Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions

The particular reading skill introduced for this unit is recognizing differences between facts and opinions. The ability to recognize differences between fact and opinion is important because it can help us to achieve a deeper level of understanding in our reading. Facts are statements that tell what really happened or what really is the case. A fact can be proved or disproved with direct evidence. It is something known by actual experience or observing. Look at the following example taken from Reading Passage A: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions 下一页

Her mother, Deborah, all along had been supportive of our relationship, and even joked about when we were going to get married so she could have grandchildren. (Para. 5, Reading Passage A, Unit 3) This sentence tells us about a past state of affairs: certainly it is a fact. Back 下一页 上一页 Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions

Opinions are statements of belief, judgment or feeling. They show what someone thinks or feels about a subject. Some words can serve as clues to statements of some kinds of opinion. For example, probably, perhaps, usually, often, sometimes, on occasion are used to limit a statement of fact and to indicate the possibility of other opinions. Other words, such as I believe, I think, in my opinion, I feel, I suggest, say clearly that an opinion will follow. Look at the following examples: 下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions

1. Any mother would be proud to have him for a son-in-law. (Para. 7, Reading Passage A, Unit 3) 2. When we met I saw him as my beloved, intelligent, charming, and caring. (Para. 7, Reading Passage A, Unit 3) 3. I’m sure that time will only confirm what we feel deeply about each other. (Para. 8, Reading Passage A, Unit 3) 4. Maybe our children will have some problems, but whose children don’t? (Para. 18, Reading Passage A, Unit 3) 下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions

But it is not always easy to tell opinion from fact. A writer often combines the two in such a way that we do not always notice where fact ends and opinion begins. When we have fact and opinion combined in a single statement, we must decide whether the major clause or main point of the sentence is essentially fact or opinion. Sometimes an opinion is presented as if it were a fact: 下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions

But one thing they’ll always have: our love and devotion. (Para. 18, Reading Passage A, Unit 3) On the surface it is a statement of fact, but actually it is only a promise, something yet to be realized in the future. 下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Recognizing Differences Between Facts & Opinions

下一页 上一页 Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Practice Find and look at the following statements from Reading Passage B. Which are facts? Which are opinions? Select O for opinion or F for fact. Back 1. _____ 1. _____ After much thought, I came up with a brilliant plan for Rich to meet my mother and win her over. F 2. _____ 2. _____ One day, my mother called me, to invite me to a birthday dinner for my father. F

下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Practice 3. _____ 3. _____ I knew she would do this, because cooking was how my mother expressed her love, her pride, her power, her proof that she knew more than any one else. O 4. _____ 4. _____ Rich was not only not Chinese, he was also my junior, a few years younger than I was. F 5. _____ 5. _____ And unfortunately, he looked much younger with his curly red hair, smooth pale skin, and the splash of orange freckles across his nose. O

下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Practice 6. _____ 6. _____ In his dark business suits, he looked nice but easily forgettable, like somebody’s nephew at a funeral. O 7. _____ 7. _____ I felt compelled to defend on his behalf, a bit too heatedly as I raised my voice above the noise of the kitchen. O 8. _____ 8. _____ He had brought a bottle of French wine, something he did not know my parents could not appreciate. F

下一页 上一页 Back Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Ⅰ. Reading Skills: Practice 9. _____ 9. _____ But the worst happened when Rich criticized my mother’s cooking, and he didn’t even have a clue about what he had done. O 10. _____ 10. _____ As is the Chinese cook’s custom, my mother always made negative remarks about her own cooking. F