Which Sentence is a Supporting Detail, Not a Main Claim?

Question: Which of the sentences below is most clearly a supporting detail, not a main claim?

• a. Ice cream is unhealthy. • b. Looking after a plant can improve people's moods. • c. Most first-year students do not know how to study effectively. • d. As temperatures fell on Tuesday, so did ice cream sales. • e. Humans are causing climate change.

Answer: The most clearly a supporting detail, not a main claim, is d. 'As temperatures fell on Tuesday, so did ice cream sales.'

This sentence provides a supporting detail or evidence for a likely cause-and-effect relationship between temperature and ice cream sales. It supports the main claim that ice cream sales are influenced by temperature changes but is not an independent main claim itself.