Still, he said, "we got a surprising level of discrimination."

Mr. Wexler said the responses from both sides reflected a surprising level of agreement.

(Other studies have shown that even very sick people often report surprising levels of happiness.)

"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement," Miles told her.

Desjardins's change of affiliation was significant, and on some levels surprising.

However, a survey of companies' outlook for export growth by the agents found a surprising level of optimism.

"They now have the ability there to handle a surprising level of complexity and some very sophisticated processes."

In addition, the enthusiasm over the game of chess among the 400,000 residents of this southern Spanish city has grown to a surprising level.

But from these simple rules came a surprising level of control.

They had reached a surprising level of intimacy in a short time, and not just because they were lying naked together.