UNIT 12

Distinguishing Facts from Opinions

Giving and Asking for Opinions, Agreeing and Disagreeing &
Offering and Requesting

OBJECTIVES:
1. To distinguish facts from opinions
2. To give and ask for opinions
3. To agree and disagree
4. To offer and request

A. Reading Comprehension: FACTS versus OPINION

Being able to distinguish between fact and opinion is both an important reading skill and one to be
used in everyday life.

Fact - A fact generally refers to something that is true and can be verified as such. That is, a fact is
something that can be proven to be true.

A fact can be an event or information, based on real occurrences which can be tested through
verifiability, i.e. they are supported by proofs, statistics, documentation, etc. Therefore, a fact is
nothing but a verifiable truth or reality which are agreed upon by consensus of people.

Signal Words

Dates Numbers Names Places Evidence

Examples:
1. The sun rises and sets every single day.
2. The heart, lungs, liver, small intestine, and large intestine are examples of internal organs of
a human body.
3. President Joko Widodo is currently the president of the Republic of the Indonesia.
4. The Vocational School of IPB must wear their uniform on Thursdays.
5. Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia are some of the countries that are part of the
Southeast Asia.
6. There are 34 provinces in Indonesia.

Opinion - An opinion refers to a personal belief. It relates to how someone feels about something.
Others may agree or disagree with an opinion, but they cannot prove or disprove it. This is what
defines it as opinion.

Opinion is highly influenced by a person’s feelings, thoughts, perspective, desires, attitude,

experiences, understanding, beliefs, values, etc., which cannot be tested by concrete evidence.
Therefore, due to individual differences, every person’s opinion on a particular matter is also
different.

1
Signal words for OPINIONS
Verbs: claim argue believe view think etc.
Adjectives: interesting good important worst bad etc.
Modals: can may should must* will etc.
Adverbs: possibly probably usually perhaps frequently etc.

Examples:
1. Spirituality is the most important thing in the world.
2. The beaches of Palawan are more astounding than the beaches of Bali, Indonesia.
3. Every person must have a best friend.
4. The speed limit should be reduced.
5. It would seem that children learn best when they are feeling comfortable.
6. In my view, no-one should have to pay for medical care.

B. Speaking

I. Giving and asking for Opinions

1. Expressions of Asking for Opinions:
• What do you think?
• Do you see what I’m getting at?
• Do you know/see what I mean?
• Do you agree with me?
• Would you agree with me that …?
• What are your thoughts on that?
• Don’t you think (that) …?

Examples:
• What do you think of the Avenger: End Game?
• Do you think that English is a difficult lesson?

2. Expressions of Giving Opinions:

• As far as I’m concerned …
• In my opinion …
• From my point of view/In my view …
• To my mind …
• I (strongly) believe (that) …
• I (honestly) think (that) …
• I (really) feel (that) …
• To be honest…

Examples:
• I think it’s a good movie.
• I don’t doubt that smoking is bad for you.
• I believe that it’s the best decision we could make for the company.

2
II. Agreeing and Disagreeing
1. Agreeing:
• I (totally) agree with you/that.
• I couldn’t agree more.
• I feel the same.
• You’re absolutely right.
• Absolutely/Definitely/Exactly.
• No doubt about it.
• That’s a good point. /I see your point.
Examples:
• I agree with you. The buses are very convenient and cheap, and the subway is good too. It’s
not expensive at all.
• I'm sure we can all agree to that.

2. Disagreeing:
• I’m afraid I disagree.
• I don’t agree with you/that.
• I’d be inclined to disagree.
• That’s not the way I see it.
• I don’t think so. /I don’t feel the same.
Examples:
• I really don’t agree with you. In my opinion, the transport is extremely convenient.
• I don’t think so. I mean of course they should be more expensive than other forms of
transportation, but not so expensive.
3. Partly agreeing:
• I see your point but …
• I kind of agree with you/that.
• I agree with you to an extent; however, …
• You make a good point, but …
Examples:
• I agree to point that films and television have an impact on the mindsets of people and
especially children and young adults, but let’s not forget that the adults around these people
are equally responsible for monitoring what kind of media their children are exposed to.
• It is partly true that the working day has become longer because of the amount of work and
the stress of deadlines, but this is also because of the increasing competition.

