Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 23 to 27.
SOCIAL NETWORK
A 16-year-old girl from Essex has been sacked after describing her job as boring on the social networking website, Facebook. The teenager, who had been working (23) ____ an administrative assistant at a marketing company for just three weeks, didn't feel very enthusiastic about the duties she was asked to do. (24) _____ of moaning to her friends she decided to express her thoughts on her Facebook page to a colleague, who (25) _____ the boss's attention to it. He immediately fired her on the (26) _____ that her public display of dissatisfaction made it impossible for her to continue working for the company. She later told newspapers she had been treated totally unfairly, especially as she hadn't even mentioned the company's name. She claimed she's been perfectly happy with her job and that her lighthearted comments shouldn't (27) _____ taken seriously. A spokesperson from a workers' union said the incident demonstrated two things: firstly, that people need to protect their privacy online and secondly, that employers should be less sensitive to criticism.
Question 24
A. Due
B. Regardless
C. Instead
D. In spite