It seems that people are gradually losing their smartness as smart phones become increasingly important assistants in their lives. As we rely too much on technology instead of our brains, many people __21_________ (lose) three basic abilities.
The first skill __22__________ many people have lost is remembering phone numbers. Because phone numbers are stored in smart phone contacts, there’s now no need to dial a number or look at it again. This is fine until you need to call someone for help, only __23__________ (find) your phone is not around.
And some people may also have lost their sense of direction because navigation apps can guide people anywhere they want. These apps can even find the __24____________(short) routes for you and avoid traffic jams. People get so dependent on them __25____________ when they can’t use their smart phones, they get lost and anxious.
But the worst lost skills may be social ones, meaning that some people are becoming socially inept(无能的). People often bury themselves in their smart phones. As we’re too distracted by __26_____________ is happening in the virtual(虚拟的)world, some of us have lost conversational skills and sometimes can’t even tell whether a person is happy or not.
In August, researchers at the University of Ca lifornia, Los Angeles, studied 5l students aged 11 and l2 who had over five hours’ screen time every day. Their task was to tell the emotions of 48 pictures of faces that were happy, sad, angry, or scared. The children made an average of l4.02 mistakes at the beginning , __27_________ after a five-day camp without electronic devices, they made only 9.41 mistakes on average.
Luckily, people still have a chance to get these abilities back. You should try to keep your parents’ numbers in mind for emergencies. You should also pay more attention to street signs and stores, __28__________will help you to draw a mind map and prevent you from getting lost.
And the easiest solution to social skill loss is to take a break from electronic devices.