Original
Carrie loved her phone and her tablet. She was always looking at one or the other. Her parents would try to talk to her about her life, but she would just ignore them or give them monosyllabic answers until they left her alone. When she was at school, she'd sneak peeks at her phone under her desk whenever she could get away with it. When she was at parties, she spent more time interacting with the devices in front of her than with the people around her. Even at concerts and sporting events, Carrie seldom removed her eyes from these tiny screens. One day Carrie was walking home from a friend's house and watching a funny video of people slipping on ice. She began crossing the street just after the light changed. She was so into the video that she did not notice the oncoming traffic. She walked directly into the traffic while laughing at the falling people on her tiny screen and was hit by a bus. Carrie sustained mild injuries, but both of her devices were destroyed. As far as she was concerned, her life was over.
Simplified
Carrie loved using her phone and tablet. She was always looking at one of them. Her parents would try to talk to her about her life, but she would ignore (not pay attention to) them or give very short answers until they stopped asking. At school, she would secretly (in a way that others do not see) look at her phone under her desk whenever she could. At parties (gatherings with people), she spent more time on her devices (phones, tablets, or computers) than talking to the people around her. Even at concerts (live music shows) and sports events, Carrie rarely (not often) took her eyes off the screens. One day, Carrie was walking home from a friend's house while watching a funny video of people slipping (falling) on ice. She started crossing (walking from one side to another) the street just after the light changed. She was so focused (paying a lot of attention) on the video that she didn’t see the cars coming. She walked into the traffic (cars moving on the road) while laughing at the video on her screen and got hit by a bus. Carrie had minor (small, not serious) injuries (hurt or damage to the body), but both her devices were destroyed (broken). To Carrie, this felt like the end of her world.