영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

During sleep, the brain does not simply rest; it actively reorganizes the day's experiences into lasting memories through a process called consolidation. Newly formed memories are initially fragile and ①store primarily in a brain region called the hippocampus, ②which has limited long-term capacity. While a person sleeps, particularly during the deep stages of non-REM sleep, neural activity replays these fresh memory traces in rapid, compressed sequences, gradually ③transferring the information to the cortex for more durable, long-term storage. This replay strengthens the connections between neurons that encoded the original experience, ④making the memory more resistant to interference from unrelated events the following day. Sleep researchers have demonstrated this effect experimentally: participants who slept after ⑤learning a list of word pairs recalled more items the next day than participants who remained awake instead.

Artificial intelligence has begun to play a surprising role in creative industries ①once thought to be uniquely human. Programs can now compose music, generate paintings, and ②draft short stories within seconds. Some artists welcome this technology, ③used AI tools to explore new styles or overcome creative blocks that once took weeks to resolve. Others, however, argue that AI-generated art lacks the emotional depth ④that comes from genuine human experience. Therefore, artists who learn to work alongside AI, rather than compete against it, may find themselves ⑤with a distinct advantage.

Many companies now advertise themselves as environmentally responsible, yet a growing number of these claims turn out to be ①misleading. This practice, known as greenwashing, occurs when a business spends more effort marketing its products as eco-friendly than actually reducing environmental harm. A company might launch a recycled-packaging line while continuing to pollute rivers through its main factories, creating a false impression of genuine change. Such tactics ②deceive well-intentioned consumers who wish to shop responsibly but lack the tools to ③verify corporate claims. In contrast, truly sustainable businesses publish detailed, independently verified data about their emissions and supply chains, allowing outsiders to check their progress. Therefore, shoppers should look beyond vague labels like green or natural and instead search for ④recognized certifications, transparent reports, and measurable targets. Without such scrutiny, greenwashing will keep ⑤declining, undermining public trust and slowing the broader shift toward an economy that truly protects the planet.

An echo chamber refers to an online environment where people are mainly exposed to opinions that already ①match their own beliefs. This phenomenon occurs because social media algorithms tend to recommend content similar to what users have previously liked or shared, gradually ②narrowing the range of perspectives they encounter. As a result, individuals inside an echo chamber ③frequently engage with viewpoints that challenge their existing assumptions, which allows their original beliefs to grow increasingly extreme over time. For example, someone who frequently reads articles supporting one political party may begin to see the opposing party as entirely ④unreasonable, having never seriously considered its arguments. Political polarization, a significant issue in many countries today, is often linked to this pattern of ⑤selective exposure.

To compensate for their carbon emissions, many individuals and companies now purchase carbon offsets, financial credits that fund projects such as planting trees or building renewable energy plants. The idea is appealing: paying for an equivalent amount of carbon to be absorbed elsewhere should cancel out the harm caused by activities like flying. However, critics argue that this system often functions as _______________. For example, a newly planted forest may take decades to absorb the promised carbon, and it could later burn down or be cut, erasing any benefit. Moreover, some offset projects would have happened anyway, meaning the credits fund nothing truly additional. Therefore, relying heavily on offsets allows businesses to maintain harmful practices while appearing responsible. Experts insist that offsetting should complement, not replace, direct reductions in fossil fuel use if the strategy is to remain credible.

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. This limit, he argued, comes from the size of the human brain, which restricts 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 exceeding what Dunbar's research predicts. However, having numerous digital contacts does not necessarily mean that all of these relationships are close 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 unnoticed. Therefore, Dunbar's number reminds us that ___________.

A documentary director named Mira first traveled to a remote Arctic glacier to film its towering cliffs of blue ice, which seemed frozen in time. Standing before the massive wall, she assumed such an enormous structure could hardly change within a lifetime. Five years later, however, she returned to the very same coordinates, expecting her camera to capture an identical scene. Instead, she discovered that the glacier had retreated so dramatically that the ice cliffs, once visible from her original position, had nearly disappeared, leaving bare rock and pools of meltwater behind. Comparing the two sets of footage side by side, Mira realized that _______________. This encounter convinced her that climate change, which she had previously regarded as a distant statistic, was in fact an urgent process reshaping landscapes before her eyes.

As technology continues to reshape the job market, educators and employers increasingly agree on which skills will matter most in the coming decades. Beyond technical knowledge, employers consistently rank problem-solving and adaptability among the most valuable qualities in job candidates. Schools have begun redesigning curricula to emphasize these competencies, moving away from rote memorization toward project-based learning that mirrors real workplace challenges. Some critics worry that this shift undervalues traditional academic knowledge, but most experts insist that ___________.

When a customer opens a company's website at midnight with a billing question, an actual employee is unlikely to be available, which is exactly the gap that customer service chatbots were built to fill. (A) These programs can instantly answer common questions, track packages, and process simple refunds without making anyone wait on hold, and a single chatbot can handle thousands of conversations simultaneously. (B) Yet the technology has clear boundaries, since an unusual or emotionally charged problem can leave the automated replies feeling frustratingly circular. (C) Many companies have responded by designing chatbots to recognize their own limits, automatically transferring a frustrated customer to a human agent before the conversation turns into a source of complaint.

주어진 문장: This is why a ten-minute wait for test results can feel far longer than a ten-minute conversation with a close friend. Have you ever felt a boring class lasted forever while an exciting weekend disappeared in an instant? ( ① ) This common experience reflects what psychologists call the distortion of time perception: subjective time can differ from actual clock time. ( ② ) Researchers explain that people who focus intensely on an enjoyable activity process fewer separate moments, so time seems to pass quickly. ( ③ ) In contrast, bored or anxious people pay closer attention to each moment, making time feel as though it is dragging. ( ④ ) When people become deeply engaged 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 absorbed in performance. Meanwhile, students waiting anxiously for exam results describe the same few minutes as unbearably slow. ( ⑤ ) Understanding this distortion helps explain why identical time intervals can feel very different depending on mental state.