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Is it a fact, or is it an opinion?

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Does it matter?

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Yes.

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Both are important.

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But knowing how to distinguish
between fact and opinion

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can help us to better understand

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what we read and hear,

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and how we form our opinions.

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Let's take a look.

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A fact is a statement 
that can be proven to be true.

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Facts are objetive,

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which means they are not influenced

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by what someone thinks or believes.

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A fact is indisputable

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and cannot be changed.

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There are some key questions
to identify facts.

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1) Can it be measured or confirmed
with calculations or data?

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For example,

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two plus two equals four.

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We can add the numbers and demostrate

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that this stament is true.

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2) Can it be observed?
Can we see it happen?

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For, instance,

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99% of people cannot lick ther elbow.

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This is true.

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This is a fact that can be observed.

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Research has determined
that one over a hundred people

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can successfully complete this task.

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3) Can it be verified by primary sources,

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such as research, photographs, newspapers,

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and other facts?

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Here is an example,

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Nintendo was started in 1889.

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This is a fact because it can be verifed

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by many sources.

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A man named Fusajiro Yamauchi, from Japan

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founded Nintendo
as a playing card company in 1889,

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and now is one of the largest
gaming companies in the world.

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Now, let's move on to opinion,

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which sometimes can be a little trickier.

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An opinion is a statement

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of believe or judgement.

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Opinions express
which someone thinks or feels.

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An opinion can change.

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Let's look some examples.

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Ice cream is delicious.

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Many people believe this 
but some people don't.

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It is a judgement, 
and therefore an opinion.

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When we evaluate something or somebody

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we often use adjectives
such as important, beautiful

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fun or difficult.

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An adjective that allows to judge something

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is a clue that a statement is an opinion.

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Another signal word for opinions
is the word should.

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Here is an example.

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Everyone should learn
more than one language.

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Whether may be very good reasons

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to learnn more tnan one language,

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not everyone would agree,

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personal value do itself.

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Political views are opinions.

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Different people hold different ideas

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about what societies are,

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and how is the best to address them.

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Since opinion can´t be proven or disproven,

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there is no right or wrong answer,

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just different view points.

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While opinions may be supported
by facts and evidence,

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the issue we care about
will still be

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For example, I can say that

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going to school year-round 
is better for students.

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There are supporters of this viewpoint.

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Someone argues
that a shorter vacation period

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would prevent students 
from forgetting what they learnt,

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or say that students often get bored
over the summer.

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Or that other countries around the world
use a year-round system.

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However, we cannot prove
that the stament is true.

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There are many reasons to think
that a tenth- month calendar is better.

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You can argue that a student needs
an extended break,

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and that they should be allowed
to participate in other summer activities.

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Or that a lack of air conditioning means

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they shouldn't be inside school buildings
in the summer.

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If we look back at the statement,

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we can also identify
another signal word for opinion.

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The word better.

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When we are comparing different things,

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or we see words
like 'greatest','best' or 'better',

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it can suggest we are looking 
at an opinion statement.

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Another type of opinion is a prediction.

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Often predictions are made on experience.

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knowledge or research.

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But because they are based on the future,

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we can't actually verify them today.

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Let's look an example.

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Driveless cars will represent
10% of all cars in 2026.

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That sounds both amazing and scary.

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Although there are so many factors
about car technology

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we have no way of verifying
the statement today.

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So, it is an opinion.

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One thing to remember 
is that just because

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we believe something to be true,

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that does not make it a fact.

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Let's recap what we learnt.

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A fact is a statement
that can be proven to be true,

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Can it be measured
or confirmed by data?

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Can it be observed?

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Can we verify its truth
with other sources?

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Does it say the same?

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If we answer yes to one of these questions

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that means it is a fact.

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An opinion is a statement 
of believe and judgement

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that cannot be proven to be true.

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Does it evalute someone or something?

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Can we debate it?

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Does it make a prediction?

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Can it change?

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If you may answer 'Yes' 
to these questions, is an opinion.

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Knowing how to separate
between fact and opinion,

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help us to understand information

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and shape our own beliefs about the world.

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Try it and see
if you can use these questions

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and tell the difference in your own light.