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Upper Primary School English Quiz - Reading Comprehension 14 - Opinion or Fact? (Questions)

While communicating a writer or a speaker often uses a variety of ways to put forth his views. The views could be simple facts that can be corroborated, the opinions of the writer or speaker, or the opinions of others. In reading comprehension we must learn to separate fact from opinion so as to understand the communication better. This Upper Primary English quiz will help you to do just that!

If you were reading the report of a cricket match in the next day’s sports page you would clearly be able to discern fact from opinion. The scores recorded by a batsman, or the wickets taken and runs conceded by a bowler, would be facts. The description of the way they were achieved would be the opinion of the writer. To clarify:

[readmore]The writer may inform you that Virat Kohli scored a century, which is a fact.
He may say that it was a scratchy innings, which is the writer’s opinion.
The writer may invoke say, Sunil Gavaskar’s take on the innings, which would be an opinion.

You could have watched the telecast of the match and listened to the commentary. You would see for yourself the century scored by Virat Kohli and been convinced that the batsman played a good innings. However, the commentator’s description of the way the batsman batted may not agree with your perceptions. Hence, the description of the commentator would become an opinion.

Facts are not debated whereas opinions can be. When reading or listening we must learn to separate facts from opinions and thus enhance our comprehension. In order to help you to learn ways to determine what is opinion or fact two passages follow. The first five questions pertain to the passage on Abdul Kalam and the next five questions pertain to the passage on Mustaq. Take the quiz and test your reading comprehension, and also your ability to separate fact from opinion.
1. Abdul Kalam.

Abdul Kalam was the President of India during the period 2002-2007.

He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India as he was responsible for the development of ballistic missiles and launch vehicle technology.

He was instrumental in spearheading the Pokharan-II nuclear test in 1998.

He served as the chief of DRDO. He was also the Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.

He received India’s various awards such as the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna awards.

He was chosen as the Presidential candidate by the NDA government in 2002. He was ostensibly chosen to counteract the image that the BJP party, which headed the NDA government, had about being anti-Muslim.

Kalam brought a new dimension to the office of the President of India by being a person with his own mind. Usually, the president toes the line of the government in power.

Kalam was a forward thinking man and liked to engage with the children and youth of the country.

Though Kalam was highly revered, he courted his share of criticisms. One of the criticisms he faced was that he was not an authority on nuclear physics. He was an aerospace engineer and not an expert on nuclear engineering.

Kalam had humble roots from the time of his birth in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and his studies at St Joseph’s College, Trichy in Tamil Nadu and aerospace engineering at Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai also in Tamil Nadu.

Kalam was considered as one of the nicest presidents of India. In the ultimate analysis Kalam was a simple and good man.

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2. Mustaq:

Mustaq is a lover of cars. He follows any news about cars that appears in newspapers, magazines or TV programmes.

Currently he owns two cars, a Mercedes and an Audi. He feels his cars are wonderful.

He likes the colour blue and both his cars are blue in colour.

Both cars are diesel powered. While the Audi is a 168 BHP car the Mercedes is a 190 BHP car. They are sedans and very powerful cars.

The Audi is an automatic transmission car and the Mercedes is a gear shift car.

The Audi has a sun roof but the Mercedes does not. The Mercedes is better than the Audi. The Audi looks more beautiful than the Mercedes. The Mercedes is more comfortable than the Audi.

While the Audi’s length is 17 feet the Mercedes’ length is 19 feet.

Mustaq does not put his cars in the hands of a driver but drives them himself. He enjoys driving his cars and takes them out for a long drive every now and then.

