[ Multiple Choice — Q1 to Q10 ]
※ Choose the best answer for each question. Each question is worth 3 points.
[이소라 — The History of the Chicken]
What is the best title for the passage "The History of the Chicken"?
① How the Chicken Took over the World
② Why the Chicken Became a Sacred Animal
③ Where Did the First Domesticated Chicken Come From?
④ Chickens and Their Role in Military History
⑤ The Nutritional Benefits of Chicken Across Cultures
[이소라 — The History of Chopsticks]
Which of the following is NOT true according to "The History of Chopsticks"?
① Chopsticks were developed approximately 5,000 years ago in China.
② Confucius's dislike of the knife may have helped popularize chopsticks.
③ Silver chopsticks were believed to turn black when they touched poisonous food.
④ In Korea, holding chopsticks close to the tip signifies good fortune in marriage.
⑤ Using chopsticks regularly may have memory-enhancing benefits.
[이소라 — Fingerprints]
What is the main idea of the passage "Fingerprints"?
① Fingerprints evolved primarily to help humans grip tools.
② Modern biometrics relies on fingerprints as the most advanced technology.
③ Fingerprints are an extraordinarily unique physical feature with practical applications.
④ DNA analysis has largely replaced fingerprint identification in forensics.
⑤ The randomness of fingerprint formation makes them scientifically unreliable.
[이소라 — Spoonerisms]
Based on the passage "Spoonerisms," which best defines what a Spoonerism originally referred to, versus what it means today?
① Originally: swapping entire words; Today: swapping initial consonants only
② Originally: swapping sounds at the beginning of words; Today: any amusing verbal mix-up of sounds
③ Originally: intentional wordplay for humor; Today: unintentional grammar mistakes
④ Originally: mixing vowels and consonants anywhere; Today: mixing only vowels
⑤ Originally: written errors in texts; Today: spoken errors in formal speeches
[이소라 — The Sistine Chapel Ceiling]
Which of the following is NOT true about the Sistine Chapel Ceiling according to the passage?
① Michelangelo initially refused the commission from Pope Julius II.
② The ceiling is decorated with nine stories from the Bible.
③ Special scaffolding was required because of the ceiling's extreme height.
④ Michelangelo's assistant discovered that the original plaster was poisonous.
⑤ The project lasted more than four years and damaged Michelangelo's eyesight.
[이소라 — Hamlet & The Lion King]
In "Hamlet and The Lion King," the writer primarily shows similarities between the two works through which method?
① Quoting dialogue from both Shakespeare and the Disney script
② Listing historical dates in chronological order
③ Comparing characters, plot structures, and thematic parallels
④ Analyzing the contrasting cultural backgrounds of each work
⑤ Providing statistical data on audience reception
[이소라 — Science and English Idioms]
What is the implied meaning of the passage "Science and English Idioms"?
① Science should determine which idioms are acceptable in English.
② English idioms are losing relevance in modern scientific discourse.
③ Imagery and cultural resonance often matter more than scientific accuracy in idioms.
④ Students should avoid using idioms that are scientifically inaccurate.
⑤ The English language borrows most of its idioms from scientific research.
[이소라 — Euphemisms]
Based on the passage about Euphemisms, what broader social function do euphemisms most likely serve?
① They allow speakers to communicate more efficiently in professional settings.
② They help individuals avoid legal responsibility for offensive speech.
③ They soften the impact of uncomfortable or taboo subjects, preserving social harmony.
④ They replace foreign loanwords with culturally native expressions.
⑤ They signal the speaker's level of education and social status.
[이소라 — The Sunk Cost Bias]
Which of the following best describes the author's implicit assumption in "The Sunk Cost Bias"?
① People are generally irrational because they cannot control their emotions.
② Rational decision-making requires focusing on future outcomes rather than past investments.
③ The sunk cost bias only applies to financial decisions, not personal relationships.
④ Awareness of a cognitive bias is sufficient to eliminate it from one's behavior.
⑤ Economic theory alone can fully explain human decision-making patterns.
[이소라 — The Relativity Trap]
According to "The Relativity Trap," what is the most effective strategy to avoid falling into relative thinking?
① Compare the price of an item against the most expensive available option.
② Think in absolute terms and evaluate each decision independent of context.
③ Always choose the option that saves the most money relative to its original price.
④ Rely on social norms to determine what is considered a fair price.
⑤ Seek a second opinion before making any financial decision.
[ David Texts — Analysis Questions ]
※ Questions 11–20 are based on David's reading texts. Focus on rhetorical purpose, theme, and implication.
[DA — The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle]
The authors of "The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle for Your Attention Is Built on a Lie" argue that even efforts to "improve focus" or "avoid distraction" remain trapped within the attention economy's logic. What paradox does this identify?
① Resistance to the attention economy requires purchasing specialized apps.
② The very desire to focus is itself a form of attention deficit disorder.
③ Attempts to liberate our attention still operate within the same narrow, quantitative model they seek to escape.
④ Big Tech companies secretly fund most attention-improvement programs.
⑤ People who meditate tend to spend more time on social media than those who do not.
[DA — The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle]
What was the "vigilance decrement" that Mackworth discovered through his clock experiment?
① Human beings cannot process more than seven simultaneous stimuli.
