Question

Read this excerpt from a passage.

"Unfortunately, saving elephants had a negative economic effect on some people. In 1999, in response to pressure from business interests that were losing money because of the ban on the ivory trade, CITES allowed limited trade in stockpiled tusks. Ivory that already had been harvested from elephants could once again be bought and sold.

“But disaster for the African elephant followed. Poachers, or illegal hunters, rushed to kill more elephants. Many people had foreseen that illegal trading of ivory would flourish again if any trading at all were allowed. Following the CITES decision, African elephants died in large numbers. A 2014 New York Times editorial reported that approximately 30,000 to 35,000 African elephants were killed each year. Only a complete ban of the ivory trade can save the African elephant from extinction."



Which of these sentences is an opinion disguised as a fact?


"Only a complete ban of the ivory trade can save the African elephant from extinction."


"A 2014 New York Times editorial reported that approximately 30,000 to 35,000 African elephants were killed each year."


"In 1999, in response to pressure from business interests that were losing money because of the ban on the ivory trade, CITES allowed limited trade in stockpiled tusks."


"Ivory that already had been harvested from elephants could once again be bought and sold."

Answer 1

"Only a complete ban of the ivory trade can save the African elephant from extinction."

Explanation: this is a prescriptive/causal claim that expresses a judgment about the single necessary solution — an opinion — whereas the other sentences report specific events or attributed figures.