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Should We Believe Everything We Read

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Submitted By carinachenys
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A grain of salt

Reading is everywhere. In the daily life, a lot of information flows into our mind through reading. Maybe it is the gossip of a celebrity; maybe it is a new discovery found by a scientific organization; maybe it is the knowledge from a book. We can read a variety of information through newspapers, Internet or books. Nevertheless, don't believe every word in readings no matter where it is from.

As everyone knows that the objective of newspaper is to deliver accurate information to public in a faster way. Nonetheless, the intense competition among newspaper industry leads to the appearance of inaccurate information. In order to improve sale performance, many reporters exaggerate the facts and neglect the truth. For example, a singer in China got cancer and many newspapers reported she is dead, but the next day her agent clarified that she went into a coma and not dead. The reporters distorted the fact to catch readers’ eyes for their own profits. Thus, newspaper does not always report accurate news. In terms of Internet, it is a useful tool for gathering information and people can almost find everything needed on Internet. In fact, Internet is an invisible world and anyone can speak on Internet with an anonymous identity. As a result, misinformation such as rumors and lies can be easily spread online. What’s more, some believable websites also contain incorrect information. For instance, Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia consisting of millions of articles. It allows anyone edit it, so readers might be misled by wrong information provided.

Some people usually argue that book is the most reliable source and all information on books can be trusted. This is because books are usually written by people who are professional and well-­‐versed in some fields. However, that does not mean authors would not include biased words in their articles. The Japanese army killed 300, 000 Chinese in the 1937 Nanjing massacre but the government hide the truth on textbook in 1982. Even textbook could lie to people, therefore it is crucial to have a fair judgment when reading the book. Finally, from discussed above, it is obvious that people need to take it with a grain of salt during readings. Do not automatically assume the information is right. Remember to think twice: should I believe these words or not?

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