1.   At first he listened to the tongue-lashing in virtual silence.

2.   How to explain the shift from virtual silence to obsession?

3.   They drove back to Newmarket in virtual silence.

4.   We drive to the cottage in virtual silence, our minds working overtime.

5.   After around twenty years of virtual silence, except for chimes at the occasional wedding, the sixteenth century church bells are finally back in place.

6.   On reaching the city centre the generator goes off and the bus runs on in virtual silence.

7.   He has maintained virtual silence on the slump of Bernard Gilkey, believing that only hits, and not words, can correct what ails the slugger.

8.   One moment a wounded soul would request a moment of virtual silence in the room.

9.   The tone of Saudi statements against bin Laden have been noticeably measured, and since the American bombing started against Afghanistan, there has been virtual silence.