会议提问 (2)asking and answer questions

AskingandAnsweringQuestions（2）EightTechniquesofAnsweringQuestions1.HearingthequestionclearlyExpressionstoconfirmthequestionsraisedortoaskthequestion-raisertorepeatthequestion（1）Pardon?/Begyourpardon?/Ibegyourpardon?/Sorry,Iamsorry…（2）Whatwasthat/thelastword/thelastsentence,please?（3）Sorry,Ididn’tcatch/follow/understand/get,etc.whatyou’vesaid.Wouldyoumindrepeating/tellingmeyourquestionagain?2.Judgingcorrectlythequestionliteralmeaningvs.realintentione.g.（1）Question:CouldyoupleasetellustheessentialdifferencebetweenyourexperimentaldesignandthatofProfessorBaker’s?theoriginalityofthespeaker’sexperimentaldesign?（2）Areyoustillgoingonbuildingthegroundstation?obtaininformationabouttheestablishmentofgroundstation.“yes”or“no”?Iftheanswerersays“yes”,itismeantthathehasbeenbuildinggroundstationswhiletheanswer“no”willshowthathebuiltgroundstationsbefore.“Wehaveneverbuiltanygroundstation.”3.Copyingtheoriginalquestionpatterntogiveatactfulanswere.g.Question:（inaless-than-friendlyway）Ifyoudon’tmind,Iwouldfranklyaskyouaquestion.I’mafraidyouhavemadeanumberoffaultyassumptionsinyourpresentation…Answer:（Awareoftheillintention）Ifyoudon’tmind,Iwillfranklyansweryourquestion.I’mafraidyouhavemadeaseriesoffalsechargesinyourquestion…4.Repeatingthepreviousremarks:tocitethecontentofthepreviouspresentationFrequentlyadoptedexpressionsincitingpreviousremarksareasfollows:（1）Toansweryourquestion,IwilljustrepeatwhatIsaidinmytalk…（2）Concerningthispoint,IthinkIhavetouchedonitinmyspeech…(3)Ifyouareinterestedinthatdetailedparameters,Iwouldsuggestyoulookthemupinmymanuscriptonpageseven,whichhavebeenshowninmypresentation.5.AskingbackthequestionA.Ifunclearabouttheaboutthequestion,usethefollowing:（1）Sorry,I’mnotquitesureofyourquestion.CouldIunderstandyourquestionlikethis…（repeatingthequestionorexpressingtheunderstanding）（2）Tothebestofmyknowledge,youwereaskingmeabout…（repeatingthequestionorexpressingtheunderstanding）.AmIright?（3）Itseemstomethatwhathasbeenaskedperhapsmeans…（repeatingthequestionorexpressingtheunderstanding）.Wasthatyourquestion?B.Ifthereissomethingwrongwiththequestion,learnfromthefollowingexample:Well,ifwhatyousaidislikelytobematerialized（assuming）,thenelectroniccomputerscangraduallyreplacemen.（inducing）Sofarastheissuebeingdiscussedisconcerned,doyoumeanthataportablecomputerwillsomedayreplaceaninterpreter,anddocreativeinterpretationashedoes?（pointingout）C.ThrowtheballbacktothequestionerExampleQuestion:DoyouthinkChineseculturehasbecomeAmericanized?Answer1:Whyhasn’tAmericanculturebecomelikeChinese?Answer2:Well,Iwonder/couldyoutellmewhyyouaskmesuchaquestion?Answer3:Idon’tthinkso.CouldIhaveyourcommentson/opinionaboutit?Answer4:Thisisatough/challengingquestion.Whatdoyousuggest?/HowwouldyouanswerthisquestionasaChinese/anAmerican/athirdparty…?6.AnsweringquestionspartiallyWhenaskedaseriesofquestionsatonetime,answerthemajorones.e.g.（1）Forthetimebeing,Iwouldliketoansweryourquestionof…（2）Oneofthequestionsyouputforwardisabout…,which,Ithink,isveryinteresting.AndnowI’dliketoanswerthequestionwiththefollowing.（3）Allright,I’llnowsayafewwordsaboutmyfutureconsiderationonthesubject…AndIthinkthatmightbetheanswertoyourlastquestion.7.LeavingroomforimprovementbyadoptingpoliteandeuphemisticexpressionsA.Ifnotconfidentaboutatopic,usethefollowingtoanswer:（1）IwonderifIcouldansweryourquestionlikethis:（2）Personally,Isuppose/think/guess,etc.it’sverylikelytogetmoredesirableresultsifwecontinuetheexperiment.(3)Thevalidityofthetheoryhasbecomeobviousinthelightofrecentfindings.PerhapsIcouldgiveyoumoreexamplesconcerningthis.(Usesubjunctivemood)B.Whencontradictingorpointingoutthemistakeofthequestion-raiser,usetheeuphemisticstyleasthefollowingexamples:(1)IshouldhavethoughtyoumisunderstoodsomeofwhatIsaidinmytalkjustnow.（2）Iamafraidsomethingseemstobeinappropriatewithwhatyousaidinyourquestion.（3）Iagreewithmuchofwhatyousaid,butforthelastpoint,Iwouldsayitwouldbebetterifyoucouldlookattheproblemfromanotherside.8.AvoidingansweringquestionsandstrategiesforavoidanceReasonsforavoidanceStrategiesforavoidanceReasonsforavoidancelimitationofauthorizationconfidentialconsiderationslanderousquestionslackofcertainknowledgelanguagebarriersallocatedtimelimitationcommunicativeneedsunsuitablesettings.Strategiesforavoidance1.Directavoidance(Thisoftenrequiresanapologyfirstforpoliteness.)e.g.（1）Sorry,IamafraidIknowverylittleaboutthematter.SoIdon’tthinkIcanansweryourquestionrightnow.（duetolimitedknowledge）（2）It’smorethanIcandotoansweryourquestionatthemoment.IthinkIshouldconsultaboutthiswiththeprogramdirector.（duetorestrictedauthorization）（3）Sincetimeisverylimited,Iwouldliketoansweryourquestionafterthisspeechsessionifyoudon’tmind.Isthatallright?（shorttimespan)（4）Personally,Ithinkthatisquiteanotherthing.（5）Dr.ZhangWeiisthemainauthorofthispaper.Iamjustoneofthethree.IamafraidIcannotdecideitmyselfwithoutDr.Zhang’spermission.Ibelieveyoucanunderstandme.declining→reasons+appropriateness+politeness2.Transitionwith“but”:firstexpressthanks,appreciation,andagreementtosomeextent,andthenturntothedifferentopinionwithaword“but