영어 모의고사 (자동 편성)

A rational approach to decision-making dictates that only future costs and benefits should influence a choice, since resources already spent ①cannot be recovered regardless of what is decided next. In practice, however, people routinely allow such irrecoverable expenditures, known as sunk costs, ②to shape their subsequent decisions, a pattern referred to as the sunk cost fallacy. A moviegoer who finds a film thoroughly disappointing after the first thirty minutes will often remain in the theater until the credits roll, ③reasoning that leaving early would somehow waste the money already spent on the ticket. Organizations exhibit the same fallacy on a larger scale: a company that ④have invested heavily in a failing project frequently continues funding it, arguing that abandoning the project now would render the prior investment meaningless. Yet continuing to invest in a venture destined to fail merely adds new losses to old ones, ⑤compounding the very waste the decision-makers hoped to avoid.

Emissions trading, a market-based mechanism for ①curbing greenhouse gases, allows governments to set an overall limit on carbon output while letting firms trade permits within that limit. Under this system, ②known as cap-and-trade, companies that cut emissions more cheaply than required can sell surplus allowances to firms facing higher reduction costs. Proponents argue that this flexibility lets society reach a given environmental target at the lowest overall cost, since abatement shifts toward whoever can ③achieve it most economically. Critics, however, ④contends that trading schemes frequently allocate too many permits, a flaw that has historically depressed carbon prices and blunted incentives to invest in cleaner technology. For example, early phases of several regional markets granted allowances so generously that permit prices collapsed, ⑤leaving polluters with little pressure to change their practices.

When a classmate began writing her diary entries in elaborate, flowing calligraphy instead of ordinary handwriting, I ①assumed she was simply trying to make her notebook look decorative. Curious, I asked her to teach me one afternoon, and I quickly ②discovered that calligraphy demands far more patience than I had expected. Every stroke has to be planned before the pen touches the paper, since a brush pen cannot be ③casually corrected once ink has already spread across the page. She told me that slowing her hand down to this deliberate pace actually helped her think more clearly, because rushing through a sentence in calligraphy simply was not physically ④possible. What began as decoration for her gradually became a kind of meditation, a rare part of her day when she could not multitask or ⑤hurrying.

Building brand loyalty has traditionally been considered one of the most valuable goals in marketing, since loyal customers tend to spend ①more and recommend products to others. However, some critics argue that these programs manipulate consumers into staying with a brand out of habit rather than genuine ②satisfaction. Genuine loyalty, they contend, should be earned through consistent quality and honest treatment of customers, not through ③artificial incentives that merely delay a customer's departure. Furthermore, excessive focus on retaining existing customers can cause companies to ④neglect innovation, since they assume loyal buyers will continue purchasing regardless of improvements. Relying solely on loyalty programs without addressing underlying product quality may ultimately ⑤succeed.

Highlighting an awkward sentence and instantly seeing three smoother alternatives has become a routine part of writing for many students, thanks to AI writing assistants built into word processors and browsers. These tools check grammar and spelling, of course, but the more advanced versions go further, suggesting clearer phrasing, ①flagging repetitive words, and even adjusting tone to sound more formal or more casual depending on the purpose. Teachers generally ②welcome the grammar and spelling support, since it frees up class time to focus on argument and structure rather than comma placement. Concerns ③shrink, however, around the tone and phrasing suggestions, which can gradually nudge every student's writing toward a similar, polished style, making it harder to tell an individual voice from a suggestion generated by the same underlying model. Some schools have begun asking students to submit an early draft alongside the final version, specifically to ④preserve evidence of a student's own ⑤original voice.

For much of its history, economic theory treated emotion as a distortion to be eliminated from otherwise rational calculation. More recent research, however, suggests that emotion functions not merely as noise but as an integral component of sound judgment. Financial regulators have begun incorporating this understanding into policy design, recognizing that decisions made under conditions of acute emotional arousal, such as panic during a market downturn, often depart substantially from the ___________ that individuals would exhibit under calmer circumstances.

A growing number of teenagers are joining book clubs that exist only on their phones. These apps let users track pages, write short reviews, and join group chats about a chosen book. The apps also use gentle reminders and reading streaks to keep members motivated. However, a few teachers worry that constant notifications from a reading app can pull attention away from the book itself. Despite this concern, many students report that _______________.

Beyond restoring lost function, engineers are now exploring implants and prosthetics designed to give healthy people abilities beyond ordinary human limits. (A) Critics counter that earlier enhancements were broadly available to anyone regardless of wealth, while cutting-edge implants are likely to remain expensive for decades, potentially splitting society along economic lines. (B) Supporters frame this as simply the next step in a long history of human enhancement, no different in principle from eyeglasses or vaccines. (C) What began as a medical tool for restoring what was lost, in other words, may end up redefining the baseline of what counts as an ordinary human being.

Many students assume that old social media posts disappear once enough time has passed. (A) A few years later, however, a teacher reviewing her application happened to notice an old, unkind comment she had posted and forgotten. (B) Minji, for instance, once left a careless comment mocking a classmate, assuming no one would ever see it again. (C) This experience taught her that a digital footprint, the lasting trail left by online activity, can resurface at unexpected moments.

The rejection of unfair offers in the ultimatum game raises an intriguing evolutionary question. (A) One explanation suggests that a willingness to punish unfairness, even at a personal cost, may have conferred long-term advantages within small communities where reputation and repeated interaction mattered greatly. (B) If punishing unfairness is costly in the short term, why would such a tendency have persisted across generations rather than being eliminated by more narrowly self-interested behavior? (C) An individual known to reject unfair offers discourages others from proposing unfair terms in future interactions, ultimately securing fairer treatment over the course of a lifetime.