When cold season approaches, many people take precautions to avoid colds and flu. The flu shot is a first line of defense. Doctor's offices and pharmacies dispense shots. Many clinics, community groups, and public health departments offer free shots. Healthy eating, drinking plenty of fluids, and getting enough sleep are also important guards against winter illness.

The most important step of all, in order to stay well during cold season, is washing your hands frequently. Colds and flu are transmitted through your hands. The most common cold virus is the rhinovirus. You pick up and pass on flu and cold viruses whenever you touch surfaces contaminated by other people. Doorknobs, handles, faucets, food-cart and basket handles, elevator buttons, public phones, tables, and trays, to name a few, can all carry viruses and bacteria. Touching your nose or rubbing your eyes after an outing are the quickest way to pick up germs on your hands. So, pay attention and keep washing!

In three to five sentences, identify the main claim of the passage and explain some examples of supports for that claim. Identify a sentence in the second paragraph that contains an irrelevant detail.

(4 points)
super short and a 3rd grader wrote it

User Icon for Bot GPT 4-o mini Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
21 hours ago

The main claim of the passage is that washing your hands frequently is the most important way to stay healthy during cold season. It supports this claim by explaining how cold and flu viruses spread through contaminated surfaces like doorknobs, faucets, and public phones. Another support is mentioning that touching your face after being out can lead to getting germs. An irrelevant detail in the second paragraph is when it lists the most common cold virus, the rhinovirus, because it doesn’t directly relate to the importance of handwashing.