영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

Jian wanted to become a reader for years, but every time he picked up a thick novel, he felt overwhelmed and quickly ①close it. His cousin, who had read dozens of books that year, told him about something called the two-minute rule. This rule states that a new habit should be ②shrunk to under two minutes, since a smaller starting point removes the friction that usually stops people from beginning. Instead of ③committing to a full chapter each night, Jian promised himself only to open a book and read one page. Some nights he stopped after that single page, but most nights, once ④started, he kept reading for twenty or thirty minutes without noticing. Within three months, Jian had finished five books, ⑤proving that reducing friction can matter more than motivation itself.

Anthropologist Robin Dunbar ①proposed 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, ②which 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 ③exceeding what Dunbar's research predicts. However, having numerous digital contacts does not necessarily mean that all of these relationships ④are 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 ⑤largely unnoticing.

Psychologists have long studied a mechanism called the variable reward schedule, in which rewards ①arrive unpredictably rather than after every single action. Slot machines famously exploit this principle, and social media notifications operate on strikingly similar logic. When someone posts a photo, they cannot predict exactly when likes will appear, nor ②how many they will eventually receive. This uncertainty triggers a small burst of dopamine each time the phone ③is checked, regardless of whether the result is disappointing or thrilling. Consequently, users often refresh their feeds compulsively, ④hoping the next check will finally bring a satisfying reward. What makes this troubling is that technology companies deliberately designed notification systems using insights borrowed from gambling research, rather than ⑤stumble upon them by accident.

For decades, productivity advice has focused almost entirely on ①managing time efficiently, yet many experts now argue this approach overlooks something important. This alternative approach, ②known as energy management, suggests that controlling personal energy matters more than controlling the clock. Unlike time, which flows at a constant rate, human energy naturally rises and falls in cycles ③shaped by sleep, food, and mental fatigue. A person who tackles difficult tasks during a low-energy period, for instance, may need two hours ④to finish what takes thirty minutes at peak energy. Similarly, someone who forces themselves to keep working without rest often ⑤produce careless mistakes that require additional time to correct later.

Setting a goal such as 'I will study harder' rarely leads to meaningful improvement. According to psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, specific and challenging goals produce far better performance than vague or easy ones. This idea, known as goal-setting theory, suggests that ___________. To apply this theory effectively, many educators recommend the SMART framework, which requires goals to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

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, arises when people believe that others are enjoying experiences from which they themselves are excluded. For example, a student scrolling 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 refreshing 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 deepen feelings of anxiety rather than relieve them. Therefore, students should learn to ___________.

Habit researchers often note that people overestimate the role of motivation in daily routines. (A) As a result, they frequently give up soon after starting, blaming themselves for lacking discipline. (B) In contrast, Fogg's framework suggests that shrinking the task itself is more effective than boosting motivation. (C) Because motivation naturally rises and falls, relying on it alone often leads to inconsistent effort.

Breaking the bystander effect requires more than good intentions; it requires concrete action from those who witness cruelty online. (A) Simply reporting an abusive post to platform moderators, for example, can remove harmful content before it spreads further. (B) Even small gestures, such as privately messaging the victim with words of support, can reduce the isolation that targets of cyberbullying often feel. (C) Both of these actions demonstrate that individual witnesses possess more power to help than the bystander effect leads them to believe.

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: 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.