Text messages Can you remember where you 0) were when the first text message 1) .................. sent in the UK? You can't? I'm not surprised. Nor 2) anyone else. But it's an unpredictable world, and nothing has been less predicted 3) ........... the rise of text messaging. It came from nowhere to become 4) .................. fastest growing phenomenon 5) ....... recent times. Over 2 million text messages are sent 6) .................. hour in the UK. The mobile phone industry claims 7) .................. 95% of them arrive within 10 seconds 'in normal circumstances'. Texting has opened up an entirely new area 8) ......... communication that didn't exist before - brief messages for 9) ..... there is a huge demand but which don't need the fuss of a written letter. Texting has become a means 10) .... parents to maintain contact with 11) .................. children, for grandparents to bond with grandchildren, for television to interact with the audience. It is a marketing tool of huge potential for companies which, for the first time, can build up profiles of individual users and target them 12) special offers. Texting has not been successful simply because it enables you to communicate with others 13) ............ phone without speaking, 14) ................. because it is brief and no one expects 15) ................. of the usual formalities. Its simplicity may ensure its long life.​