영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

The term green premium ①describes the extra cost that consumers must pay when they choose an environmentally friendly product or energy source over a conventional, cheaper alternative. For example, an electric vehicle or solar-powered appliance ②often carries a higher price tag than its gasoline-powered or coal-based counterpart, even though it produces fewer emissions over time. This price gap frequently discourages shoppers who support sustainability in principle but cannot justify the additional expense within a limited household budget. In contrast, wealthier consumers can absorb the premium more easily, ③which creates unequal participation in green markets. To narrow this gap, governments have introduced subsidies and tax credits ④that lower upfront costs, while companies invest in research to make clean technologies cheaper to manufacture. As production scales up and innovation continues, many economists expect the green premium ⑤to shrinking steadily, eventually making sustainable choices the more affordable option for most consumers.

After a viewer finishes an episode, a streaming service rarely ①leave the choice of what to watch next entirely up to chance. Instead, a recommendation algorithm compares that viewer's habits with patterns ②drawn from millions of other users who watched similar content, then ranks thousands of titles in order of predicted interest. This approach keeps viewers engaged far longer than a simple list of new releases ever could, which is precisely why streaming companies invest so heavily in ③refining it. The system is not without drawbacks, however. Because the algorithm favors titles similar to what a viewer already enjoys, it can quietly narrow someone's exposure to unfamiliar genres, directors, or cultures, ④creating a comfortable but repetitive bubble. Some platforms have begun inserting occasional wildcard suggestions, deliberately unrelated to past viewing habits, in an attempt ⑤to counteract this narrowing effect.

Smart speakers have quietly become a fixture in many households, ①responding to spoken requests for weather updates, music, or kitchen timers. Behind this simple exchange lies a complex process: the device converts sound waves into text, interprets the meaning using language models, and then generates a spoken reply, all within a second or two. Because these assistants improve by ②learning from millions of interactions, they gradually become better at recognizing regional accents and casual phrasing that once confused them. Still, the technology remains far from perfect. Background noise, overlapping voices, or an unusual sentence structure can cause the assistant ③misunderstanding a simple request, sometimes with amusing results. Engineers continue to refine these systems, but many admit that truly natural conversation, the kind ④that flows without repeated commands or awkward pauses, ⑤remains one of the hardest goals in the entire field of artificial intelligence.

Only a decade ago, translation apps produced sentences so awkward that users often laughed at the results rather than trusting them. Today, many of these apps rely on neural networks ①that analyze entire sentences at once, capturing context instead of translating word by word. This shift has made everyday tasks such as reading a foreign menu or chatting with an overseas friend remarkably smooth. Frequent travelers now point their phone cameras at street signs and ②receiving an instant translation overlaid on the screen. Even so, the technology still struggles with humor, sarcasm, and cultural nuance, areas ③where a single wrong word can completely change the intended meaning. A joke that depends on wordplay in one language may become confusing once it ④is translated literally into another. For this reason, professional translators argue that these apps are best treated as a helpful starting point rather than a final, polished result that no human ⑤needs to review.

Every cell in the human body follows an internal timer known as the circadian rhythm, a roughly twenty-four-hour cycle ①that governs when we feel alert and when we feel drowsy. This clock is regulated primarily by a tiny cluster of neurons in the brain ②that responds to light entering through the eyes. When morning sunlight strikes the retina, the cluster signals the body ③to suppress sleep hormones and raise body temperature, preparing us for activity. As evening approaches and light fades, the same mechanism triggers the release of melatonin, a hormone ④promotes drowsiness. Because this rhythm evolved around the natural cycle of day and night, modern habits such as staying indoors under artificial light or working night shifts can push the internal clock out of sync with the external environment. Such misalignment does not simply cause tiredness; it has also ⑤been associated with digestive problems and reduced concentration, suggesting that timing matters as much as total sleep hours.

A short nap taken in the early afternoon, often called a power nap, can noticeably sharpen attention and mood without leaving a person groggy afterward. The key lies in timing: naps limited to roughly twenty minutes allow the brain to pass through the lightest stages of sleep while avoiding the deeper stages associated with slow-wave activity. If a nap extends much beyond that window, _______________. Laboratory studies comparing napping and non-napping groups have repeatedly shown that a brief nap improves reaction time and short-term memory almost as effectively as a full night of extra rest. Interestingly, the benefit appears strongest when the nap occurs several hours after waking, since this is when the body's natural dip in alertness makes rest most effective. For this reason, many workplaces now designate quiet rooms where employees can recharge briefly during the day.

Highlighting an awkward sentence and instantly seeing three smoother alternatives has become a routine part of writing for many students, thanks to AI writing assistants built into word processors and browsers. (A) Concerns grow, however, around the tone and phrasing suggestions, which can gradually nudge every student's writing toward a similar, polished style. (B) Teachers generally welcome the grammar and spelling support, since it frees up class time to focus on argument and structure rather than comma placement. (C) These tools check grammar and spelling, of course, but the more advanced versions go further, suggesting clearer phrasing, flagging repetitive words, and even adjusting tone depending on the purpose.

Some changes in habit begin not with a big decision but with a quiet moment that lingers in the mind. (A) That changed when her class was assigned a documentary about plastic waste drifting through the ocean, footage she initially expected to find boring. Instead, watching seabirds mistake plastic fragments for food left her strangely unsettled, and she found herself thinking about the assignment long after class ended. (B) The next morning, almost without deciding to, she slipped her old tumbler into her backpack instead of buying a disposable cup on the way to school. It felt like a small, meaningless gesture at first. However, as weeks passed, she realized that consistently choosing the tumbler, declining a plastic straw, and reusing a shopping bag were quietly adding up. Small choices, she discovered, become meaningful once repeated. (C) Until last spring, Minji rarely thought twice about tossing a paper cup into the trash after finishing her coffee. Environmental issues seemed distant, something scientists and politicians should handle rather than an ordinary student like her.

Feed an AI music program a mood, a tempo, and a rough genre, and within seconds it can generate a complete instrumental track. (A) The software has studied thousands of existing songs, learning which chord progressions and rhythms tend to sound pleasant together, and it recombines these patterns into something new. (B) For independent creators who cannot afford a composer or expensive licensing fees, this has been a genuine breakthrough. (C) Professional musicians, however, remain divided, since a flood of AI-generated background music could quietly push human composers out of smaller, lower-budget projects.

Temporal discounting offers a useful lens for understanding why long-term goals so often lose out to short-term pleasures. (A) Consequently, replacing distant, abstract goals with smaller, immediate milestones can make future rewards feel psychologically closer and more motivating. (B) Research shows that people consistently prefer a smaller reward available today over a considerably larger reward promised weeks later. (C) This preference persists even when the delayed reward is clearly the more rational choice, revealing how strongly immediacy influences decision-making.