영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

Time-management researchers frequently mention a principle ①known as Parkinson's Law, which states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. According to this idea, a task that could be finished in one hour will often stretch to fill an entire afternoon if that much time ②is scheduled for it. Students who set vague deadlines frequently experience this effect, spending extra hours ③refined a report that was already complete. Employees given a full week for a simple project may also delay meaningful progress until the final days, even though the actual work ④requires far less effort. This pattern happens partly because people unconsciously adjust their pace to match perceived urgency. Setting shorter, more specific deadlines can counter this tendency, forcing tasks to fit within a tighter and more realistic window. By recognizing how flexible time encourages unnecessary delay, individuals can complete assignments more efficiently ⑤without sacrificing quality.

The twenty-hour rule proposes that years of practice ①are not needed to become skilled at a new activity. Only about twenty hours of effort are needed to reach a useful level. Unlike theories ②claiming true mastery requires ten thousand hours, this rule targets a more modest goal. According to supporters, practicing any new skill produces the fastest visible improvement, since a beginner ③has room to grow. Someone learning guitar can typically strum simple chords and follow a basic song within twenty hours of ④daily practice. Advocates emphasize that the twenty hours must be deliberate and focused, broken into short daily sessions rather than one long stretch, and ⑤aims at fixing weaknesses rather than repeating what one already knows.

Behavioral economists use the term temporal discounting to describe how people ①undervaluing 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 ②offers a far greater long-term benefit. A distant reward, no matter how valuable, feels psychologically smaller than a small reward ③available right now. This bias contributes to procrastination, since future consequences rarely feel urgent enough ④to 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 prompt recognition helps bridge the gap between present effort and delayed reward, ultimately ⑤reducing the urge to postpone tasks.

Have you ever ①feel a boring 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 ②differ from actual clock time. Researchers explain that people who focus intensely on an enjoyable activity ③process fewer separate moments, so time seems to pass quickly. In contrast, bored or anxious people pay closer attention to each moment, ④making time feel as though it is dragging. When people become deeply engaged in a task, they often lose track of time, ⑤unaware of how many minutes have passed.

Elite athletes rarely walk up to a free throw line or a golf ball without first performing a highly specific sequence of movements, a habit sports psychologists call a pre-performance routine. Far from being mere superstition, this consistent sequence serves a genuine cognitive purpose. Repeating the same physical and mental steps before every attempt ① broadens an athlete's focus toward distracting thoughts about outcome or crowd noise and away from the specific technical cues needed to execute the skill correctly. Researchers have found that athletes who follow a consistent routine tend to show ② more stable performance under pressure than those who approach each attempt differently. The routine essentially functions as a trigger, cuing the body to shift ③ automatically into a familiar, well-rehearsed state. For this reason, coaches now ④ actively teach young athletes to develop and rehearse individualized routines rather than treating them as ⑤ personal quirks.

Psychologist Roy Baumeister proposed a concept called ego depletion theory, which suggests that willpower functions like a muscle that gradually ①strengthens after repeated use. According to this theory, every act of self-control, from resisting a snack to concentrating on difficult homework, draws from the same ②limited mental resource. As this resource becomes ③depleted throughout the day, later decisions require more effort and are more likely to fail. For instance, someone who exercises discipline avoiding distractions all morning may ④struggle to resist checking a phone by evening. Likewise, dieters report that self-control weakens sharply at night, after hours of resisting food. Some researchers argue that short breaks, adequate sleep, and blood sugar levels can help ⑤restore this depleted resource.

Many people believe that building a new habit requires strong willpower or motivation. However, psychologist BJ Fogg argues that habits form more easily when a behavior itself becomes simple to perform. His theory, called the Fogg Behavior Model, states that ___________. When motivation is low, the task must be made extremely easy, or it will not happen at all. For instance, a person who wants to exercise daily succeeds more often by committing to one push-up than to a long workout. Fogg calls this idea the law of least effort, since people naturally choose the option requiring the least energy. A student who wants to read more might leave a book open on the desk rather than setting a vague goal. By lowering the required effort, people reduce the ability barrier and make steady action far more achievable.

Internet activist Eli Pariser introduced the term filter bubble to describe a phenomenon created by online algorithms. Social media platforms and search engines constantly track which links users click and how long they linger on certain posts. Based on this data, algorithms predict what each individual is most likely to enjoy and quietly prioritize similar content in future results. As a result, two people who type the same search query can receive strikingly different results, each tailored to personal history. This automatic filtering happens silently, without users ever deciding to limit what they see. Consequently, many people gradually lose access to viewpoints that challenge their existing beliefs, even though they never intended to avoid them. Pariser warned that this invisible curation could weaken democratic debate by narrowing public discussion. Therefore, some experts argue that platforms should reveal how content is filtered, _______________.

The Pomodoro Technique was originally developed using a simple kitchen timer shaped like a tomato. (A) Its creator discovered that dividing study time into short, timed intervals made it far easier to maintain concentration than studying for hours without pause. (B) Today, many productivity apps replicate this same twenty-five-minute cycle, allowing users to track their focused sessions digitally. (C) Based on this discovery, he designed a structured cycle of focused work followed by brief rest, which eventually became known worldwide.

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 )