Worksheet Objective:
To learn how to interpret what you read in passages like you will find on the high school equivalency test.
There are multiple worksheets that cover reading. When you complete this one, be sure to move on to the next.
Generalizations are similar to opinions because they are judgments and not factual statements.� However, they are somewhat different than opinions because they are statements that offer no exceptions.� Generalizations are so strongly worded that they sound like facts.� Compare the two statements below.� One is an opinion and one is a generalization.� Can you see the difference?
OPINION: � I believe students should stay in high school until they graduate.
�� ��������(This statements says, �This is what I believe.�)
GENERALIZATION:� All students should stay in high school until they graduate.
(This statement makes no exceptions.� It says that all students should stay in school.)
Notice that the generalization sounds like it�s a fact because it�s so strongly worded and doesn�t use opinion words like I believe, I feel, I think. � Yet, like the opinion, it can�t be proved or agreed upon by all readers.
Because generalizations allow for no exceptions, and the world if full of exceptions, you need to recognize them as being different from facts.� Generalizations often use words such as all, none, every, always, and never .� On the high school equivalency test, you can rule out any choices that contain these words.
Try identifying some generalizations. � Read the three statements that follow.� Decide whether they are opinions (O) or generalizations (G).� Remember, opinions are what a person believes to be true.� Generalizations are like opinions, except that they offer no exceptions ever to what they are saying.�
�1.� Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
�2.� I think Tom lied to you.
�3.� Telling a lie is always wrong.
1.� Most of us would probably agree with the importance of being clean.� But we also realize that being clean all of the time is impossible�for example, if we are working in the garden or cleaning out the garage.� 2.� At this time and given no more information, we cannot prove that #2 is a fact.� It is what someone believes to be true.� Unlike a generalization, this opinion leaves room for exceptions.� 3. Most of us have told �white lies� to avoid hurting someone�s feelings.� We know that the always in this statement provides for no exceptions, and there are exceptions to this rule for most people.
Try these: Write (O) for opinions and (G) for generalizations.
� 1.� All Italians are great cooks.
�� 2.� I think Thomas was crazy to take that job.
� 3.� Pregnant women should never lift their hands above their shoulders.
� 4.� All churchgoers are good people.
� 5.� Democrats always know what is best for the country.
� 6.� I believe nuclear energy is the wave of the future.
� 7.� I know the Chiefs will beat the Raiders in tomorrow�s game.
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Resources:
Benner, Patricia Ann. (1996). Breakthroughs in Critical Reading. Contemporary Books: Chicago, IL.
Benner, Patricia Ann. (1988). Pre-GED Critical Reading Skills. Contemporary Books: Chicago, IL
Comprehension Skills Level F: Inferences. (1992). Steck-Vaughn Company: Austin, TX.
GED Test 4: Literature and the Arts. (2001). Contemporary Books, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group: Lincolnwood, IL.
McClanahan, Susan D.; Green, Judith Andrews. (1996). Building Strategies: Reading. Steck-Vaughn Company: Austin, TX.
Pre-GED Literature and the Arts. (1995). Contemporary Books, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group: Lincolnwood, IL
Sands, Stella; Lowe, Virginia. (1998). GED Program: Literature and the Arts. Cambridge Adult Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Springboard for Passing the GED: Interpreting Literature and the Arts. (1994). Glencoe, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill: New York, NY.