The book is divided into four topics: Topic 1: Facts and Opinions This topic teaches you how to distinguish between facts and opinions, and explains why this is important for a critical
K Biên ThS Hồng Kim Mai Khơi www.hutech.edu.vn *1.2023.ENG186* tailieuhoctap@hutech.edu.vn : CONTENTS I CONTENTS CONTENTS I PREFACE III TOPIC 1: FACTS AND OPINIONS 1.1 DISTINGUISHING FACTS AND OPINIONS 1.2 FACTS 1.2.1 What is a Fact? 1.2.2 Types of Facts 1.2.3 Guidelines to Identifying Facts 1.3 OPINIONS 1.3.1 What is an Opinion? 1.3.2 Guidelines to Identifying Opinions 1.4 DISTINGUISHING FACTS FROM OPINIONS PRACTICE TOPIC 2: THE BASICS OF ARGUMENT 26 2.1 27 2.2 RECOGNIZING BIAS 31 2.2.1 Questions to Detect Bias 31 2.2.2 How to Detect Bias in the News 32 SUMMARY 37 PRACTICE 37 TOPIC 3: PURPOSE, TONE AND POINT OF VIEW 46 3.1 3.1.1 Types of 47 Purpose .47 3.1.2 Ways to Identify the 3.2 3.2.1 What is the Purpose 50 51 Tone? 51 3.2.2 Clues to Recognize the 3.3 3.3.1 Definition of Tone .52 58 Point of View 58 3.3.2 How Important It Is to Understand the Point of View 59 SUMMARY 60 PRACTICE 60 TOPIC 4: MAKING INFERENCES 69 4.1 MAKING INFERENCES 69 4.1.1 Why Making Inferences Is Necessary in Reading 69 4.1.2 The Role of Your Prior Knowledge and Experience in Making Inferences .70 4.1.3 Building Inferences Skills .71 PREFACE III PREFACE This book is the second in a series on reading skills for undergraduates Whilst the first book in the series covered the basic reading skills that students need to succeed in their studies, this book builds on that foundation and focuses on more advanced reading skills, such as critical reading and making inferences The book is divided into four topics: Topic 1: Facts and Opinions This topic teaches you how to distinguish between facts and opinions, and explains why this is important for a critical reader Topic 2: Basics of Argument This topic introduces the concept of bias and shows you how to detect bias in various types of texts Topic 3: Purpose, Tone and Point of View This topic tells you the differences between these concepts, then teaches you how to identify the purpose of a text, the tone of a text, and the point of view of a text Topic 4: Making inferences This topic teaches you how to make inferences from the text as the writer does not always explicitly tell you all the information or state the point of view By following the tips and strategies in this book as well as doing the exercises following each topic, you can improve your critical reading skills and become a more effective reader We hope you will find the book helpful and benefit greatly from using it TOPIC 1: FACTS AND OPINIONS TOPIC 1: FACTS AND OPINIONS OBJECTIVES When you finish this topic, you should be able to: - distinguish between facts and opinions; - discriminate between facts and opinions in various situations; - identify statements of facts and opinions when reading to enhance comprehension INTRODUCTION In the previous chapters, you have learned basic reading comprehension skills that required you to deduce meaning from context, identify the topic and main idea, locate supporting details, and formulate main ideas You are now prepared to advance to the next level of reading skills critical reading The first of several critical reading skills that will be introduced to you is distinguishing facts from opinions Critical reading skills play a crucial role in our success at the tertiary level, as it allows us to comprehend and evaluate the merits of our reading materials Critical reading entails asking questions about the author's intention, the structure and purpose of the text, and the meanings of specific words and phrases Critical readers also consider the context in which a text was written and how different audiences might interpret it When reading critically, you will find yourself continuously questioning, comparing, and evaluating what you read Distinguishing between facts and opinions is one of the most crucial reading comprehension skills The texts you read on books, newspapers, or magazines may contain mixtures of facts and the authors' opinions Facts are things that have actually occurred, are true, and exist However, opinions express a feeling, an attitude, a value judgment, or a belief In other words, facts relate to what we know, whereas opinions refer to what we believe TOPIC 1: FACTS AND OPINIONS 1.1 DISTINGUISHING FACTS AND OPINIONS When reading a text, you must be aware that the authors often include both facts and opinions so as to persuade the readers to agree with their claims Therefore, we need question ourselves, "Can the statement be debated or not?" If yes, then it is an opinion If the answer is no, we have a fact Statements of facts and opinions are not always a black-and-white issue, so it is not easy to differentiate between them Below is an example text that contains both facts and opinions Indians are the world s biggest bookworms According to NOP Culture score index survey, Indians read on average 10.7 hours a week, twice as long as Americans R Sriram, CEO of Crosswords Bookstores, a chain of 26 book shops around India, says Indians are extremely of The NOP survey of 30,000 consumers aged over 13 also put China and the Philippines in the second and third place respectively in average hours a week spent reading books, newspapers and magazines 1.2 FACTS 1.2.1 What is a Fact? Fact is defined as a truth known by actual experience or observation We can prove a fact through verifiable evidence such as measurements, statistics, or observations A fact can be measured or proved; and the truth of the fact is beyond argument if one can assume that measuring devices, records, or memories are correct When critically reading, you need to know how reliable statements are before deciding whether they are facts Below are some statements of facts Do you know why they are deemed facts? (a) The capital city of Vietnam is Ha Noi TOPIC 1: FACTS AND OPINIONS when making literary evaluation assertions Expert judgment is commonly used in evaluative assertions in many domains 1.2.3 Guidelines to Identifying Facts The following guidelines will help you to decide whether a statement is a fact Statements of facts often: (a) deal with people, places, objects, events, or processes that exist or once existed and that can be proven; For example: - Harry S Truman was a president of the United States (b) consist of statements whose truth or falsity can be validated; For example: - Gold was discovered in California in 1848 (c) often use concrete words when referring to things, events, or measurable characteristics, such as blue, gold, years, 10 kilograms, pine tree, etc For example: - The equator is 24,901.55 miles long - In 1924, the Model T Ford could be purchased for $290 Besides, when evaluating a statement of fact, we can ask ourselves questions: Can the information be tested by experimentation, observation, or research? ent about something? 1.3 OPINIONS 1.3.1 What is an Opinion? An opinion is a selfStatements of opinions frequently include clue words referring to oneself, such as TOPIC 1: FACTS AND OPINIONS (a) are based on personal evaluations, emotions, and attitudes since they cannot be verified as true or false; For example: - Nothing is better for a stomach ache than red clover tea - Couples should be acquainted for at least a year before getting married (b) deal with future occurrences which seem probable; For instance: - Robots will replace human workers - In twenty years there will be fewer cars in use than there are today (c) contain abstract words referring to things that cannot be touched, felt, or measured - love - patriotism - faith - belief - health - nostalgia Since these terms cannot be specifically defined, people can mean different degrees of the same things, or occasionally mean something entirely different (d) contain value-judgement words, such as beautiful, good, bad, useful, helpful; or opinion phrases like I believe, I suggest, I think, I feel, in my opinion Those are opinion-marking signals that show you the statement is an opinion, not a fact Think In my view Believe According to me Feel It seems to me that Suppose From my perspective Guess From my viewpoint