영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

To compensate for their carbon emissions, many individuals and companies now ①purchases carbon offsets, financial credits that fund projects such as planting trees or building renewable energy plants. The idea is appealing: paying for an equivalent amount of carbon to be absorbed elsewhere should cancel out the harm caused by activities like flying. However, critics argue that this system often ②functions as a convenient excuse for postponing genuine emission cuts rather than achieving them. For example, a newly planted forest may take decades to absorb the promised carbon, and it could later ③burn down or be cut, erasing any benefit. Moreover, some offset projects would have happened anyway, meaning the credits fund nothing truly ④additional. Therefore, relying heavily on offsets allows businesses ⑤to maintain harmful practices while appearing responsible.

Setting a goal such as 'I will study harder' rarely ①leads to meaningful improvement. According to psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, specific and challenging goals ②produce far better performance than vague or easy ones. This idea, known as goal-setting theory, suggests ③that clear targets direct attention and sustain effort over time. To apply this theory effectively, many educators recommend the SMART framework, which ④require goals to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Because the goal includes a clear number and a deadline, progress becomes easy ⑤to track and evaluate.

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

Have you ever noticed your mood shifting after scrolling through a friend's gloomy post online? This phenomenon, known as emotional contagion, refers to the tendency of one person's feelings to spread to others nearby, almost like a cold passing between classmates. However, researchers have discovered that emotional contagion also occurs online, where only text or images are exchanged, without any physical presence at all. For instance, when someone posts a negative comment beneath a cheerful photo, the comments that follow often turn noticeably more negative in tone. In contrast, a single kind comment can shift an entire thread toward positivity within minutes. This suggests that emotions online spread through carefully chosen words alone. Consequently, many experts now argue that ___________.

Psychologist Leon Festinger introduced social comparison theory, which explains that people evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves with others. According to this theory, individuals engage in upward comparison when they measure themselves against someone who appears more successful, attractive, or accomplished. Social media platforms, filled with carefully edited photos and exaggerated achievements, provide endless opportunities for this kind of comparison. For instance, a teenager browsing vacation pictures posted by classmates may begin to feel that her own ordinary life is somehow inadequate. Unlike comparing oneself with someone in a similar position, which can sometimes boost confidence, upward comparison frequently triggers envy, dissatisfaction, and lower self-esteem. Researchers have found that frequent upward comparison online is linked to higher depression and anxiety. Consequently, this theory helps explain why ___________.

People rarely realize how many different roles they play throughout an ordinary day. (A) A single online post, however, reaches all of these audiences simultaneously, blending roles that were once kept apart. (B) They might act formally with a manager, casually with old friends, and gently with a younger sibling, switching tones without much thought. (C) This blending, known as context collapse, can leave posters uncertain about which version of themselves to display.

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.

Sleep debt refers to the cumulative gap between the amount of sleep a person needs and the amount they actually get. (A) Unlike a financial debt, however, this deficit cannot simply be repaid with a single long weekend of rest. (B) When someone loses two hours of sleep every night for a week, the body does not treat the shortage as fourteen separate small losses; instead, it accumulates the deficit, and the resulting impairment in attention and mood can resemble that of a person who has been awake for an entire night. (C) Researchers have found that even modest, chronic sleep restriction gradually impairs reaction time and decision-making, often without the affected person noticing the decline. This is because subjective feelings of tiredness tend to plateau after a few days, even as objective performance keeps deteriorating. Consequently, people frequently underestimate how much sleep debt they are carrying until a demanding task suddenly exposes the accumulated cost.

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: This is why many coaches encourage athletes to keep their pre-game rituals exactly the same, even when circumstances change. Psychologists who study daily behavior describe habits through a model called the cue-routine-reward loop. ( ① ) This theory explains that every habit begins with a cue, a signal that tells the brain to start an automatic behavior. ( ② ) The brain then performs a routine, which is the action itself, whether physical or mental. ( ③ ) Finally, the brain receives a reward, a positive feeling that makes it want to repeat the same behavior. ( ④ ) 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 without conscious thought. Because this loop operates automatically, breaking a bad habit requires changing the routine while keeping the same cue and reward. ( ⑤ ) Understanding this structure helps people redesign daily patterns more effectively than relying on willpower alone.