1 . My son, Toby, 17 months old, has just tested positive for COVID-19. He is the first in our household to test positive, and all the information provided for people in this situation is designed for adults who are(or should be) concerned about protecting their families. Toby, obviously, cannot comprehend such advice. He cannot keep a distance from everybody else, or eat and wash in a separate room. We called 911, and the medic we spoke to agreed that the official guidance didn’t really apply to our situation.

Indeed. Not much we can do. So, here we are, trapped within our four walls with a little baby infected with COVID-19, who continues to climb on us, spit in our faces, love us and hug us. It seems inevitable that we, and our elder son, are going to get COVID now. Not much we can do.

My first reaction, after absorbing his diagnosis, was to cook sausages. I didn’t even know that was my comfort food of choice. Perhaps an afternoon crisis would have caused a different cooking desire? Anyway, a full stomach helped me take stock. Yes, it may now be inevitable that we’re going to contract the very virus we’ve spent a year avoiding, but as long as we don’t contract it at the same time, then, hopefully, one other of us will be available to look after our kids (thus answering my five-year-old’s most pressing concern: “…but who will make the pudding?”).

So, to minimise transmission, we’ve opened all the windows. And we’ve decided to wear face coverings whenever we are with Toby. This decision has been insignificant to him—I imagine he literally cannot remember life before masks—but for me, it’s distressing. I’ve become accustomed to wearing masks in supermarkets and coffee shops, of course, but to actually walk around with half my face covered in my own house is quite another matter—it is telling me that my home has been infected, That it’s no longer a safe space.

And so it was, when I sat down to write this column, that I ended up writing about COVID, which is probably the last thing you wanted to read. Sorry about that. COVID has coloured my thoughts today, even though I know that my wife and children will be fine, and that really we should just be grateful we haven’t passed it on to my grandmother.

I predict there will be more sausages in the morning.

1. By repeating the sentence “Not much we can do” in paragraph 2, the writer implies that ________.

A．he feels inspired	B．he is really helpless
C．he wants professional support	D．he needs to keep a distance from Toby

2. According to the writer, what did sausages bring to him?

A．Appetite.

B．Concern.

C．Relief.

D．Sadness.

3. Why did wearing masks at home distress the writer?

A．It discourages him from writing about COVID.

B．It brings him back to the days before COVID-19

C．It makes him feel at a loss for how to help his son.

D．It is a reminder of what is happening to his family.

4. What can be concluded from the passage?

A．The diagnosis leaves the writer’s family in a tough spot.

B．Being infected with COVID-19 leaves Toby in a bad mood.

C．The writer is sure that his other kids won’t contract the virus.

D．Sausages have long been considered by many to be comfort food