Lesson 2. Explicando la situación legal de un empresa

• merger

• market share

• creating a monopoly

• visas

• The government is tightening up...

• Keep me abreast of both situations.

Government regulation

Companies are often closely regulated by governments.

• The government approved two large mergers last month.

• It's becoming more difficult to get visas for our foreign staff.

Our CEO often complains about excessive government regulation. He says we should move abroad.

Legal problems

The government sometimes acts when it believes that a company has done something illegal. It may file a lawsuit against a company.

• The government filed a lawsuit against Entreva Pharmaceuticals.

• There were allegations of illegal payments to doctors.

• The company settled the lawsuit by paying a $2 million fine.

Using what for emphasis or feeling

Sometimes speakers want to emphasize or express a feeling. One way to do that is to make what the sentence's first word. Notice the extra stress on the word surprised in the second example.

• I was surprised by the lawsuit.

• What surprised me was the lawsuit.

Using it for emphasis or feeling

You can also use the word it at the beginning of sentences for emphasis or emotion. Notice how visas is moved forward in the second sentence.

• Our biggest problem right now is visas.

• It's visas that are our biggest problem right now.

Reading for details

When you read a news article, you will generally find a great deal of information packed into a few sentences at the beginning of the article. Read carefully to make sure you understand the sequence of events.

• ABC Company's share price grew more than 25 percent after a merger plan with IXW Inc. was approved by the government.

In the example above, it's important to understand that the merger plan came first, then came the government approval and, finally, the share price increased.