Reading ERead the text. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences (A-H) the one which best fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence.

I Just Have To Buy It!

Just like any other teenage girl Stephanie Biggs loves to shop. Her shopping trips, however, turned into

uncontrollable spending frenzies, leaving her thousands of pounds in debt. Today, she is working hard to

overcome her addiction to shopping.

1

Stephanie Biggs’ shopping trips always started out with a simple goal. For example, she once needed socks, so off she went to the shops. They were only £14 each, so why not get one in each colour she thought.

2

At this point, her breathing had changed and she felt very excited. Before Stephanie knew it, she was at the cashier with not only the socks and the T-shirts, but a bathrobe, three sets of pyjamas and two pairs of slippers. The bill came to £80. She pulled out her credit card without hesitation.All 19-year-old Stephanie could think about was rushing home to try everything on.

3

Such splurges have characterised Stephanie’s life for the past year and a half. She is now £10,000 in debt.

4

In fact, besides some clothes, shoes and make up, Stephanie has little to show for all the money she has spent. When Stephanie was younger she spent all of her pocket money right away. Her parents complained that she spent too much and were tired of her asking for money all the time. The serious spending began when Stephanie received two credit cards shortly after her eighteenth birthday with no proof of income. She felt it was her business and she could handle her spending herself. One of the cards had a limit of £4,000 which she paid the minimum payment each month and within six months her request for a higher limit was approved.

6

5

When Stephanie entered university, she felt a lot of anxiety and stress over her studies and new social situations. This caused her addiction to shopping to turn into a serious problem. "I was buying something every day and the days I didn’t go out I would buy things online," she recalls. For Stephanie, shopping was a pleasurable escape from all her problems. Such a quick pleasure is what motivates most shopping addicts to spend. This pleasure is the driving force behind shopping addiction which is reaching alarming levels. In the UK, experts believe that 10 percent of the population and possibly 20 percent of women are compulsive shoppers. This shopping addiction leads not only to financial problems but often to family break-ups, depression and even homelessness. A recent study showed that half of 14 to 18-years-olds in many European countries exhibit symptoms of shopping addiction, with 8 percent showing signs of severe addiction.

7

Studies have also shown that without help or treatment most addictions tend to worsen over time. She now has a part-time job to pay off her credit cards and attends regular counselling sessions with her parents to help her deal with her addiction and develop healthier coping methods for her stress. Although Stephanie has her spending under control now, she resists going shopping unless it’s with her mum because, as she knows all too well, a quick peek at the shops can easily lead to disaster.

A She kept them a secret from her parents.

B "It made me feel so good that I just couldn’t stop myself," she explains.

C As in the case of Stephanie who fell more and more into debt.

D Despite having no money or income, she wasn’t worried about how she would pay for the items.

E One age group in particular showing a worrisome level of addiction is teenage girls.

F And no, she did not buy a car or pay for college with that money.

G Unfortunately, she was unable to control her addiction.

H But once there, she discovered a rail of pretty

T-shirts that she simply had to have.

aliaganieva70    2   29.12.2021 19:14    68