C

For most people today, their GPS (Global Positioning System) has become a life line, giving directions to the nearest bathroom or restaurant. But the price we pay for the convenience could be our sense of direction.

“I do think GPS devices cause our navigational(导航) skills to atrophy，”said Nora Newcombe, a US psychologist who studies how the human brain navigates. “The problem is that you don’t see an overview of the area and where you are in relation to other things.”   

 To understand the risk, you first need to understand how our brain keeps us from getting lost. Through experiments, researchers have found that our navigational strategies usually fall into two groups. 

The first involves a spatial (空间的) map inside your brain. As you explore an area, you think about how the streets fit together and the best way to get between different  locations. Eventually, the map lets you navigate between any two points in the area.    

The second involves a series of landmarks and steps: Turn right at the gas station, and your school is on the left. It’s quick and reliable, but less flexible–it doesn’t help you get from your school to a totally new place, even if it’s nearby.    

According to the research, people who are bad at navigation have trouble with the first strategy–creating spatial maps. What’s more, further studies have shown that people’s ability to create spatial maps is decided by how often we use the skill. That helps explain what happens when people trust themselves with GPS devices. According to a research, people depending on GPS show more activity in the part of the brain that is good at following directions – but less activity in the part which creates the spatial maps.   

It turns out that our sense of direction isn’t the only thing we could lose. One thing that could go is our connection to the environment we travel through. Researchers have found that when people rely on GPS while driving, their memory of their trip is of a route on a screen, rather than the landscape they traveled through.

29. The underlined word “atrophy” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _______.

A. become stronger              

B. become weaker  

C. become more useful      

D. become less important

30. People having a poor sense of direction _______. 

A. rely more on the first strategy than the second for direction 

B. usually find the second strategy more reliable and flexible   

C. tend to have problems creating spatial maps in their mind   

D. are likely to become wiser by using the GPS navigation

31. How could the frequent use of GPS affect people according to the article?   

A. It might ruin their ability to navigate.  

B. It is to produce more activity in their brain.   

C. It enables them to enjoy better scenery along.   

D. It makes them become less independent.

32. What can be inferred about the writer’s attitude towards using GPS?   

A. He encourages us not to use it.   

B. He thinks highly of this technology.   

C. He doesn’t care how often it’s used.   

D. He discourages us from overusing it.