영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

Many students assume that perfectionists work harder than everyone else, but psychologists describe a puzzling pattern ①called the perfectionism-procrastination cycle. This term describes how an intense fear of imperfect work ②cause people to delay starting a task rather than begin it. Because perfectionists set impossibly high standards, they often feel anxious before they even begin, and the task feels ③overwhelming. They then postpone the work to avoid ④facing their own unrealistic expectations, even though delay only increases their stress later. For example, a student writing a research paper might spend hours reorganizing notes instead of composing a single sentence that ⑤feels good enough.

Among strategies for improving ①concentration, the Pomodoro Technique remains one of the most widely recommended methods for students and workers. This technique involves working with full attention for twenty-five minutes, then taking a short five-minute break before starting the next session. After completing four of these cycles, a longer break of fifteen to thirty minutes is usually taken to allow mental ②recovery. The method assumes that sustained focus becomes harder to maintain as time passes, so frequent short breaks prevent mental ③fatigue from building up. Students preparing for exams report finishing reading assignments faster when they follow this structured rhythm instead of studying without interruption. Office workers find that dividing large projects into short, timed intervals makes overwhelming tasks feel more ④manageable. Because each interval has a clear start and end, procrastination becomes ⑤more tempting, since beginning a single twenty-five-minute session requires less commitment than beginning an entire project.

Every day, we leave behind marks of the gases that warm our planet, much like footprints ①left in wet sand. These marks, often called our carbon footprint, come from small choices such as driving, eating, and using electricity. Many students think that only ②small factories create these marks, but ordinary habits at home also matter greatly. For example, turning off lights when leaving a room ③reduces the energy that power plants must produce. Walking or biking to school instead of riding in a car also ④lowers the amount of gas released into the air. In contrast, leaving devices plugged in all night quietly increases our footprint without our notice. Therefore, students who practice these simple habits regularly can ⑤shrink their footprint significantly.

For most of last year, Junho refreshed his social media feed constantly, ①terrified of missing a party, a trending meme, or gossip among his friends. This restless anxiety, often called FOMO, or the fear of missing out, left him ②relaxed and strangely unsatisfied even after hours of scrolling. One weekend, his phone battery died during a hiking trip, and, to his surprise, he actually ③enjoyed the quiet afternoon without notifications interrupting his thoughts. Curious about this ④unexpected calm, Junho began deleting social apps for a few hours each day. This shift in attitude reflects what psychologists now call JOMO, a mindset that treats disconnection as ⑤freedom rather than loss.

Minji had tried for years to build a bedtime reading habit but always ①forgot once under the blanket. During summer, she found a method called habit stacking. It means attaching a new habit to an existing one so it acts as a reminder. Her existing habit was brushing her teeth every night, so she decided to place her book ②far from her toothbrush. After brushing her teeth, she would pick up the book, letting one action trigger the next. Within two weeks, opening the book after brushing felt almost ③automatic, requiring no conscious effort. She realized habit stacking worked best when the new habit was ④small and the existing habit was stable and predictable. By the end of summer, both habits felt like ⑤steady parts of her routine, requiring no reminders.

For much of the twentieth century, memory researchers assumed that once a memory had been consolidated—transformed from a fragile, short-term trace into a stable, long-term representation—it remained essentially fixed, immune to further modification unless the underlying neural circuitry was physically damaged. This assumption, however, was overturned by a body of research demonstrating that _______________, rendering it temporarily susceptible to alteration before it is, in a sense, filed away again. During this narrow window, which typically lasts only a few hours, the memory can be strengthened, weakened, or even subtly distorted by new information encountered in the interim, after which it must undergo a second round of stabilization, a process now widely referred to as reconsolidation. Consequently, what we experience as a stable recollection may actually be a continuously revised construction, reshaped every time it is summoned into conscious awareness and returned to storage.

To compensate for their carbon emissions, many individuals and companies now purchase 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 functions as _______________. For example, a newly planted forest may take decades to absorb the promised carbon, and it could later burn down or be cut, erasing any benefit. Moreover, some offset projects would have happened anyway, meaning the credits fund nothing truly additional. Therefore, relying heavily on offsets allows businesses to maintain harmful practices while appearing responsible. Experts insist that offsetting should complement, not replace, direct reductions in fossil fuel use if the strategy is to remain credible.

The twenty-hour rule has become popular among adults who want to pick up new hobbies despite busy schedules. (A) She practiced basic shading and proportion for about ninety minutes each day, carefully tracking her total hours. (B) A woman who always wanted to sketch, for example, decided to test the rule during a two-week vacation. (C) By the time she reached twenty hours, she could produce simple portraits that she was proud to share with friends.

As climate change accelerates, investors around the world are paying closer attention to how companies affect the environment and society. (A) Recently, however, many corporations have learned to boost their ESG scores without genuinely transforming their operations. Some firms publish glossy reports filled with impressive statistics while their actual carbon emissions barely decline, exploiting the fact that ESG evaluation systems still lack consistent global standards. (B) ESG management refers to a company's efforts to consider Environmental, Social, and Governance factors alongside profit when making business decisions. Investors increasingly rely on ESG ratings to judge whether a company is managed responsibly and sustainably over the long term. (C) This gap between appearance and substance has led critics to demand stricter, more transparent criteria for measuring corporate responsibility. Genuine ESG management, in contrast, requires measurable targets, independent audits, and long-term accountability rather than one-time donations or attractive slogans. Investors who wish to identify truly responsible companies should therefore examine detailed disclosures instead of trusting labels alone.

주어진 문장: Correcting this bias, therefore, requires more than good intentions or personal willpower. Anyone who has ever promised to finish a project "by Friday," only to still be working on it weeks later, has experienced the planning fallacy firsthand. ( ① ) This term describes the persistent tendency of individuals and organizations to underestimate how long a task will take, how much it will cost, and how many complications will inevitably arise. ( ② ) What makes this bias particularly stubborn is that awareness of past failures rarely leads to more accurate predictions; a construction firm that finished its last three projects late will often insist, with genuine confidence, that this next project will be different. ( ③ ) Researchers argue that planners focus almost exclusively on the specific steps of the current task while ignoring the broader statistical record of similar projects that came before. ( ④ ) One proposed remedy, known as reference class forecasting, requires planners to deliberately consult outcomes from comparable past projects rather than relying solely on their own optimistic intuition. ( ⑤ ) Until such external correction becomes standard practice, ambitious deadlines will likely continue to be broken with remarkable consistency.