Q1.
A fact is something that can be proven true or false. A fact is not based on people’s beliefs. An opinion on the other hand is a belief, feeling, or judgement, and can vary from one person to another. An opinion cannot be proven. Identify which of the following statements from part I and II of the story are facts or opinions. One example has been done for you. Share your answers with your classmates and teacher. 1. Encyclopedia’s father was the Chief of Police. Fact 2. Everyone thought that Chief Brown must be the smartest police chief in the country. 3. An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with facts from A to Z. 4. Leroy’s friends said that he was like a library and computer rolled into one, and more user-friendly. 5. Two masked men held up the Diamond Mart on Sixth Avenue. 6. Nolan and Davenport had met while both were in prison in South Carolina. 7. Chief Brown’s hunch was that Davenport and Nolan decided to hide the loot until things cooled down. 8. Nolan wrote a four words code to tell Davenport where he had hidden the stolen jewellery.
Answer
| No. | Statement | Fact / Opinion | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Encyclopedia's father was the Chief of Police | Fact | (example) A post that can be checked in a record. |
| 2 | Everyone thought Chief Brown must be the smartest police chief in the country | Opinion | “Thought” and “smartest” are judgements. No test can prove who is smartest. |
| 3 | An encyclopedia is a book or set of books filled with facts from A to Z | Fact | A definition anyone can verify in a dictionary. |
| 4 | His friends said he was like a library and computer rolled into one | Opinion | A comparison made by his pals — praise, not measurement. (That they said it is true; what they said is an opinion.) |
| 5 | Two masked men held up the Diamond Mart on Sixth Avenue | Fact | A recorded robbery, with a place, a number and a police file. |
| 6 | Nolan and Davenport had met while both were in prison in South Carolina | Fact | Prison records can prove or disprove it. |
| 7 | Chief Brown's hunch was that they decided to hide the loot until things cooled down | Opinion | The story defines the word for us — hunch: a strong feeling about something. A feeling is by definition unproven. |
| 8 | Nolan wrote a four-word code to tell Davenport where he had hidden the jewellery | Fact | The sheet exists, the code decodes, and the jewellery was found where it pointed. |
The test to apply: ask “Could two honest people disagree about this and both be reasonable?” If yes, it is an opinion. Watch for signal words — thought, believed, must be, hunch, said he was like, smartest, best — they almost always introduce a judgement.
Careful with 7: the sentence “Chief Brown had a hunch” is itself a fact about Chief Brown. But the content of the hunch — that the two men hid the loot — was, at that point in the story, an unproved belief. The exercise is asking about the content.