1.   I just wish the Tories had some fresh ideas, precious few around as far as I can see.

2.   Mr Wingate was full of explanations, and precious few of them made sense.

3.   Mr Wingate was full of explanations, but precious few of them made sense.

4.   Along its banks, it has surrounded some towns, invaded others and capriciously left a precious few alone.

5.   And precious few stores to separate tourists from their dollars.

6.   And precious few of us want to take time to surgically remove the segments and, in some cases, the seeds, the grapefruit marketing people say.

7.   And there are precious few of them.

8.   And the answer, increasingly, is precious few.

9.   And precious few of them ever leave to do anything else.

10.   And the number of network correspondents covering national and foreign affairs has dwindled to a precious few.