B2 English test 3 – text with multiple choice gaps

If you ever asked someone for their mobile phone number and they said, “Sorry, I don’t own a mobile phone,” you 1 ’d probably thought’d might think’d probably thinkmight have thought either that a) they are lying or b) they are crazy. 2 ItThereWhatThis seems hard to believe that in this day and age there are people who don’t own a mobile phone, but 3 incidentallyas a matter of factanywayat least, those people exist, and I am one of them.

But why would somebody in their right mind decide to do something so contrary to 4 thatwhatwhichwhose society deems so essential? In my case, it was more by accident than 5 willdesignpurposedetermination. One day I forgot my incredibly expensive phone in a bar and it just 6 stolengot stolenwas stealinghad stolen. Then, as a way of punishing myself for such a terrible mistake, I decided not to get a new one for some time.

7 Not haveNot havingNot hadNot to have a phone, I became fully aware of the extent to which such a small device rules our daily actions. My hand had to reach into my pocket hundreds of times before learning that there wasn’t a phone 8 to findto have foundfindingto be found in it. It was the first stage of my detox. Every 30 minutes or so, I was desperate to check what 9 went onwould go onwas going onhad been going on in the world for the last 30 minutes –that was how often I 10 had ckeckedused to checkingwould checkhad been checking my phone before losing it. Little 11 did I knowI knewknew II could know that you can get separation anxiety from a machine.

In stage two I began to fill the void left by my phone with the simple little habits that we all used to have before our phones took 12 onupdownover our lives. I started making uninterrupted eye contact when someone was talking to me, or making small talk with my co-workers, or looking through the window when travelling on the train, or even asking for directions and looking around while I was walking. By the end of this second stage, I was still suffering from anxiety, but that didn't prevent 13 I realisedme to realiseme realisingme realise that there was a whole world in front of me which I had never appreciated because I had always been looking down.

In the third and final stage I got rid of my anxiety. Now I started to really enjoy my new-found freedom, the contemplative moments, the social interactions, the sunshine, and the fresh air. I'm still in that stage, and I'm determined to continue in it for as long as I enjoy it, which I don't think is going to end any time soon. I should have 14 stole my phonehad my phone stolengot stolen my phonehad stolen my phone a long time ago, I had been missing out on so many things. The only problem now is that while I have opened my eyes, everybody around me is still looking at the world through their touchscreen, and it can sometimes be annoying for outsiders like me. I wish phones 15 aren'thad never beenwouldn't behad not invented.