Question

the dirty truth about your phone—
and why you shouldn’t scroll in the bathroom

we carry our phones everywhere, taking them to bed and even to
the bathroom. and for many people, they’re the first thing they
see in the morning. more than 95% of the world owns or uses a
mobile phone, and many of us couldn’t manage without one.

health concerns about phone use usually focus on the
distraction they can cause while driving, the possible effects of
radiofrequency exposure, or just how addictive they can be. the
microbial infection risk of your phone is much less appreciated—
but it’s very real.

a 2019 survey found that most people use their phones on the
toilet. so it’s not surprising to discover studies have found our
mobile phones to be dirtier than toilet seats.

we give our phones to children to play with (who aren’t exactly
well known for their hygiene!). we also eat while using our
phones and put them down on all sorts of dirty surfaces. all of
which can transfer microbes onto your phone along with food
deposits for those microbes to eat.

it’s been estimated that people touch their phone hundreds if not
thousands of times a day. and while many of us wash our hands
regularly after using the bathroom, cooking, cleaning, or
gardening, we are much less likely to consider washing our
hands after touching our phones. but given how disgusting and
germ - infested phones can be, maybe it’s time to think more
about mobile phone hygiene.

question 2 core 3
based on paragraphs 1 - 5, this article will primarily explore
problems related to phones and ____.

select an answer
☐ microbial infection risk
☐ distracted driving
☐ addiction

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the relevant paragraphs (1 - 5). The article mentions that while other phone - related concerns like distracted driving and addiction exist, paragraphs 1 - 5 focus on the microbial risk: phones are dirtier than toilet seats, we transfer microbes to phones (and vice versa), and we don't clean phones or hands after touching them. Distracted driving and addiction are either not the main focus of these paragraphs or are just briefly mentioned as other concerns. So the article primarily explores problems related to phones and microbial infection risk.

Answer:

A. microbial infection risk