More Examples:

3
Conversation 1
Ben: Did you see the election result? How fantastic!
Nina: Oh really? No I didn’t see it.
Ben: Oh okay, it was all over the news!
Nina: Yeah but to be honest, I don’t really like politics.
Ben: Fair enough!

Conversation 2
A: Some people say friends are always honest with each other.
Do you agree?
B: I completely agree. Friends need to be completely honest. One little lie and the friendship just
disappears.
A: Ah, that’s pretty strong language. Do you really think that?
B: Yeah. Once, one of my good friends lied to me. He was a really good friend, and I just felt
completely betrayed. It destroyed the friendship.

III. Offering & Requesting

Making Requests and Offers
The basic language structure for requests and offers as well as for acceptance or rejection of the
offer or request are like this:

Offering: formal* Requesting: formal

Would you like . . . [me] to calculate the costs for May I . . .

the project?
Shall I . . . ask them to come in? Would you mind if . . .
Would it be possible . . .
May I . . . get you another coffee?

Requesting: informal
Offering: informal
How about . . . getting together after the
Can I . . .
meeting?
Do you want . . . another opinion? Would you . . .
Can I . . . get you some more coffee?
Accepting Offers

Yes, please Please! (less formal)

Yes, that’s kind of you You bet! (less formal)
Yes, that would be very nice That sounds great! (less formal)

Rejecting Offers
No, thank you. I’m fine, thank you.
That’s very kind, but no, thank you No thank you, I’m fine.

4
 Accepting Requests

Of course! Certainly.
Yes, that’s no problem at all. No problem! (informal)

Refusing Requests

I’m sorry, that’s not possible. I’m afraid not.

I’m sorry, I can’t.

Note:
* of course, until we know someone well, language in the business environment should remain
formal
** when refusing an offer or request it is always more polite to give a short simple reason. If your
reason is too long and detailed, people may not believe it.

===000===

5
 EXERCISES (UNIT 12)
Distinguishing Facts from Opinions
Giving and Asking for Opinions, Agreeing and Disagreeing &
Offering and Requesting

A. Reading Comprehension: FACTS versus OPINIONS

Exercise 1
Decide whether the following sentences are FACTS or OPINIONS

1. _____ August 17 is treated as a national holiday in Indonesia, in celebration of the

independence day of the country.
2. _____ To solve traffic, it is better to invest in subways and trains than in road widening
programs.
3. _____ I think the government should lower fuel prices
4. _____ The evidence suggests that people who speak more than one language have more job
opportunities.
5. _____ Japan is also called as the Land of the Rising Sun.
6. _____ There was an accident which killed 15 people this afternoon.
7. _____ The three primary colors are red, blue and yellow.
8. _____ I believe we can combat climate change by reducing our energy consumption.
9. _____ Chimpanzees can climb to the tops of trees.
10. _____ Although reports suggest that cigarettes could help people to lose weight, there are too
many serious health problems associated with smoking.
11. _____ I prefer using Facebook than Twitter because Twitter has limited characters per caption.
12. _____ They say that alligators spend most of their time in salt water.
13. _____ An hour is composed of 60 minutes.
14. _____ I believe that schools should encourage students to walk or cycle to school rather than
drive.
15. _____ The internet is being used by teenagers to waste their time in social media.

Exercise 2
Decide whether the following sentences are FACTS or OPINIONS

16. ______ At sea level, water boils at 100 degree Celcius.

17. ______ Lung cancer among women is increasing.
18. ______ Men are better divers than women.
19. ______ Vocational school students do not need to take a lot of English courses.
20. ______ Indonesian people are only superficially friendly.
21. ______ The world’s population has been increasing dramatically.
22. ______ The students of IPB Vocational School are hardworking and serious.
23. ______ Jane always has her breakfast early in the morning.
24. ______ I thought the experiment was successful
25. ______ Students must finish their study as soon as possible.
26. ______ John could finish his assignment on time.
27. ______ Students are not allowed to smoke in campus.

6
 28. ______ It’s cloudy now. It may rain soon.
29. ______ I will probably go to Bali again next year.
30. ______ The students should return to their hometown as soon as they graduate.
31. ______ The pandemic of COVID-19 will disappear in 2022.

