Facts vs Opinions

Handout 3

Fact or Opinion? Read the following excerpts. In each article, clearly identify which of the sentences are a fact or an opinion. Explain your answers with the supporting evidence from the excerpts.

Excerpt 1: Indians “world’s biggest readers”

Indians are the world’s biggest bookworms, reading on average 10.7 hours a week, twice as long as Americans, according to a new survey. The NOP World Culture Score index surveyed 30,000 people in 30 countries from December 2004 to February 2005.

Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India’s high figures. Britons and Americans scored 50% lower than the Indians’ hours and Japanese and Koreans were even lower at 4.1 and 3.1 hours respectively. R. Sriram, chief executive officer of Crosswords Bookstores, a chain of 26 book shops around India, says Indians are extremely entrepreneurial and reading “is a fundamental.

Excerpt 2:

Leading columnist, Venkateshwar Rao, told Britain’s “Sunday Times” newspaper he could not see Indians flocking to book stores.

“Reading books just isn’t a habit with them because they’re not into cultural pursuits. It’s not a part of their make-up. All they want to do is consume.”

Mr Teipal said, “A good book in India will sell only a few thousand copies; in the UK or US it could sell tens of thousands.