87-Year-Old Woman Returns to Her Madrid Home

The company announced a plan to sell shares last week.

Only days later, Oura stopped the plan.

That happened very quickly. What did Oura plan to do?

Oura wanted to sell parts of the company to investors.

It planned to offer shares on the Nasdaq market.

The plan could have valued Oura at fifteen billion dollars.

That is a very large value for a ring company. How much money did Oura hope to raise?

The company planned to raise up to 2.2 billion dollars.

It expected each share to cost between 40 and 44 dollars.

But Oura says the market is uncertain.

In simple words, investors may feel less sure.

Yes. Experts say it is now harder for companies to sell shares.

Energy costs are rising, and world trade is under pressure.

Interest rates are also high. These changes can make investors more careful.

Oura is not saying that the company has failed.

That is right. Oura says the share sale is only postponed.

It did not give a new date.

Its chief executive, Tom Hale, said an IPO is only one step.

He also said the company can choose the right time.

So Oura may still grow in other ways.

Yes. Oura makes rings that cost more than 300 dollars.

The rings track a person’s heartbeat and sleep.

In its latest nine months, the company made 70 million dollars before tax.

Liam, thank you for explaining that.

An 87-year-old woman is set to return to her home in Madrid.

Now we go to Chloe, our LinguaWire correspondent for society.

Thank you, Daniel. The woman is Maria del Carmen Abascal.

People across Spain often call her Maricarmen.

She left her home after a dispute about her rent last week.

Now there is a new offer from the company that owns the building.

Yes. The company offered to bring her rent back to its old price.

Her monthly payment would be about 570 dollars.

That price would stay for the next eight years.

And that payment would use about 30 percent of her pension.

Correct. Her pension is money she receives after working.

The problem began when an investment fund bought her building.

Her rent then rose by more than 200 percent.

It reached about 1,880 dollars each month.

That is a very large change for one older person.

It was also part of a national problem. Many people protested.

A tenants’ union organized protests in Madrid.

People gathered in Puerta del Sol, a central city square.

Tens of thousands joined them, and protests spread to other cities.

The protests helped make Maricarmen a symbol of the housing problem.

Yes. She became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis.

The government also presented new measures for a vote this Friday.

One plan could protect people at risk of losing their homes until 2030.

But protesters say the plan does not go far enough.

That is correct. Some political groups may oppose it.

Spain also needs many more homes.

The central bank says the country lacks about 755,000 homes.

That gap could grow to one million homes by 2028.

Chloe, thank you. That makes the story clear.

Now let’s review three useful words from the housing story.

tenant

A tenant is a person who pays to live in a home. In the story, the older woman was a tenant.

The tenant asked for help with the rent.

rent

Rent is money paid to live in a home. In the story, her rent rose by more than 200 percent.

My rent is due on the first day of the month.

pension

A pension is money a person receives after working. In the story, her payment would use about 30 percent of her pension.

Her pension pays for food and housing.

“Wanted to sell parts of the company”

Use want to plus the base verb to say what someone plans or hopes to do.

“Oura wanted to sell parts of the company to investors.”

Many people want to find a safe home.

Repeat after me: wanted to sell parts of the company