Word: modest
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...overall, passenger cars outsold trucks, sport-utility vehicles and minivans for the first time since 2000, according to George Pipas, sales analyst for Ford Motor Co., as consumers reacted to last year's spike in gasoline prices. Truck sales made a modest comeback during the fourth quarter, in part because fuel prices had dropped and truck buyers (a group that includes many small-business owners) had better access to credit than buyers of more fuel-efficient passenger vehicles, automakers...
Even the new sales king, Toyota, saw its crown tarnished. Despite heavy advertising, Toyota's December sales slid 37.5%, and yearly sales were down 15.7%. Honda also reported a 34.7% decline in December but a modest 8.2% decrease for the year...
...what, exactly? The first rule of launching a military campaign is to know how to end it, and Israel lacks an obvious endgame in Gaza. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, having overreached in his attempt to stamp out Hizballah in Lebanon, has announced modest goals this time: he's not promising to eliminate Hamas or even to permanently halt the flow of rockets from Gaza. Both those options would require Israeli troops to occupy Gaza for a long time, with the potential risk of massive casualties. Instead, Olmert is hoping a large show of force will persuade Hamas to stop stockpiling...
...even those modest goals will be hard to reach. Despite an 18-month blockade of Gaza, Hamas has shown itself to be adept at smuggling in rockets, many of them believed to be from Iran. And the very ferocity of Israel's campaign in Gaza will complicate chances of a new cease-fire. Although reports on Dec. 30 suggested that the Israelis were mulling some form of truce, it is doubtful that either combatant will agree until it inflicts more damage on the other, even though, according to one senior Hamas official reached by TIME on the telephone from Gaza...
...servicemen. She was shy and neither greatly beautiful nor a huge theatrical presence. But because she was so dignified and understated, soldiers could identify with her. When she sang, servicemen overseas felt as if they were at home. Although she was a major star, she was a modest person who would have seemed out of place in a limousine. She was like a girl on a bus, always heading toward the music...