영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

For decades, productivity advice has focused almost entirely on ①managing time efficiently, yet many experts now argue this approach overlooks something important. This alternative approach, ②known as energy management, suggests that controlling personal energy matters more than controlling the clock. Unlike time, which flows at a constant rate, human energy naturally rises and falls in cycles ③shaped by sleep, food, and mental fatigue. A person who tackles difficult tasks during a low-energy period, for instance, may need two hours ④to finish what takes thirty minutes at peak energy. Similarly, someone who forces themselves to keep working without rest often ⑤produce careless mistakes that require additional time to correct later.

When Mina was a freshman, she often spent her allowance within a few days. Her older cousin told her about the marshmallow experiment, a famous study in which children could eat one marshmallow ①immediately or wait for two. Researchers found that children who waited ②longer showed better academic performance and self-control years later. This ability to ③resist an immediate reward in favor of a larger future one is known as delayed gratification. Inspired by the study, Mina began saving half of her allowance each week instead of spending it all on snacks. At first, resisting small purchases felt surprisingly ④easy, especially when her friends were eating out. After three months, however, she had ⑤saved enough to buy a bicycle she had wanted for over a year.

Setting a goal such as 'I will study harder' rarely leads to ①meaningful improvement. According to psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, ②specific and challenging goals produce far better performance than vague or easy ones. This idea, known as goal-setting theory, suggests that ③clear targets direct attention and sustain effort over time. To apply this theory effectively, many educators recommend the SMART framework, which requires goals to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For instance, a student following this framework might say, 'I will memorize thirty new words every week for two months.' Because the goal includes a clear number and a deadline, progress becomes easy to ④track and evaluate. Challenging goals also tend to increase motivation, since people often work harder when a target feels meaningfully ⑤easy rather than trivially simple.

Many students assume that perfectionists work harder than everyone else, but psychologists describe a puzzling pattern called the perfectionism-procrastination cycle. This term describes how an intense fear of imperfect work causes people to ___________. Because perfectionists set impossibly high standards, they often feel anxious before they even begin, and the task feels overwhelming. They then postpone the work to avoid facing their own unrealistic expectations, even though delay only increases their stress later. For example, a student writing a research paper might spend hours reorganizing notes instead of composing a single sentence that feels good enough. Likewise, an employee facing an important report may check emails repeatedly rather than begin drafting, fearing an early attempt will seem inadequate. Ironically, this avoidance guarantees the very failure that perfectionists dread, since rushed, last-minute work rarely meets their own high standards.

Communication scholar Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann proposed the spiral of silence theory to explain why certain opinions dominate public discussion while others fade into invisibility. According to this theory, individuals constantly observe their surrounding environment to judge which opinions are widely accepted and which are not. When people sense that their own view belongs to a minority, they often choose to stay silent rather than risk social isolation or criticism. This silence, however, creates a distorted impression that the minority opinion is even rarer than it actually is, discouraging additional supporters from speaking up. Over time, this cycle spirals downward, allowing the dominant opinion to appear increasingly unanimous while dissenting voices disappear from visible conversation. Social media platforms can intensify this spiral, since visibility metrics make popular opinions instantly noticeable while unpopular ones remain hidden. Consequently, some users _______________.

Many teenagers check their social media accounts dozens of times a day, worried that they might miss something important happening among their friends. This anxiety, known as FOMO, or the fear of missing out, arises when people believe that others are enjoying experiences from which they themselves are excluded. For example, a student scrolling through photos of a party she was not invited to may suddenly feel a wave of loneliness and regret, even though the event has already ended. Constantly refreshing feeds to avoid missing such updates, however, makes it difficult to concentrate on schoolwork or conversations happening in the present moment. Moreover, this endless comparison with curated highlights of other people's lives tends to deepen feelings of anxiety rather than relieve them. Therefore, students should learn to ___________.

Not all parts of a city experience the same temperature, even when they are located close to one another. (A) Tall buildings packed closely together also block wind, trapping warm air within narrow streets. In contrast, areas with abundant trees and open water naturally stay cooler, since plants release moisture that helps lower surrounding temperatures. (B) To reduce this effect, many cities have begun installing rooftop gardens and expanding public parks, hoping that additional greenery will absorb less heat than pavement does. (C) On a summer evening, downtown streets often feel noticeably hotter than nearby parks or suburban neighborhoods, even after the sun has set. This phenomenon, known as the urban heat island effect, occurs when cities retain more heat than surrounding rural areas because of their dense concentration of asphalt, concrete, and buildings. Unlike soil or vegetation, which absorb and release heat gradually, these man-made surfaces absorb sunlight during the day and slowly radiate it back at night, preventing temperatures from cooling.

The two-minute rule offers a simple but powerful strategy for anyone who struggles to begin a new habit. (A) Once the habit of showing up regularly is established, the duration or intensity of the activity can gradually increase without much resistance. (B) The idea behind this rule is that most people quit a new habit not because the activity itself is difficult, but because starting feels intimidating. (C) By reducing a habit to something as simple as reading one page or doing one push-up, the initial hesitation to begin nearly disappears.

주어진 문장: This memory advantage occurs because the brain treats an open task as unresolved business that deserves continued attention. Have you ever noticed that an unfinished task keeps returning to your mind long after you stopped working? ( ① ) This phenomenon was first noticed by psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who saw that waiters remembered unpaid orders better than paid ones. ( ② ) Her observation led to what is now called the Zeigarnik effect: people remember incomplete tasks more vividly than completed ones. ( ③ ) According to this theory, the mind maintains mental tension until a task reaches closure, keeping the unfinished task active in memory. ( ④ ) Once the task is completed, the tension is released, and the mind lets go of the details. This effect explains why students often think about unsolved homework even during unrelated activities like eating dinner. It also explains why writing down an incomplete plan can reduce anxiety, since a note serves as temporary closure. Teachers sometimes use this principle, leaving lessons purposely unfinished to encourage students to keep thinking about the material. ( ⑤ )

주어진 문장: At first glance, this seems to suggest that Dunbar's theory no longer applies in the digital age. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed a concept now known as Dunbar's number, suggesting that human beings can only maintain about one hundred fifty stable social relationships at any given time. ( ① ) This limit, he argued, comes from the size of the human brain, which restricts how many meaningful connections a person can cognitively manage. ( ② ) In contrast, many social media users today have hundreds or even thousands of online friends and followers, a number far exceeding what Dunbar's research predicts. ( ③ ) However, having numerous digital contacts does not necessarily mean that all of these relationships are close or emotionally supportive. ( ④ ) Most users, when asked, admit that they interact regularly with only a small fraction of their total followers, while the rest remain largely unnoticed. ( ⑤ ) Therefore, Dunbar's number reminds us that genuine, lasting relationships require consistent effort and attention, something that a large online network alone cannot provide.