centre .
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Birmingham is less attractive because it has remained the commercial centre of the Midlands.
cultural
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It's a tourist and cultural centre as well as a centre for violence.
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The bus station was similarly desolate, while the cinema, cultural centre , public baths and a hospital have closed.
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The builders are not using any nails in the construction, in an effort to build an authentic cultural centre .
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And from the affluence they have brought has come Winterthur's other fame as a cultural centre .
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But, what is there for the art enthusiast in this cultural centre ?
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In the later Middle Ages, Prague was an important merchant city and cultural centre .
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It is also a significant conference and cultural centre .
financial
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The Corporation, which controls London's financial centre , wants to cut back on free parking bays.
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Fears that London's reputation as the world's leading financial centre has been permanently damaged are considered to be exaggerated.
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For example, Frankfurt could pose a real challenge to London as a financial centre for the futures markets.
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The billion-dollar question was whether a devaluation of the dollar would jeopardize New York's position as a financial centre .
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It is about time that we started to realise that the financial centre of London is not the key to our success.
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People feared that turning the City into Fort Knox would damage its attraction as a financial centre .
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The financial centre Bank is the finest architectural arena in the City.
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In the early 1980s a greater number of Arab banks was represented in London than in any Arab capital or financial centre .
local
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A local shows centre , Duckhurst Farm, holds clear round jumping on Saturday afternoons.
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Nigel also took up aerobics at his local sports centre .
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Some years back, when he had a young family, Lewry joined his local National Trust centre .
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I recently saw them at my local garden centre .
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If you feel energetic, you could join exercise classes at your local sports centre , village hall or other venue.
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A local volunteer centre or Age Concern group should be able to match up talents with projects that need them.
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Nice - at a price Our local garden centre stocks Sterlets.
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Then the local centre for the handicapped lent them a wheelchair, so they were able to get out and about.
major
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The First World War saw enormous advances in flight technology, and Glasgow was a major centre for aircraft production.
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Later, Valencia came to dominate as the major lustreware centre .
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Now it is a major shopping centre and a centre for professional services and newspaper printing.
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It was also a major tourist centre .
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Edo itself also acted as a major centre of commercial activity.
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There were visits to London Docklands, a major bank training centre and all the main City institutions.
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The area has always been a major centre for the narcotics trade.
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Kharkov was a major centre for metallurgy, chemical, and machine-building plants.
new
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The new centre will offer a range of pupil activities and will be available to schools throughout the country.
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Where new road patterns or a new shopping centre affect trade, appeal.
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One bright spot will be a new materials research centre at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California.
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Read in studio Campaigners against a new detention centre for the immigration service have held a torchlight protest.
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Ossett today demonstrates that sturdy individuality in an increasing variety of businesses and services as well as their new centre of Wellgate.
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They want to prevent the opening of a new detention centre at Campsfield House in Kidlington.
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Vladimir After the decline of Kiev, a new centre of power and influence was slowly established in the region of Moscow.
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Macmillan College expects to open its new leisure centre for school and community use in June.
■ NOUN
business
▪
Forty minutes later I parked outside a slate-grey office block in the business centre .
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Obviously this was not conclusive, L A is a pretty vital business centre , you would expect millionaires to congregate there.
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A government report concluded in 1986 that we must move beyond being a production base, to being an international business centre .
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Businessmen outlined their views on future government policies when two General Election candidates visited the Belasis business centre , Billingham.
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The redundant building was advertised as a potential business centre , equipped with offices and laboratory space.
care
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And an information day is being planned for anyone wanting to learn more about the day care centre appeal.
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Linked with the day care centre this service provides specialist home support for carers and suffers. ii Crossroads care Attendant Schemes.
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The day care centre can often be the link to other agencies when special needs are identified.
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Each petty sessions area has an allocated care centre to which cases may be transferred if the relevant criteria are met.
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In certain circumstances public law proceedings may be commenced in a county court care centre .
