LET’S TAKE A POLL

Raise your hand if you believe that polls really reveal public opinion

Governments, businesses and journalists often look to polls to gain insight into public opinion. Not all polls are created equal, though. Only polls in which respondents are selected in a random sample can be considered scientific and, therefore, trustworthy. Meeting that standard allows a poll of 1,000 people to potentially represent the opinions of millions of citizens! Any poll in which respondents volunteer should be considered entertainment - not an accurate representation of public opinion.

Last June, major polling groups Gallup, Pew/Washington Post and CBS News asked the American public their opinion regarding the NSA's collection of phone calls and email messages. The results seemed to contradict each other a great deal. The Pew/Washington Post poll showed 56 percent approving of the NSA's action, while the GAllup poll showed 53 percent disapproving of that action. As journalist David Moore pointed out, one poll mentioned terrorism while another mentioned privacy concerns. Such variation in poll questions can affect respondents' thinking and lead to wildly different results. So remember, the public opinion revealed in polls may not always represent the masses!

Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: What’s Your Proximity to English?
詢問民意時...
- Raise your hands if...
- Can I have a show of hands?


Grammar Gym
look to: to turn to or go to something with an expectation
- Governments, businesses and journalists often look to polls to gain insight into public opinion.
- Wendy looks to her grandmother for advice.
- John looked to his friends for support.
look at
- I am looking at my mother, and I see she is wearing a dress.


Language Lab
insight n.
a sudden clear understanding of something or part of something, especially a complicated situation or idea
insight into
- The article provides insight into the impact of media on teens.
- Traveling allows you to gain many cultural insights.

trustworthy adj.
someone who is trustworthy can be trusted and depended on [= dependable]
- Victor is a trustworthy guy. He always keeps his promises.
- The company's service has been trustworthy and reliable.

contradict v. [contra字首- 反對]
if one statement, story etc contradicts another, the facts in it are different so that both statements cannot be true:
- The witness's statement contradict the suspect's.
- Tom's actions often contradict his beliefs.
to disagree with something, especially by saying that the opposite is true:
- Lisa would never dare to contradict her parents.

terrorism n. [uncountable]
the use of violence such as bombing, shooting, or kidnapping to obtain political demands such as making a government do something:
- The country will take all kinds of actions to fight terrorism.
terrorist n. [countable]
someone who uses violence such as bombing, shooting etc to obtain political demands:
- Several terrorist were arrested by the police this morning.