영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

When Mina was a freshman, she often ①spent her allowance within a few days. Her older cousin told her about the marshmallow experiment, a famous study ②in which children could eat one marshmallow immediately or wait for two. Researchers found that children who waited longer ③shown better academic performance and self-control years later. Inspired by the study, Mina began ④saving half of her allowance each week instead of spending it all on snacks. After three months, however, she had saved enough to buy a bicycle she had ⑤wanted for over a year.

Soyeon joined an online study group chat where dozens of students ①planned a class project together every evening. When one member suggested ②skip a required survey step to save time, several others quickly agreed, and no one raised any objections. Soyeon privately worried that skipping the survey might ③weaken their project, but seeing everyone else nodding along, she stayed silent rather than risk sounding difficult. The group proceeded confidently, convinced their shortcut was harmless, until their teacher ④pointed out serious gaps once the project was submitted. She realized that the chat's friendly, unified atmosphere had actually ⑤discouraged critical thinking, making poor decisions feel completely normal at the time.

When people encounter ①solid scientific evidence about climate change, we might expect them to accept it without hesitation. However, many individuals still ②dismiss or downplay such evidence, and psychologists explain this pattern through a concept called motivated reasoning. Motivated reasoning refers to the tendency to process information in a way that protects one's existing beliefs, identity, or lifestyle rather than to pursue objective truth. For example, a person whose livelihood depends on the fossil fuel industry may ③unconsciously search for reasons to doubt climate data, even while claiming to value scientific accuracy. This happens because accepting uncomfortable facts can ④protect a person's sense of self or demand costly lifestyle changes. Therefore, simply presenting more data ⑤rarely persuades a committed skeptic. Instead, experts suggest connecting climate information to values the person already holds, such as family safety or economic stability, so that acceptance feels natural rather than threatening.

Behavioral economists use the term temporal discounting to describe how people undervalue future rewards simply because those rewards are not immediate. This tendency explains why a student might choose to watch videos tonight rather than study for an exam that remains several weeks away, even though studying offers a greater long-term benefit. A distant reward, no matter how valuable, feels psychologically smaller than a small reward available right now. This bias contributes to procrastination, since future consequences rarely feel urgent enough to motivate immediate action. To counter this tendency, students should convert distant goals into smaller, near-term milestones that feel more emotionally real. Setting weekly checkpoints rather than a final deadline can make future benefits feel closer and more concrete. Teachers and parents should provide immediate, meaningful feedback, since ___________.

Have you ever noticed that an unfinished task keeps returning to your mind long after you stopped working? This phenomenon was first noticed by psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, who saw that waiters remembered unpaid orders better than paid ones. Her observation led to what is now called the Zeigarnik effect: ___________. According to this theory, the mind maintains mental tension until a task reaches closure, keeping the unfinished task active in memory.

Not long ago, Junho felt he needed to check his phone every few minutes just to keep up with his friends. (A) During this unplanned break from his phone, he was surprised to discover that he actually felt calmer rather than anxious. (B) Encouraged by this experience, he began setting aside phone-free hours on purpose, gradually growing comfortable with being offline. (C) This constant checking left him drained, until one day his phone battery died unexpectedly during a trip.

주어진 문장: Yet this same tendency also carries a hidden drawback. Sociologists use the term homophily to describe the tendency of people to form connections with others who share similar backgrounds, opinions, or interests. ( ① ) This principle explains why classmates from the same major often become close friends, while coworkers with shared hobbies naturally gravitate toward one another. ( ② ) Because similarity reduces the effort required to understand another person's perspective, relationships built on shared traits tend to feel comfortable and require less negotiation. ( ③ ) However, this same comfort can narrow the range of viewpoints someone encounters, since surrounding oneself with similar people limits exposure to different ideas. ( ④ ) Social media platforms intensify this pattern through recommendation algorithms that suggest new friends based on shared interests or similar browsing history. ( ⑤ ) As a result, users often find their online circles becoming increasingly homogeneous, filled with people who think and behave much like themselves.

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.

주어진 문장: In other words, working longer hours does not necessarily lead to better results if that time is spent in a low-energy state. For decades, productivity advice has focused almost entirely on managing time efficiently, yet many experts now argue this approach overlooks something important. ( ① ) This alternative approach, known as energy management, suggests that controlling personal energy matters more than controlling the clock. ( ② ) Unlike time, which flows at a constant rate, human energy naturally rises and falls in cycles shaped by sleep, food, and mental fatigue. ( ③ ) A person who tackles difficult tasks during a low-energy period, for instance, may need two hours to finish what takes thirty minutes at peak energy. ( ④ ) Similarly, someone who forces themselves to keep working without rest often produces careless mistakes that require additional time to correct later. ( ⑤ ) Advocates of energy management recommend identifying one's peak hours and reserving them for demanding work, while saving low-energy periods for routine tasks.

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.