영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

Many people believe that a new habit becomes automatic after only twenty-one days, but researchers who ①examined real behavior found a different number. This project, ②called the 66-day habit formation study, tracked volunteers who tried to adopt a new daily habit, like drinking water with lunch. Researchers measured how automatic each action felt over time and found that habits ③needing an average of sixty-six days to become effortless. Yet the actual time varied widely, ranging from about eighteen days for simple habits to over two hundred days for ④difficult ones. This wide range explains why the popular twenty-one-day claim, though easy ⑤to remember, rarely matches real experience.

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

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.

Have you ever felt a ①boring class lasted forever while an exciting weekend disappeared in an instant? This common experience reflects what psychologists call the distortion of time perception: subjective time can differ from actual clock time. Researchers explain that people who focus intensely on an enjoyable activity process fewer separate moments, so time seems to pass ②slowly. In contrast, bored or anxious people pay ③closer attention to each moment, making time feel as though it is dragging. When people become deeply ④engaged in a task, they often lose track of time, unaware of how many minutes have passed. For example, athletes and musicians often say that hours felt like minutes while they were fully ⑤absorbed in performance.

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.

Last January, Minji wrote the same resolution she always wrote: study English for an hour every day. By February, she had already quit, just as in previous years. Frustrated, she asked her teacher why her willpower always failed, and learned about a concept called ___________. This idea, developed by psychologists, means forming a specific if-then plan that links a certain situation to a certain action in advance. Instead of vaguely intending to study more, Minji made a precise plan: if she finished dinner, then she would study for thirty minutes.

주어진 문장: Every rainy season, the water rose a little higher, leaving the villagers increasingly anxious about their future. Mira had lived in a coastal village since birth, watching the tide creep closer to her family's doorstep every year. ( ① ) When the sea finally swallowed the rice paddies that had fed her village for generations, her parents decided that staying was no longer possible. ( ② ) Together with many neighbors, they packed what little they could carry and moved inland, becoming what experts now call climate migrants, people forced to abandon their homes because of rising seas, droughts, or other disasters. ( ③ ) This term, rarely used a decade ago, has become increasingly common as extreme weather displaces communities worldwide. ( ④ ) Mira missed her old house terribly, yet she slowly began to build a new life in the crowded city, learning to adapt just as her ancestors once had. ( ⑤ ) International organizations, however, still struggle to agree on how to protect people like her, since climate migrants are not officially recognized as refugees under current law.

주어진 문장: Curious about why she always ran out of money so quickly, she asked her cousin for advice. When Mina was a freshman, she often spent her allowance within a few days. ( ① ) Her older cousin told her about the marshmallow experiment, a famous study in which children could eat one marshmallow immediately or wait for two. ( ② ) Researchers found that children who waited longer showed better academic performance and self-control years later. ( ③ ) This ability to resist an immediate reward in favor of a larger future one is known as delayed gratification. ( ④ ) 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 difficult, especially when her friends were eating out. After three months, however, she had saved enough to buy a bicycle she had wanted for over a year. ( ⑤ )

주어진 문장: This small success, in turn, created enough momentum that stopping suddenly felt more difficult than continuing. Jian wanted to become a reader for years, but every time he picked up a thick novel, he felt overwhelmed and quickly closed it. ( ① ) His cousin, who had read dozens of books that year, told him about something called the two-minute rule. ( ② ) This rule states that a new habit should be shrunk to under two minutes, since a smaller starting point removes the friction that usually stops people from beginning. ( ③ ) Instead of committing to a full chapter each night, Jian promised himself only to open a book and read one page. ( ④ ) Some nights he stopped after that single page, but most nights, once started, he kept reading for twenty or thirty minutes without noticing. ( ⑤ ) Because the initial barrier became so small, sitting down no longer felt like a burden requiring willpower. Within three months, Jian had finished five books, proving that reducing friction can matter more than motivation itself.