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7. QUESTIONING ASKING A GENERAL QUESTION Would you mind...?

I was wondering if you...? I wonder if you could...? May I ask ... Would you mind if I asked...?

ASKING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Could you be a little more precise?

I’m sorry, but could you explain in a little more detail? Could you give us some details about...? Would you care to elaborate on that? Could you expand on that?

PLAYING FOR TIME That’s a very interesting question.

That’s a difficult question to answer. I’m glad you asked that question. You have raised an important point there. I’m sure you will appreciate how complicated this matter is.

SAYING NOTHING Well, it’s rather difficult to say at present. I’m afraid I don’t have enough information at my disposal to answer that. I’m afraid I’m not in a position to comment on that just yet.

I think we can leave the problem of... aside for a moment, the real issue is... I don’t think we have enough time at our disposal to consider all the implication of this particular aspect of the problem.

QUESTIONING It depends what you mean by...

I’m not quite sure what you mean by that. I’m afraid I don’t quite follow... I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that...