영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

문제 1

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.

문제 2

Psychologists who study daily behavior describe habits through a model called the cue-routine-reward loop. This theory explains that every habit ①begins with a cue, a signal that tells the brain to start an ②automatic behavior. The brain then performs a routine, which is the action itself, whether physical or mental. Finally, the brain receives a reward, a ③negative feeling that makes it want to ④repeat the same behavior. For example, a notification sound can act as a cue that leads a student to check a phone, and the relief from boredom becomes the reward. Similarly, opening a refrigerator out of habit rather than hunger shows how a routine can run almost without ⑤conscious thought. Because this loop operates automatically, breaking a bad habit requires changing the routine while keeping the same cue and reward. Understanding this structure helps people redesign daily patterns more effectively than relying on willpower alone.

문제 3

Minji spent nearly every evening watching Jimin, an online creator who streamed cooking videos and chatted casually with her viewers. Over several months, Minji began to feel as though she truly knew Jimin, ①laughing at her jokes and worrying whenever she mentioned having a difficult week. Whenever Jimin responded to a comment, even a simple one, Minji felt a small thrill of connection, as if they were becoming closer friends. One day, Minji ②reluctantly waited outside a fan event, hoping that Jimin would ③recognize her from the countless messages she had sent. However, Jimin greeted her the same way she greeted every other stranger in line, without any hint of personal recognition. Standing there, Minji slowly realized that the bond she had imagined was entirely ④one-sided, existing only in her own mind. This type of connection, known as a parasocial relationship, can feel remarkably ⑤real despite never being mutual.

문제 4

Time-management researchers frequently mention a principle known as Parkinson's Law, which states that work ①expands 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 is scheduled for it. Students who set ②vague deadlines frequently experience this effect, spending extra hours refining a report that was already ③complete. Employees given a full week for a simple project may also delay meaningful progress until the final days, even though the actual work requires far ④more effort. This pattern happens partly because people unconsciously adjust their pace to match perceived urgency. Setting shorter, more specific deadlines can ⑤counter this tendency, forcing tasks to fit within a tighter and more realistic window.

문제 5

Many people believe that a new habit becomes automatic after only twenty-one days, but researchers who ①examined real behavior found a different number. Researchers measured how automatic each action felt over time and found that habits needed an average of sixty-six days to become ②effortless. Yet the actual time varied ③widely, ranging from about eighteen days for simple habits to over two hundred days for difficult ones. This wide range explains why the popular twenty-one-day claim, though easy to remember, ④frequently matches real experience. For instance, flossing might feel automatic within a few weeks, while jogging every morning may take months to feel ⑤natural.

문제 6

The twenty-hour rule proposes that years of practice are not needed to become skilled at a new activity. Only about twenty hours of effort are needed to reach a ①worthless level. Unlike theories claiming true mastery requires ten thousand hours, this rule targets a more ②modest goal. That goal is simple competence for everyday use. According to supporters, practicing any new skill produces the ③fastest visible improvement, since a beginner has room to grow. Advocates emphasize that the twenty hours must be ④deliberate and focused, broken into short daily sessions rather than one long stretch. The hours should be aimed at fixing weaknesses rather than ⑤repeating what one already knows.

문제 7

Ego depletion theory has sparked considerable debate among psychologists studying self-control. (A) One well-known experiment asked participants to resist eating fresh cookies while a bowl of radishes sat nearby, and these participants later gave up more quickly on a difficult puzzle. (B) The theory originally proposed that resisting temptation consumes a limited mental resource, leaving less energy available for subsequent tasks. (C) Researchers interpreted this result as evidence that resisting the cookies had drained the mental resource needed to persist on the puzzle.

문제 8

Genetic potential, in other words, is merely a starting point, never a finished product. Scientists have identified certain gene variants that appear more frequently among elite endurance athletes than among the general population, along with a separate set that seems to favor explosive, power-based sports such as sprinting. ( ① ) One frequently studied variant, for instance, influences the proportion of slow-twitch versus fast-twitch muscle fibers a person naturally develops, a ratio that shapes whether a body leans toward endurance or explosive power. ( ② ) However, researchers caution strongly against interpreting these findings as evidence that athletic greatness is simply inherited. ( ③ ) Even athletes who carry every favorable variant identified so far still require years of disciplined training to translate that genetic potential into actual performance, and many elite competitors lack some of these supposedly advantageous variants altogether. ( ④ ) Genetics may set a rough ceiling on an individual's ultimate potential, but where any particular athlete lands within that range depends overwhelmingly on training quality, nutrition, coaching, and sheer determination. ( ⑤ )

문제 9

주어진 문장: She walked into the interview room feeling confident, certain that her past online activity had nothing to do with her qualifications. When Minji was in ninth grade, she posted a joking comment mocking a classmate's photo, never imagining anyone would remember it later. ( ① ) Three years passed, and she nearly forgot the comment existed, buried among hundreds of old posts. ( ② ) Last spring, she applied to join her school's student council, hoping her leadership experience would impress the selection committee. ( ③ ) During the interview, however, one teacher mentioned having seen an old, unkind comment under Minji's name while reviewing applicants' profiles. ( ④ ) Startled, Minji realized that everything she had ever posted online had quietly accumulated into what is called a digital footprint, a lasting trail of personal data left behind by online activity. ( ⑤ ) Although she deleted the comment immediately, the damage to her reputation had already been done. She understood that digital footprints rarely disappear completely, even when the original posts are removed, because screenshots and memories often outlast the content itself.

문제 10

주어진 문장: Yet this strategy of delay backfires, since it leaves no time to revise or correct errors before the deadline. Many students assume that perfectionists work harder than everyone else, but psychologists describe a puzzling pattern called the perfectionism-procrastination cycle. ( ① ) This term describes how an intense fear of imperfect work causes people to delay starting a task rather than begin it. ( ② ) Because perfectionists set impossibly high standards, they often feel anxious before they even begin, and the task feels overwhelming. ( ③ ) They then postpone the work to avoid facing their own unrealistic expectations, even though delay only increases their stress later. ( ④ ) For example, a student writing a research paper might spend hours reorganizing notes instead of composing a single sentence that feels good enough. Likewise, an employee facing an important report may check emails repeatedly rather than begin drafting, fearing an early attempt will seem inadequate. ( ⑤ ) Ironically, this avoidance guarantees the very failure that perfectionists dread, since rushed, last-minute work rarely meets their own high standards.