A
(2022·河南省焦作市县级重点中学高三上学期期中考试)
A few days after losing his job in March, Paul Gentile was throwing away rubbish outside his Brooklyn apartment building when he noticed a new sign hanging near the front door. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought life to a near standstill in New York City and caused a number of people to lose their jobs, renters in the building did not need to pay April rent, it read. “STAY SAFE, HELP YOUR NEIGHBOIRS & WASH YOUR HANDS！！！”the landlord. Mario Salerno, wrote on the sign.
New York is made up of millions of renters, many of whom pay most of their monthly income for a place to live. The sudden collapse of the economy has left many New Yorkers stressing about how they can pay their bills, especially rent.
But Mr. Salerno did not care about losing his rental income in April, nor did he care to calculate the amount that he would not be collecting from his 80 apartments.He is likely losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in income by canceling April rent. His only interest, he said, was in alleviating stress for his renters, even those who were still employed and now working from home. “My concern is everyone’s health.” said Mr. Salerno.“I told therm just to look out for your neighbors and make sure that everyone has food on their table.”
For the nearly four years. Mr. Gentile has lived in the apartment and Mr. Salerno has been a model landlord. Emergencies are fixed almost immediately, such as a water leak in Mr. Gentile’s ceiling that was fixed and painted within several hours.“You don’t see that, especially in a landlord-renter relationship in New York City，” Mr. Gentile said.“He’s amazing.”
语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了因为疫情原因，一名房东Mario Salerno为租客免除了4月份的房租。这位乐于助人的房东还表示自己唯一的兴趣就是给租客减轻压力，关心他们的健康。
1．What can we learn about Paul Gentile？__D__
A．He is working from home.
B．He was infected with the coronavirus.
C．He canceled the rent for renters.
D．He is a renter in a Brooklyn flat.
解析：细节理解题。根据第一段内容可知今年3月失业后的几天，Paul Gentile正在他的布鲁克林公寓大楼外扔垃圾，这时他注意到前门附近挂了一块新牌子。由于冠状病毒大流行使纽约市的生活几乎陷于停顿，并导致一些人失去了工作，大楼里的租户不需要支付4月份的租金。房东Mario Salermo在牌子上写道：“注意安全，帮助你的邻居和多洗手！”由此可知，Paul Gentile是布鲁克林一套公寓的租户。故选D。
2．What does the underlined word “alleviating” in Paragraph 3 mean？__C__
A．Achieving. B．Increasing.
C．Reducing. D．Tolerating.
解析：词义猜测题。根据画线词后文“stress for his renters, even those who were still employed and now working from home.”以及“’My concern is everyone’s health.’” said Mr. Salerno.’I told them just to look out for your neighbors and make sure that everyone has food on their table.’”可知Salerno关心每个人的健康，所以他的兴趣是减少租客的压力，甚至包括那些仍在工作、现在在家工作的人。故画线词意思为“减少”。A.Achieving实现；B.Increasing增加；C.Reducing减少；D.Tolerating容忍。故选C。
3．Which of the following can best describe the landlord？__B__
A．Brave. B．Caring.
C．Honest. D．Smart.
解析：推理判断题。根据第三段中“His only interest, he said，was in alleviating stress for his renters，even those who were still employed and now working from home.“My concern is everyone’s health.” said Mr. Salermo.“I told them just to look out for your neighbors and make sure that everyone has food on their table.”以及最后一段中“Emergencies are fixed almost immediately, such as a water leak in Mr. Gentile’s ceiling that was fixed and painted within several hours.”由此可推知，这位房东很乐于助人。故选B。
4．What is the main idea of the text？__B__
A．The coronavirus is hurting the economy.
B．A landlord cancels rent for struggling renters.
C．Struggling renters worry about their bills.
D．A landlord fixes emergencies for renters
解析：主旨大意题，根据第一段内容可知今年3月失业后的几天，Paul Gentile正在他的布鲁克林公寓大楼外扔垃圾，这时他注意到前门附近挂了一块新牌子。由于冠状病毒大流行使纽约市的生活几乎陷于停顿，并导致一些人失去了工作，大楼里的租户不需要支付4月份的租金。房东Mario Salerno在牌子上写道：“注意安全，帮助你的邻居和多洗手！”结合文章主要说明了因为疫情原因，一名房东Mario Salerno为租客免除了4月份的房租。这位乐于助人的房东还表示自己唯一的兴趣就是给租客减轻压力，关心他们的健康。可知文章主要内容是一位房东为苦苦挣扎的房客取消租金。故选B。