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It will also include retail and leisure units, community facilities and a health care centre .
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He remembered the maternity unit - long closed, the day care centre and the wards, all with their characteristics.
city
▪
At the city centre slid out of the skin and moved away thought the dense crowds.
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Hotel am Thielenplatz A modern hotel situated right in the city centre and only 300 metres walk from the railway station.
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Budapest is to ban all cars with two-stoke engines from the city centre unless they are fitted with a catalytic converter.
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His farm is about eight miles from Bradford city centre .
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At times, his music has the fragmented feel of a late-night stroll through a busy city centre !
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He had returned for lunch from his office in the city centre .
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Voice over Bob Peckham has been juggling for 12 years he regularly entertains shoppers in Oxford city centre .
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This option would cost £85 million, or if the trains were put in tunnels through the city centre , £105 million.
conference
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Meanwhile, Unix System Labs has negotiated a Unix showcase area squat at the front door of the conference centre .
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But the playroom is to be absorbed into the retreat and conference centre next year.
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Ideally situated close to the town and conference centre , on the Brighton border and just off the seafront.
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Around the conference centre , the party rocks on with blithe disregard for the economic and political turbulence beyond.
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The conference centre contained one of the main entrances to the bunker.
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Size of conference centre 194 points 4.
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Located in a perfect position close to the seafront, entertainment, town centre and conference centre.
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They are just as important though as what goes on in the main body of the conference centre .
day
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At the time we saw her, Jean was living in a hostel in North London and attending a psychiatric day centre .
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These included parents, under-fives workers, specialist workers, children's day centre organisers and playgroups organisers.
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Some proposals include provision of a day centre and respite care.
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Their main line of support is through the day centre manager.
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The day centre manager is totally responsible for the day to day management of the centre including transport, meals etc.
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Review day centre availability across Lothian.
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Staff and parents need to be strongly motivated to seek an integrated placement in a children's day centre or nursery school.
detention
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Read in studio A new detention centre for immigrants has taken delivery of its first inmates, despite protests from local people.
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The judge gave Abraham a seven-year sentence in a juvenile detention centre , after which he will be released.
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So they put me in a detention centre for six months.
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Then again you may be taken from the detention centre to Pentonville Prison and locked up there if you complain.
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Read in studio Campaigners against a new detention centre for the immigration service have held a torchlight protest.
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It's planned to turn part of the site into a detention centre for the immigration service.
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Campsfield will house 200 people making it the biggest detention centre for immigrants in the country.
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They want to prevent the opening of a new detention centre at Campsfield House in Kidlington.
garden
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A new garden centre has opened which specialises in plants which can't be bought anywhere else.
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Eventually it blossomed into a garden centre .
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Next step you would think is to go to the garden centre and look for holly bushes with boy and girl names?
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I recently saw them at my local garden centre .
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Although they always look so tempting on the garden centre shelf, they are known to be very hard to please.
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Locally, fleece may be available from your garden centre but do check the quality and price before buying.
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In fact garden centre granite would do, and is very cheap.
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From a busy garden centre , the company supplies roses, shrubs, trees and bedding plants, all at competitive prices.
health
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Adolescents, men, the homeless, and people with sexually transmitted diseases may not feel comfortable in a health centre .
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A community psychiatry system was adopted which had the mental health centre at the middle.
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The district nurse is attached to the general practitioner surgery or health centre .
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The old police station is now the health centre with four doctors and several community nurses.
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That health centre job must really pay.
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The cash has bought medical equipment which will be presented tomorrow in Mr Horne's name to the town's health centre .
information
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In other words, a topic is included if there is an information centre , source or service covering it.
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A tree lined avenue leads to Minehead's shopping centre and the district's main tourist information centre.
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Nearby, the National Trust has an information centre , and there is a camping site.
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Follow the road back to the Forestry information centre at Glenmoret.
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When you reach the main road at the information centre , turn right for the car park.
