Facts and opinions --What is a Fact? --What is an Opinion? --Use facts to support opinions.

1. It’s snowing outside. ( ) 2. It’s a nice day. ( ) O A Fact or An Opinion? Read the following sentences and Write F if it is a fact or O if it is an opinion. 1. It’s snowing outside. ( ) 2. It’s a nice day. ( ) F O

For sentence 1, you could look outside and actually see for yourself whether it is snowing or not.

Sentence 2 is based, not on fact, but on one person’s belief or feeling about what makes a day “nice”, you might think it is not a nice day outside because it is either warmer or colder than you think.

Reading Read and Summarize what is fact a and what an opinion is. A fact is anything that can be proved. An opinion is what someone believes is true but has not been proved.

Reading Read a man’s story about what happened to the Amber Room quickly. Where was the Amber Room? It was buried in the mine. Is this a fact or an opinion? What people hear is a fact. What people see is a fact. What people believe is an opinion.

Which are facts and which are opinions? My father’s picture was in the newspaper yesterday. 2) Lily seems nervous about the game with Westwood. 3) MS. Johnson is in charge of the school science exhibition. 4) That cake was much too sweet. 5) This picnic will be the best one we’ve had. 6) In 1985, Christmas will fall on a Thursday. 7) The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall. 8) The Empire State Building is a beautiful building. F O F o O F F O

中国人往往注意理性分析、逻辑思维,往往注重结果,总要得出结论。西方人写作则较多利用实证分析、实例分析方法。他们注重对过程和事实的描述,往往不得出结果,让读者自己分析、并得出结论。“English writing is more direct. Things are clearly explained. Details or facts are required to support the topic.” （Susan Krantz 2001） 《外籍教师点评英语作文》

______________________________________ Read what an American official said after he visited Quzhou, Zhejiang and find out opinions and facts: “One Foot in the Future and One Foot in the Past”. This is my foremost impression as I visit Quzhou. One cannot miss the old and the new existing side by side. As a foreigner it is difficult to say which is the ‘Real China’. Is it the large number of people riding their old bicycles loaded down with goods or is it the black shiny luxury car being driven down the street? Is it the school in rural areas with the leaking roof or is it the modern schools being built in Quzhou? Is it the four lane expressway or is it the single lane walking path to a remote village? Everywhere I look I see the old and the new existing side by side. “One Foot in the Future and One Foot in the Past”.… One Foot in the Future and One Foot in the Past”. This is my foremost impression as I visit Quzhou. (Opinion) _______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ facts

facts opinions For writing, if you want to make your opinions persuasive, you should give facts.

Please find out facts to support the opinions. Group I Beijing is a historic city. Group II Beijing is a modern city. Group III Beijing is a cultural city. Group IV Beijing is a crowded city.

Beijing is a historic city. As we all know, Beijing is a historic city. The city of Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. It used to be the capital city of six ancient dynasties, such as the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. There are a number of historic sites in Beijing, of which the most famous is the Forbidden city. It is like a notebook setting down the history of Beijing.

Drawing conclusions Pam was dirty but happy as she walked home from the park. She had just played in her first game with the big girls. They never would let her play before because they were afraid she might get hurt by the hard ball. Some even thought she wouldn’t be able to swing the big bat that they used. The big girls need not have worried. Pam caught every ball hit to her in right field and swung the bat well enough to get two hits. they were afraid she might get hurt by the hard ball. she wouldn’t be able to swing the big bat Pam caught every ball hit to her in right field and swung the bat well enough to get two hits. What kind of game did Pam play? A baseball game.

Thirteen Many people today believe that certain numbers are lucky and that others are unlucky. For example, there are many who believe that 13 is an unlucky number. They may believe this so strongly that they will not take a room in a hotel if it has the number 13 in it. Considering 13 to be an unlucky number may go back to the time when people first learned to count. By counting their ten fingers and two feet, people could use their fingers and feet to count to 12. Beyond that was the unknown -----13. If you think that the number 13 is unlucky, look at the back of a dollar bill. There, you will see a picture of an eagle holding an olive branch with 13 leaves in one claw. In the other claw, the eagle is holding 13 arrows. Before you throw the dollar away, thinking it may be unlucky, you may be interested to know that each of those “13’s” stands for the 13 colonies which first formed the United States. So 13 is a lucky number for millions of Americans.

Questions: 1) Are there people today who are still superstitious? What information in the article led you to draw your conclusions? 2) Did the idea that 13 is unlucky begin recently or a long time ago? What information in the article led you to draw your conclusion?