“Do you mind if I ask what your ethnic background is?”

You're talking to a guy at a party. He speaks with a normal American English accent, so you think that he grew up in the U.S. But you're curious what country his parents or other ancestors came from. You ask:

Do you mind if I ask what your ethnic background is?

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“I bought these here earlier today, but when I got them home I discovered that one of them seems to have a hole in it.”

Earlier today you bought a pair of gloves, but one of them had a hole in it. Now you've returned to the store where you bought the gloves. You want to explain your situation to a cashier who works there. You say:

I bought these here earlier today, but when I got them home I discovered that one of them seems to have a hole in it.

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“I hear some kind of siren in the background.”

You're talking on the phone with your friend and you hear a loud noise from his phone that sounds like a police car. You comment on it:

I hear some kind of siren in the background.

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“Let me tell you a bit about my background.”

You are giving a presentation at a conference. You are at the beginning of the presentation. You've said your name and thanked the person who introduced you. Now you want to tell the audience about yourself. You start by saying:

Let me tell you a bit about my background.

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“Tom is an expert on social media marketing.”

You organized a conference. You are introducing the first speaker. You have just said the speaker's name, and now you're going to give some information about him:

Tom is an expert on social media marketing.

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