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The town hall is set to reopen next year and will include a tourist information centre , library and concert room.
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Centre safe: Cleveland County Council has safeguarded the future of the county's busiest tourist information centre for the next year.
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The Stock Exchange is an information centre .
leisure
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Local Activities: walks, golf, fishing, leisure centre .
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Joanna suddenly wandered into the leisure centre 36 hours later.
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A new hotel and leisure centre .
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To sum up, Kitzbuhel is a major year round sporting and leisure centre and as such offers every facility.
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Joanna, 25, walked into the leisure centre where she works at 7am yesterday after vanishing on Tuesday.
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Charity dip: Hundreds of swimmers raised more than £1,000 for Cleveland charities in a superswim at Eston leisure centre .
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The client is also understood to be working up proposals for the final phase of the project to build a leisure centre .
research
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Later he set up his own research centre , the Glynn Research Laboratories in Cornwall.
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Forty years ago the Theatre Collection was founded as a research centre for staff and students in the Drama Department.
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In addition to stimulating specific projects, a research centre for solar energy is due to be established.
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Diana opened the first research centre that treated patients.
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According to the tour guides, the place is a working research centre .
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Now she has joined the Breakthrough fundraising drive to build a research centre in London.
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There is a fibres research centre at Gloucester plus two development centres - one for textile applications and one for carpets.
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The research centre provides specialist coursework, in parallel with that provided Faculty-wide on research method and design.
resource
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The number of people in the catchment area of the resource centre who now seek residential care has dropped dramatically.
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The Centre maintains a documentary resources centre and has recently set up a national ethnic minority statistical database.
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The learning resources centre serves teachers and learners alike.
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Also historical resource centre and family history department.
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The Institute offers facilities for computer-assisted learning, as well as a self-access centre , library and teachers' resource centre.
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There will also be an Internet resource centre for analytical scientists.
shopping
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One new shopping centre planned for Budapest would increase traffic in and out the city by an estimated 20,000 cars a day.
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The private developers have pursued the investment route with regard to the shopping centre , and to smaller sector shopping centres on particular estates.
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I ended up dining in a Pizza Hut in the basement of the shopping centre , the only customer in the place.
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Where new road patterns or a new shopping centre affect trade, appeal.
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Houseman's Shropshire that was once visible from Telford's shopping centre has been very carefully and skilfully gnawed away.
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During our stay in Leeds we visited: The county Arcade shopping centre .
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Six others were found and made safe after a nineteen hour search of the shopping centre .
stage
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By day, the Pirates Club takes centre stage with games, activities and competitions - even the parents join in!
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After years in the doldrums, Opec has grabbed centre stage once more.
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The debate about who should pay what tax in the underdeveloped world has moved centre stage .
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One particularly macabre statue of Saint Sebastian, arrows poking out of every limb, was given centre stage .
▪
As she says herself, this is one lady born to be centre stage .
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What measures of success might there be if the goal of changing client behaviour in some way is no longer centre stage ?
▪
Management development therefore moves centre stage , and this is for two reasons.
town
▪
Alan Model, 35, made the illegal stop in a town centre as he popped into a shop.
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Read in studio Women are being warned not to walk alone at night after two attacks in Swindon town centre .
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It is conveniently situated close to the town centre and the sea, which can be seen from several of the rooms.
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Claims that people would be put off travelling to the town centre because of lack of parking were dismissed.
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The town centre is within easy reach - approximately a six minute walk away.
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Tories fail to halt pedestrian plan A last-ditch attempt to delay the introduction of pedestrianisation in Darlington town centre was defeated.
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Dates set for town centre traffic ban Darlington's town centre traffic ban comes into force on March 29.
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Casino: The casino in the town centre is open in July and August.
training
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Other facilities will include an educational resource and training centre .
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They have tree planting campaigns and regular fundraising for another building to be built on the grounds of the training centre .