Mustaq’s neighbours are critical of him for owning such expensive cars. Actually, they are jealous. But, Mustaq is very proud that he owns them.
1. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] Usually, the president toes the line of the government in power.
[ ] Kalam brought a new dimension to the office of the President of India by being a person with his own mind.
[ ] Kalam was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
[ ] Kalam courted his share of criticisms.
2. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] Kalam was a forward thinking man and liked to engage with the children and youth of the country.
[ ] Abdul Kalam was the President of India during the period 2002-2007.
[ ] He was an aerospace engineer.
[ ] He received India’s Padma Bhushan Award.
3. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] Kalam received India’s Padma Vibhushan Award.
[ ] Kalam was chosen as the Presidential candidate by the NDA government in 2002.
[ ] Kalam was the chief of DRDO.
[ ] Kalam was highly revered.
4. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India.
[ ] Kalam served as Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.
[ ] He was ostensibly chosen to counteract the image that the BJP party, which was heading the NDA government, had about being anti-Muslim.
[ ] Kalam was a simple and good man.
5. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] One of the criticisms he faced was that he was not an authority on nuclear physics.
[ ] Kalam had humble roots.
[ ] Kalam was considered as one of the nicest presidents of India.
[ ] Kalam studied in St Joseph's College, Trichy in Tamil Nadu.
6. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] Mustaq has two really wonderful cars.
[ ] Mustaq has two cars, one a Mercedes and the other an Audi.
[ ] Both Mustaq's two cars are blue in colour.
[ ] Mustaq's two cars are diesel powered.
7. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] Mustaq follows any news about cars that appears in news papers or magazines or on TV programmes.
[ ] The Mercedes is a 190 BHP car.
[ ] Mustaq's neighbours are critical of him.
[ ] The cars are sedans.
8. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] The Audi is a 168 BHP car.
[ ] Mustaq's neighbours are jealous.
[ ] The Audi is an automatic transmission car.
[ ] The Mercedes is a gear shift car.
9. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] Mustaq is very proud that he owns his two cars.
[ ] The Mercedes is more comfortable than the Audi.
[ ] The Audi looks more beautiful than the Mercedes.
[ ] The Mercedes' length is 19 feet.
10. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] The Mercedes is better than the Audi.
[ ] The Audi has a sun roof.
[ ] The Mercedes does not have a sun roof.
[ ] Audi's length is 17 feet.
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Upper Primary School English Quiz - Reading Comprehension 14 - Opinion or Fact? (Answers)
1. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] Usually, the president toes the line of the government in power.
[ ] Kalam brought a new dimension to the office of the President of India by being a person with his own mind.
[x] Kalam was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
[ ] Kalam courted his share of criticisms.
It is a fact that Kalam was born in Rameswaram. The other options are merely opinions
2. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[x] Kalam was a forward thinking man and liked to engage with the children and youth of the country.
[ ] Abdul Kalam was the President of India during the period 2002-2007.
[ ] He was an aerospace engineer.
[ ] He received India’s Padma Bhushan Award.
Kalam's forward thinking is an opinion and not a fact. The other options are all facts
3. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] Kalam received India’s Padma Vibhushan Award.
[ ] Kalam was chosen as the Presidential candidate by the NDA government in 2002.
[ ] Kalam was the chief of DRDO.
[x] Kalam was highly revered.
Calling someone revered is an opinion. The other options are facts
4. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India.
[x] Kalam served as Scientific Advisor to the Government of India.
[ ] He was ostensibly chosen to counteract the image that the BJP party, which was heading the NDA government, had about being anti-Muslim.
[ ] Kalam was a simple and good man.
Kalam served as the Scientific Advisor to the Government of India and it is a fact. The other options are all opinions
5. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] One of the criticisms he faced was that he was not an authority on nuclear physics.
[ ] Kalam had humble roots.
[ ] Kalam was considered as one of the nicest presidents of India.
[x] Kalam studied in St Joseph's College, Trichy in Tamil Nadu.
It is a fact that Kalam studied in St Joseph's College, Trichy in Tamil Nadu. The other options are only opinions
6. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[x] Mustaq has two really wonderful cars.
[ ] Mustaq has two cars, one a Mercedes and the other an Audi.
[ ] Both Mustaq's two cars are blue in colour.
[ ] Mustaq's two cars are diesel powered.
The description of the cars as wonderful is an opinion and not a fact. The other three options are facts
7. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] Mustaq follows any news about cars that appears in news papers or magazines or on TV programmes.
[ ] The Mercedes is a 190 BHP car.
[x] Mustaq's neighbours are critical of him.
[ ] The cars are sedans.
Being critical is an opinion. The other options are facts
8. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[ ] The Audi is a 168 BHP car.
[x] Mustaq's neighbours are jealous.
[ ] The Audi is an automatic transmission car.
[ ] The Mercedes is a gear shift car.
Being jealous is an opinion. The other options are all facts
9. Choose the sentence that is not an opinion but a fact.
[ ] Mustaq is very proud that he owns his two cars.
[ ] The Mercedes is more comfortable than the Audi.
[ ] The Audi looks more beautiful than the Mercedes.
[x] The Mercedes' length is 19 feet.
It is a fact that the length of the Mercedes is 19 feet. The other options are merely opinions
10. Choose the sentence that is not a fact but an opinion.
[x] The Mercedes is better than the Audi.
[ ] The Audi has a sun roof.
[ ] The Mercedes does not have a sun roof.
[ ] Audi's length is 17 feet.
Comparing two cars and saying one is better than the other is an opinion. You could find another person who may say the other car is better. The other three options are facts