Practice 1 Try these questions on the following statements. Read them carefully, and then write F in the blank if the statement is a fact and O if it is an opinion. The answers appear right after the questions. 1. The Academy Awards honor the film industry. 2. The Academy Awards are always fun to watch. 3. More independent films should win Academy Awards. 4. The Academy Awards are an annual event. 5. Best director is the most interesting Academy Award category. Answers 1. Fact 2. Opinion 3. Opinion 4. Fact 5. Opinion Practice 2 Now try the same exercise with a complete paragraph. U nd erline the facts and use a highlighter or colored pen to highlight the opinions. Be careful—you may find fact and opinion together in the same sentence. When you’ve finished, you can check your answers against the marked passage that follows. – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION– 41 There are many different ways to invest your money to provide for a financially secure future. Many people invest in stocks and bonds, but I think good old- fashioned savings accounts and CDs (certificates of deposit) are the best way to invest your hard-earned money. Stocks and bonds are often risky, and it doesn’t make sense to risk losing the money you’ve worked so hard for. True, regular sav- ings accounts and CDs can’t make you a millionaire overnight or provide the high returns some stock investments do. But by the same token, savings accounts and CDs are fully insured and provide steady, secure interest on your money. That makes a whole lot of cents. Answers How did you do? Was it easy to distinguish between the facts and the opinions? Here’s what your marked-up pas- sage should look like. The facts are underlined and the opinions are in boldface type. – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION– 42 Ther e are many differ ent ways to invest your mo ney to provide f or a financial ly secure fu ture.M any people invest in sto cks and bonds, but I think good old- fashioned savings accounts and CDs (certificates of deposit) are the best way to invest your hard-earned money. St oc ks and bonds are oft en risky, and it doesn’t make sense to risk losing the money you’ve worked so hard for. T rue, regular sa vings acc ounts and CDs can’t make you a millionaire o vernight or pro vide the high re turns some stock inv estments do. But by the same token, sa vings accounts and CDs are fully insured and provide steady, secure interest on y our mone y. That makes a whole lot of cents. Practice 3 To strengthen your ability to distinguish between fact and opinion, try this. Take a fact, such as: FACT: Wednesday is the fourth day of the week. Now, turn it into an opinion. Make it something debatable, like this: OPINION: Wednesday is the longest day of the week. Here’s another example. FACT: You must be 18 years old to vote in the United States. OPINION: The voting age should be lowered to 16 years of age. Now you try. Suggested answers come after the questions. 6. FACT: Healthcare costs have risen over the last several years. OPINION: 7. FACT: The 22nd Amendment of the United States Constitution establishes a two-term limit for the presidency. OPINION: 8. FACT: More than 58,000 Americans lost their lives in the Vietnam War. OPINION: 9. FACT: The Motion Picture Association R (Restricted) rating requires anyone under 17 to be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. OPINION: 10. FACT: Use of performance-enhancing drugs is strictly prohibited in both amateur and professional sports. OPINION: Answers There are, of course, many opinions you could form from these subjects. Here are some possible answers. 6. Our government should make healthcare a higher priority. Companies should give employees several health- care programs from which to choose. People should stop complaining about health- care costs. 7. Presidents should be allowed to serve for three terms. Limiting service to two terms will make U.S. pres- idents more effective. Term limits are a very bad idea. 8. American soldiers should not have been sent to Vietnam. Our government did all the right things concern- ing the Vietnam War. 9. The Motion Picture Association should not be able to rate films. The Motion Picture Association ratings should be taken seriously by all parents. Movie ratings are useless. 10. Performance-enhancing drugs should be legal. Competitive sports would be more interesting to watch if performance-enhancing drugs were legal. Performance-enhancing drugs are the worst thing that ever happened to competitive sports.  Summary The ability to differentiate between fact and opinion is a very important skill. Like a detective, you need to know the difference between what people think and what people know, between what people believe to be true and what has been proven to be true. Then you will be able to see whether writers support their opinions, and if they do, how they do it. This will allow you to judge for yourself the validity of those opinions. – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION– 43 ■ Listen carefully to what people say today and try to determine whether they are stating a fact or express- ing an opinion. When they offer opinions, do they support them? ■ As you come across facts and opinions today, practice turning them into their opposites; make facts out of opinions and opinions out of facts. Skill Building until Next Time . where, and how. ■ Lesson 2: Find the main idea. You learned about topic sentences and how they express an assertion about the subject of the paragraph. You saw how the main idea must be general enough. All Together LESSON SUMMARY This lesson reviews what you learned in Lessons 1–4: getting the facts, finding the main idea, determining what words mean in context, and distinguishing between fact and opinion director is the most interesting Academy Award category. Answers 1. Fact 2. Opinion 3. Opinion 4. Fact 5. Opinion Practice 2 Now try the same exercise with a complete paragraph. U nd erline the