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Read in studio Children with Cerebral Palsy could soon lose the training centre that helps them to overcome their handicap.
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Interested parties should contact the training centre for details.
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It offers a nine-month workshop in print, radio and television journalism to graduates at its training centre in Brussels.
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There were visits to London Docklands, a major bank training centre and all the main City institutions.
■ VERB
build
▪
Castlemore is still working up proposals for the final phase of the scheme, which involves building a leisure centre .
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The client is also understood to be working up proposals for the final phase of the project to build a leisure centre .
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Now she has joined the Breakthrough fundraising drive to build a research centre in London.
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At night, indeed, it became quite chilly and a fire had to be built in the centre of the hall.
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Laing built the original centre 10 years ago and is odds-on to carry out the work if the scheme gets the nod.
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The builders are not using any nails in the construction, in an effort to build an authentic cultural centre .
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The city will purchase the property if not already owned by the city, and build a community centre .
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But by that time a grand station had already been built in the centre of Alexandria.
occupy
▪
Control of the money supply should occupy centre stage in the conduct of macroeconomic policy.
▪
The prime mover of all generation is said to be the goddess Necessity, who occupies the centre of the universe.
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Art occupies the centre from which nature is now absent.
▪
They appear to occupy the centre of the stage, but in what guise?
▪
The most important other piece is an upper torso of Athena, who occupied the centre of the gable.
▪
It didn't occupy the centre of the room, however.
open
▪
Although managers have drawn up a list of personalities who could be invited to open the centre , identities were not revealed.
▪
Liz and Carol decided to open a day-care centre on a 50150 partnership basis.
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The Forestry Commission has opened a plant centre selling cuttings from its rare flora.
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Meanwhile, the firm has opened a technology engineering centre in Kanagawa Science Park, Tokyo.
▪
Diana opened the first research centre that treated patients.
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Last year Intel opened a design centre and started to make a new line of microprocessors in Penang.
▪
And, following the current fashion, Informix has also opened a software development centre in Dublin, Ireland.
shop
▪
The pair abducted the two-year-old from a Merseyside shopping centre in 1993.
▪
The firm is in negotiations with the client over the proposed Centrale shopping and leisure centre in Tamworth Road.
▪
In one city, contaminated waste was dumped next to a shopping centre .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be the centre of sb's universe
centre of population/population centre
centre stage
▪
As she says herself, this is one lady born to be centre stage .
▪
By day, the Pirates Club takes centre stage with games, activities and competitions - even the parents join in!
▪
Control of the money supply should occupy centre stage in the conduct of macroeconomic policy.
▪
Cram wallflowers into containers now to be moved to centre stage in late spring.
▪
I think the founding father saw to it that no-one else shared centre stage .
▪
There is a pretty young girl centre stage and a vengeful older woman in the wings.
▪
This was Abba's tour de force, a brilliantly structured melodrama which put Faltskog's fragile, emotional vocal centre stage .
double-page spread/centre spread
lie at the heart/centre/root of sth
▪
As we shall find, this distinction lies at the root of Anselm's movements in his last years as archbishop.
▪
Basic compassion, not just for the old but for the younger generation too, lies at the heart of this idea.
▪
That is the issue which lies at the heart of Mr. Thorpe's case.
▪
That question appears to lie at the heart of the highly publicized battle raging between Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc.
▪
That view lies at the root of a government drive against the racist right.
▪
The creation of a modernised democracy therefore lies at the heart of all our proposals.
▪
They overlook the human ability to negate, which lies at the root of thinking.
▪
We found that two key resource uses and two basic technologies lay at the root of lunar industry.
right, left, and centre
top left/right/centre
▪
A slightly larger percentage of pairs of brooches were more abraded on the top right than the top left corner.
▪
Here we want the Series in a column so check Columns in the box at the top left.
▪
The completed board is shown top left.
▪
The dark area in the top right is deep, clear water.
