Reading Skill Distinguishing Fact from Opinion
A fact is information that can be proven.
An opinion is a judgment or belief that can not be proven. Opinions cannot be proven true, because they are simply judgments, beliefs, or interpretations based on emotions or speculations.
Why is this an Opinion and not a fact?
¨In public places, TV is a form of pollution, like cigarette smoke."
There is no way to prove this statement right or wrong; it is just the author’s opinion. A fact should always be able to be proven true.
Is this fact or Opinion?
¨It turns out that TVs are now installed at more than a thousand gates in more than twenty-five major American airports."
It is a fact, because it can be proven true.
Some facts, as in the example above, are statistics, which are simply facts based on numbers.
Why is distinguishing between Facts and Opinions important?
Making this distinction will help you to understand the writer’s motivation and to evaluate how credible, or believable, the writer is.
How do you decide if a statement is fact or opinion?
A fact gives information such as statistics or specific examples that can be proven, cannot be argued, and may tell source of information
An opinion gives information that can not be proven true; can be argued; may include indefinite terms, such as lots or many; may include generalization clue words, such as all, every, always, or never; may include opinion clue words, such as should or must; may include value clue words, such as good, bad, worst, or best.
STANDARDIZED TEST TAKING TIP
Answering Fact-and-Opinion Questions
Step 1 Read Each Statement carefully
Step 2 Ask yourself, “Can the statement be proven true?”
Step 3 Look for clue words that signal an opinion.
Step 4 Continue through all the answer choices and check to see if the fact or opinion is actually stated in the passage.
An opinion is a judgment or belief that can not be proven. Opinions cannot be proven true, because they are simply judgments, beliefs, or interpretations based on emotions or speculations.
Why is this an Opinion and not a fact?
¨In public places, TV is a form of pollution, like cigarette smoke."
There is no way to prove this statement right or wrong; it is just the author’s opinion. A fact should always be able to be proven true.
Is this fact or Opinion?
¨It turns out that TVs are now installed at more than a thousand gates in more than twenty-five major American airports."
It is a fact, because it can be proven true.
Some facts, as in the example above, are statistics, which are simply facts based on numbers.
Why is distinguishing between Facts and Opinions important?
Making this distinction will help you to understand the writer’s motivation and to evaluate how credible, or believable, the writer is.
How do you decide if a statement is fact or opinion?
A fact gives information such as statistics or specific examples that can be proven, cannot be argued, and may tell source of information
An opinion gives information that can not be proven true; can be argued; may include indefinite terms, such as lots or many; may include generalization clue words, such as all, every, always, or never; may include opinion clue words, such as should or must; may include value clue words, such as good, bad, worst, or best.
STANDARDIZED TEST TAKING TIP
Answering Fact-and-Opinion Questions
Step 1 Read Each Statement carefully
Step 2 Ask yourself, “Can the statement be proven true?”
Step 3 Look for clue words that signal an opinion.
Step 4 Continue through all the answer choices and check to see if the fact or opinion is actually stated in the passage.