Exercise 3
Read the following sentences and decide whether the sentence is FACT or OPINION.
Write FACT or OPINION

[1] Flowering plants that are native to the South include purple coneflower and rose verbena.
[2] In the view of many longtime gardeners, these two plants are an essential part of the Southern
landscape. [3] Trees that are native to the South include a variety of oaks, as well as flowering
dogwoods and redbuds. [4] Dogwoods are especially lovely, with their white, pink, or coral blossoms
announcing the arrival of spring. [5] For fall color, the deep red of the Virginia willow makes a
spectacular show in the native Southern garden.

32. _________
33. _________
34. _________
35. _________
36. _________

Exercise 4
Read the following text and find 5 sentences containing opinions and WRITE the Line(s).

(1) Antibiotics are an effective means of treating bacterial contamination. However,

Lines extensive use of antibiotic substances in medicine and agriculture has resulted in increasingly
antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that
humanity is approaching the post-antibiotic era. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO)
5 warned that humanity is approaching the post-antibiotic era -- a world in which antibiotics will
no longer be effective, and even minute contaminations will be life threatening.
(2) The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is conducting a research that combines
metals and organic acids as a viable alternative to antibiotics. The findings by a team led by
Assistant Professor Oded Lewinson in the Technion's Rappaport Faculty of Medicine were
10 recently published in Nature Scientific Reports.
(3) Numerous alternatives to antibiotics are already being tested by researchers
around the world. Two of these are the use of metals such as silver, zinc, and copper (which
were used in ancient Egypt and Greece for treating infection and purifying water sources), and
the use of organic acids such as food acid that is used as a preservative in the food industry.
15 (4) In their research, Lewinson and his team combined organic acids and metals at a
low concentration. They found that the combination is extremely effective in eradicating
pathogenic bacteria such as cholera, salmonella, and pseudomonas, as well as eliminating
bacteria that attack agricultural crops such as tomatoes, melons, and apples.
(5) "Combining these two types of substances is far more effective than using each one
20 separately," said Lewinson. "Called 'synergistic inhibition', this combination enables the use of
extremely low concentrations of metals and food acids for preserving food and spraying

7
 crops." He added that lowering the concentration of the substances has significant positive
implications for the environment and human health.

37. Lines ______

38. Lines ______
39. Lines ______
40. Lines ______

B. SPEAKING
I. Giving & Asking for Opinions and Agreeing & Disagreeing

Exercise 1
Use the phrases learnt ‘For disagreeing’ to answer the following statements.
1. Credit cards are more harmful than debit cards.
2. Online piracy of music and movies is bad for creative industry.
3. Video games containing violence are appropriate for children.
4. Advertising is a waste of resources.
5. Teachers should give more assignments than quizzes to students.

Exercise 2
Use the phrases learnt ‘For partly agreeing ’ to partly agree with the following statements.

6. Students are not allowed to drive to campus.

7. Students of Vocational School of IPB do not have to wear uniforms.
8. MNCs are superior to domestic firms.
9. Children should not allowed to use gadgets.
10. The canteen at campus sells healthy and delicious food.

II. Offering & Requesting

Exercise 1
Think of 5 requests to ask politely using these verbs.

1. help (me) to do something …………………………………………………………….

2. open/close …………………………………………………………….
3. move something …………………………………………………………….
4. pass (me) …………………………………………………………….
5. turn off/on …………………………………………………………….

8
Exercise 2
Think of 5 offers for your friend using the following words.

6. help you with the homework …………………………………………………………….

7. buy something …………………………………………………………….
8. carry your bag …………………………………………………………….
9. clean your room …………………………………………………………….
10. have a cup of tea …………………………………………………………….

Exercise 2
Match the requests or offers with their responses.

11. Could I have the bill, please? A. Certainly. It’s three minutes past eleven.
12. Is it okay if I take this seat? B. Here you are.
13. Let me give you something to drink. C. I’m afraid the battery is flat.
14. Could you pass me the water, please? D. That’s very kind of you, but I already did it
this morning.
15. Do you mind if I borrow your mobile, really E. No, thank you. I just have my lunch.
quickly?
16. Could you possibly change this five pounds F. Sorry, but someone is sitting there.
note for me?
17. Would you mind watching the children, G. Sorry, we’ve got no change ourselves mate.
just for a second?
18. Can you tell me the time please? H. Of course not, dear!
19. Would you like something to eat? I. Certainly sir.
20. Let me help you water the plants. J. That’s very kind of you.

===000===