Facts vs Opinions

Facts vs Opinions

An article published in The Times on Dec. 13 begins:

On Saturday, a festive, besotted mob of 20- and 30-somethings, decked out in various measures of Santa Claus dress and undress, will descend on the bars of lower New York City and rain down Christmas cheer like spoiled eggnog.

This obnoxious event is SantaCon. For those living in peaceful oblivion, SantaCon is an annual tradition in which revelers dress up as Kriss Kringle (or, at least, put on a Santa hat) and participate en masse in an often literal bar crawl, cramming 12 nights of Christmas boozing into a single afternoon.

Multiple Choice

Where do you think this article was published within the newspaper?

• a news report that belongs on the front page?

• a review in the Arts section?

• an Op-Ed piece in the Opinion section?

What is the difference between facts and opinions?

• A fact is considered something proven to be true.

• An opinion is a personal belief that is not founded on proof or certainty.

Multiple Choice

"On Tuesday, Ms. [Mary] Barra, 51, completed a remarkable personal odyssey when she was named as the next chief executive of G.M.--and the first woman to ascend to the top job at a major auto company."

• Fact

• Opinion

Multiple Choice

"A big reason America is falling behind other countries in science and math is that we have effectively written off a huge chunk of our population as uninterested in those fields or incapable of succeeding in them."

• Fact

• Opinion

Multiple Choice

"Last month the N.B.A. issued 21 fines and suspensions — a punitive spree that amounted to about $602,882."

• Fact

• Opinion

Multiple Choice

"The inspiration for the original “Anchorman” came one evening more than a decade ago when Mr. Ferrell was watching a television documentary about Jessica Savitch, one of the first women to anchor news telecasts."

• Fact

• Opinion

Multiple Choice

"Cowbirds are brood parasites, meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species, thus unloading the messy and demanding business of chick-rearing."

• Fact

• Opinion

Multiple Choice

"Instead of striving to make work fun, managers should concentrate on creating the conditions in which a variety of personality types, from the excitable to the naturally downbeat, can flourish."

• Fact

• Opinion