And even though everyone was far more at the effect of natural forces (a couple of dry years, or a run of the black death, and it was all over), there was still a fairly direct correlation between working hard and doing well.

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He ran four marathons in four days as "a bit of dry run" in February.

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"The purpose was a sort of 'dry run' to determine whether he could physically and mentally handle the demands, " Haney wrote.

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One of 250 volunteers taking part in a dry run two weeks before the first working day, teacher Sue Knight from Hillingdon, Middlesex, spoke of the problems.

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Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson, the parliament's lead negotiator on the dairy package, said it would not "solve all the problems in the dairy sector", but said it was "a dry run for the parliament's involvement in upcoming reform of the Common Agricultural Policy".

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The Budget will be another dry run for their general election message of prioritising "a stronger economy in a fairer society".

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Morris has not played for South Africa since falling out with previous coach Joel Santana on the eve of last year's Fifa Confederations Cup, a dry run for June's World Cup.

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