▪
The file was a standard office file with a Prior, Keen, Baldwin label stuck in the top right corner.
▪
The majority of single brooches examined were found to be more abraded on the top left corner than the top right.
▪
The plane again runs roughly from top left to bottom right.
▪
Using a tapestry needle threaded with the embroidery colour, begin at the top right of the motif.
walk-in business/clinic/centre etc
▪
The walk-in centre is the result of two years' struggle by an international group of scientists to realise an ideal.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
A bomb has exploded in the crowded business district in the centre of the old city.
▪
a charming little town with an unspoiled medieval centre
▪
I work in the centre of London, so I can easily go shopping after work.
▪
She's gone into the town centre to do some shopping.
▪
The flower has white petals, and is deep pink at the centre .
▪
The women all wore a red dot right in the centre of their foreheads.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
All the real understanding of the Universe accumulated by Esotericism throughout the ages has come to man via the higher mental centre .
▪
As the eggs sink to the bottom they are guided towards the centre , where the aeration sweeps them upwards again.
▪
For example, the Kornhaus, a former granary in Kronengasse, which is now principally a young people's centre .
▪
In one feeding centre the room for the dead had become a Koranic school for young children.
▪
In the early hours of Jan. 13 troops from the local Red Army garrison stormed the Vilnius television centre .
▪
It was converted into a monitoring centre with numerous listening consoles and bays of multi-track tape recorders.
▪
On August 29, Manuel Indiano Azaustre, 29, was shot dead in the town centre .
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
attention
▪
He centred his attention on the sovereignty of Parliament, the conventions of the constitution, and the rule of law.
discussion
▪
The discussion centred around the flexibility clause which is unlikely to be removed.
▪
Most of the discussions above have centred upon specific factors particular to Britain.
▪
A great deal of scholarly discussion has centred on the linguistic status of the word.
▪
Following the 1908 Act discussion centred on whether thrift could be encouraged in any way that would not be inherently counter-productive.
▪
The main discussion and disagreements have centred around the appropriate policy for dealing with mergers.
issue
▪
The endless debate that centred on the issue at the time was sometimes naive, or ambiguous, or even dangerous.
▪
The most contentious debate had centred on the issue of religious education.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be the centre of sb's universe
centre of population/population centre
centre stage
▪
As she says herself, this is one lady born to be centre stage .
▪
By day, the Pirates Club takes centre stage with games, activities and competitions - even the parents join in!
▪
Control of the money supply should occupy centre stage in the conduct of macroeconomic policy.
▪
Cram wallflowers into containers now to be moved to centre stage in late spring.
▪
I think the founding father saw to it that no-one else shared centre stage .
▪
There is a pretty young girl centre stage and a vengeful older woman in the wings.
▪
This was Abba's tour de force, a brilliantly structured melodrama which put Faltskog's fragile, emotional vocal centre stage .
double-page spread/centre spread
right, left, and centre
top left/right/centre
▪
A slightly larger percentage of pairs of brooches were more abraded on the top right than the top left corner.
▪
Here we want the Series in a column so check Columns in the box at the top left.
▪
The completed board is shown top left.
▪
The dark area in the top right is deep, clear water.
▪
The file was a standard office file with a Prior, Keen, Baldwin label stuck in the top right corner.
▪
The majority of single brooches examined were found to be more abraded on the top left corner than the top right.
▪
The plane again runs roughly from top left to bottom right.
▪
Using a tapestry needle threaded with the embroidery colour, begin at the top right of the motif.
walk-in business/clinic/centre etc
▪
The walk-in centre is the result of two years' struggle by an international group of scientists to realise an ideal.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Control has often centred on powerful organochlorine pesticides, which kill the locusts but can then damage the environment.
▪
Discussion centred on the replenishment of the Bank's capital resources.
▪
Everything centred around St Leonard's.
▪
It centres on the collection of pus in areas of muscle.
▪
Work was centred upon the tabulation of entities.