var objshow6 = { "showcontent":{"showepisode": "April 6, 2020", "showcurrent": "April 6, 2020", "showlink": "https://rhythmenglish.com/video/update6.mp4#t=1", "showname": "Light at the end of the tunnel", "showcomment": "This update: There's light at the end of the tunnel.", "showvocab": "level off (phrasal verb)

to approach or reach as steady volume or amount; stabilize.

mull (sometimes mull over) (verb)

to think about (a fact, proposal, or request) deeply and at length.

close at hand (idiom)

close in time; about to occur.

cover (verb)
cover-band (noun)

to record or perform a song originally done by another musician or musical group.

lawn (noun)

an area of short, regularly mown grass in the garden of a house or a park.

pull the plug (idiom)

prevent something from happening or continuing.

reach out (phrasal verb)

an attempt to establish friendly or sympathetic relations.

board up (phrasal verb)

the process of installing boards on the windows and doors of a property to protect it from storm damage, to protect unused, vacant or abandoned property and/or to prevent unauthorized access by squatters, looters or vandals.

normalcy (noun)

the condition of being normal; the stated of being usual, typical or expected.

batten down (phrasal verb)

to prepare for possible trouble or difficulty

unrest (noun)

a state of dissatisfaction, disturbance, and agitation typically involving public demonstrations and disorder

call out sick (phrasal verb/expression)

to inform one’s employer that one will be absent due to illness.

amid (preposition)

surrounded by, in the middle of.", "showquestion":[ "1. Cases of coronaviruns continue to rise rapidly in Spain.", "2. Lockdown restrictions in Spain could be loosened in a few weeks.", "3. Nadia the tiger caught the coronavirus from a lion.", "4. The band Pink Floyd played a surprise concert in New Jersey.", "5. The people attending the concert in New Jersey were aged fourteen to fifteen.", "6. One out of every six NYPD officers have not gone to work due to illness." ], "showanswer":[ "true", "false", "true", "false", "true", "false", "true", "false", "true", "false", "true", "false" ], "showvalue":[ "false", "true", "true", "false", "false", "true", "false", "true", "false", "true", "true", "false" ], "showid":[ "answer_1", "answer_2", "answer_3", "answer_4", "answer_5", "answer_6" ], "showtrans": "Hello and welcome to RE News Update for April 6, 2020.

The light at the end of the Tunnel.

Spain woke up to better news this morning concerning the coronavirus. The numbers of deaths related to the illness is finally on the decline after several weeks of steady increases. The number of new confirmed cases is still rising, however, the daily increase is beginning to level off. Spain’s president Sanchez informed the public on Saturday that he intends to extend Spain’s harsh lockdown until April 26. That is move is expected to be approved by parliament today. It also appears that the Spanish government is mulling some sort of relaxing of the lockdown rules in the next couple of weeks, such as allowing people outside for exercise and opening parks, like in London and some American cities.

Let’s go over to the New York Tri state area where the apex of the coronavirus may be close at hand.

A four year old tiger at the Bronx zoo has tested positive for coronavirus. The tiger, Nadia, is believed to have caught the virus form an infected employee of the zoo. She’s not the only one that has come down with covid-19. Five other big cats also appear to have it, two other tigers, one of which is Nadia’s sister along with two African Lions.

Cops in New Jersey broke up a concert by a Pink Floyd cover band being held on the front lawn of a home in Rumson. The authorities acted after receiving a complaint about the show, which was being streamed on Facebook live. Police arrived to find a group of some thirty forty to fifty year-olds who began to shout, ‘F the police’ and ‘Welcome to Nazi Germany’ as the members of the Rumson Police Department told them to shut down the show. One of the officers said that it was sad that they had to pull the plug on the event and that ‘we all wish we could be here’. The concert comes after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy issued a lockdown order that prohibited any parties, celebrations or other social events and advised residents not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

Many New York City business are not just closing down, they are boarding up. Dylan Murphy’s bar on the upper east side, Luis Vuitton and Dior in Soho, along with Sephora’s Time’s Square and Meat Packing district locations are boarding up their shopfronts. Mark Dicus, executive director of the Soho Broadway Initiative business improvement district has reached out to landlords and retailers urging them to consider alternatives such as hiring security firms or keeping on interior lights. Dicus states, ‘we want to maintain a sense of normalcy and make sure our neighborhoods are safe’. One concern for businesses battening down is potential civil unrest, as the virus rages through the city and fewer police officers are on the street. More than one thousand NYPD officers have been diagnosed with the virus, leading to one in six officers to call out sick. All of us who remember the 1977 New York City blackout and the riots and looting which followed can understand the concern of business owners amid this very unpredictable situation.

Well, that’s all for today, stay safe, stay in, and stay tuned. It’s just a stitch in time and one day soon we’ll walk in sun!

Goodbye for now." } }