영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

Last January, Minji wrote the same resolution she always wrote: study English for an hour every day. By February, she had already ①quit, just as in previous years. Frustrated, she asked her teacher why her willpower always failed, and learned about a concept ②called implementation intentions. Instead of vaguely intending to study more, Minji made a precise plan: if she finished dinner, then she would study for thirty minutes. She also ③prepared a backup plan: if she felt too tired, then she would study for just ten minutes instead of skipping entirely. Because these plans removed the need to decide anything in the moment, starting became ④far more easily for Minji. By December, she had studied for eleven straight months, ⑤proving that clear if-then plans beat vague intentions.

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, ①arises when people believe that others are enjoying experiences from which they themselves are excluded. For example, a student ②scrolling 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 ③refreshed 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 ④deepen feelings of anxiety rather than relieve them. Therefore, students should learn ⑤to limit their social media use and focus more attention on the relationships and activities directly in front of them.

On a summer evening, downtown streets often feel ①noticeably 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 ②retain 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 ③instantly, these man-made surfaces absorb sunlight during the day and slowly radiate it back at night, preventing temperatures from cooling. Tall buildings packed closely together also block wind, trapping warm air within narrow streets. In contrast, areas with ④abundant trees and open water naturally stay cooler, since plants release moisture that helps lower surrounding temperatures. To reduce this effect, many cities have begun installing rooftop gardens and ⑤expanding public parks, hoping that additional greenery will absorb less heat than pavement does.

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.

Anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed a concept now known as Dunbar's number, suggesting that human beings can only ①abandon about one hundred fifty stable social relationships at any given time. This limit, he argued, comes from the size of the human brain, which ②restricts how many meaningful connections a person can cognitively manage. In contrast, many social media users today have hundreds or even thousands of online friends and followers, a number far ③exceeding what Dunbar's research predicts. However, having numerous digital contacts does not necessarily mean that all of these relationships are ④close or emotionally supportive. Most users, when asked, admit that they interact regularly with only a small fraction of their total followers, while the rest remain largely ⑤unnoticed.

Psychologist Leon Festinger introduced social comparison theory, which explains that people ①evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves with others. According to this theory, individuals engage in upward comparison when they measure themselves against someone who appears more ②successful, attractive, or accomplished. For instance, a teenager browsing vacation pictures posted by classmates may begin to feel that her own ordinary life is somehow ③inadequate. Unlike comparing oneself with someone in a similar position, which can sometimes ④boost confidence, upward comparison frequently triggers envy, dissatisfaction, and lower self-esteem. Researchers have found that frequent upward comparison online is linked to ⑤lower depression and anxiety.

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 immediately or wait for two. Researchers found that children who waited longer showed better academic performance and self-control years later. This ___________ 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.

The growing sophistication of cyberattacks has transformed cybersecurity into one of the most in-demand career fields. (A) Universities have responded to this trend by launching specialized degree programs focused entirely on cybersecurity. (B) As a result, businesses across nearly every industry now compete to hire qualified security professionals. (C) Hackers today target organizations of every size, from small retailers to major financial institutions.

Time perception can also shift according to age, not only according to attention or emotion. (A) This may occur because each year represents a smaller fraction of a person's total life as they grow older. (B) Many older adults report that entire years seem to pass more quickly than they did during childhood. (C) Psychologists studying this phenomenon have proposed that our sense of time speed is partly relative rather than fixed.

Nomophobia, short for "no-mobile-phone phobia," describes the intense anxiety many people feel when they are separated from their smartphones. (A) For instance, some individuals check their phones every few minutes even when they know no one has contacted them, simply to ease this fear. (B) This anxiety often includes physical symptoms such as a racing heart or sweating, especially when the phone's battery is running low or its signal disappears. (C) Because of these effects, experts recommend gradually limiting phone use to build tolerance for being disconnected.