② After approximately 30 minutes of sustained vigilance, subjects began missing significant stimuli at a much higher rate.
③ Military recruits were unable to distinguish between radar blips and background noise.
④ The human brain compensates for fatigue by increasing sensitivity to rare stimuli.
⑤ Clock-watching tasks are inherently less effective than radar monitoring for attention research.
[DA — The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle]
At the end of "The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle," the authors quote Simone Weil's description of attention as rooted in "love, care and commitment." What is the primary rhetorical purpose of ending the essay with this reference?
① To provide a historical timeline connecting WWII to the present day
② To demonstrate that French philosophy is superior to Anglo-American psychology
③ To contrast a humanistic, non-quantifiable vision of attention with the mechanistic model critiqued throughout the essay
④ To argue that religion is the only path to recovering genuine attention
⑤ To suggest that Weil's political activism should be a model for tech regulation
[DB — Transcript: Ezra Klein Interviews Burnett]
When Burnett says that attention is like "oxygen," what does he mean?
① Attention is a biological necessity without which the brain literally cannot function.
② Like oxygen, attention is an invisible resource that becomes noticeable only when it is absent or compromised.
③ Attention, like oxygen, can be scientifically measured in parts per million.
④ Breathing exercises are the most reliable method for restoring lost attention.
⑤ The value of attention is recognized universally, just as oxygen is universally needed.
[DB — Transcript: Ezra Klein Interviews Burnett]
Burnett describes a scene from Henry James's novel in which a doctor places an "empty crystal cup of attention" on a table. What is the primary rhetorical purpose of this metaphor in Burnett's argument?
① To argue that doctors are uniquely qualified to study attention scientifically
② To suggest that attention is fragile and easily broken, like crystal
③ To capture an idea of attention as an open, receptive presence — a generous, waiting space between self and the world — that cannot be quantified or commodified
④ To illustrate that genuine attention requires emotional detachment from the subject
⑤ To show that literary metaphors are more accurate than scientific models of attention
[DC — How Social Media Shortens Your Life]
In "How Social Media Shortens Your Life," Gurwinder argues that the brain becomes desensitized to alarming content on social media. What broader claim does this support about the nature of dopamine-driven engagement?
① Dopamine is depleted by frequent social media use, causing clinical depression.
② When every stimulus is engineered to be exciting, the threshold for what registers as meaningful rises, leading to passive consumption and memory impairment.
③ Dopamine response can be permanently enhanced through deliberate social media training.
④ Social media platforms intentionally suppress dopamine to create addiction.
⑤ Genuine dopamine release only occurs in offline, physical experiences.
[DC — How Social Media Shortens Your Life]
Based on Gurwinder's discussion of the "Gruen effect" and "curvilinear paths," what is the most likely implied consequence of infinite scroll and autoplay features on social media?
① Users become more efficient at processing information because they are constantly stimulated.
② Platforms increasingly rely on AI moderation to prevent addictive design patterns.
③ Users lose track of intentional goals, entering a state of passive, purposeless drift that impairs both awareness and memory of time.
④ Content quality improves because algorithms learn user preferences over time.
⑤ Autoplay primarily affects elderly users who are less familiar with digital navigation.
[DD — Powerful Forces Are Fracking Our Attention]
In "Powerful Forces Are Fracking Our Attention," the metaphor of "fracking" is applied to the attention economy. What does this metaphor most effectively convey?
① Digital technology is an environmentally destructive industry like fossil fuels.
② Human attention is a rare, precious resource extracted by force through high-pressure media content, leaving the person depleted and damaged in the process.
③ The attention economy operates underground and is hidden from regulatory oversight.
④ Fracking refers to the fragmentation of media into smaller, more digestible pieces.
⑤ The essay argues that the government should nationalize social media platforms as it does oil reserves.
[DE — The Age of Attention]
Tim Wu argues in "The Age of Attention" that the key challenge of information abundance is not that attention will be "used up," but rather something else. What is that challenge, and how does he characterize the relationship between attention and democracy?
① Information overload causes democratic institutions to collapse from within.
② The key challenge is losing control over one's own attentional processes; and democratic participation requires citizens capable of self-regulating attention, not just accessing information.
③ Democracy functions best when information is scarce, because citizens must then choose carefully.
④ Attention is largely irrelevant to democratic life, which depends on institutional design rather than individual focus.
⑤ Wu argues that social media companies should be required to fund civic education programs.
[Cross-text: DA + DD]
Which of the following claims appears in BOTH "The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Battle" (DA) AND "Powerful Forces Are Fracking Our Attention" (DD)?
① Social media companies must be nationalized to protect citizens' attention.
② True attention involves a spiritual dimension traceable to religious traditions.
③ The systematic extraction of human attention for commercial profit constitutes a form of exploitation that requires collective resistance rooted in education and civic action.
④ The Mackworth Clock experiment directly inspired the design of slot machines.
⑤ AI researchers intentionally misused the word "attention" to obscure the political implications of their work.
[ Free Response Questions — FRQ 1 & FRQ 2 ]
※ Write your answers in the spaces provided. Use formal academic English. Each FRQ is worth 20 points.
Choose two works from the reading list studied this semester. For each work, identify a specific passage, quote, or moment that you found especially meaningful or rhetorically effective. Explain how that passage develops a central theme or idea in the work. Then analyze how the author's stylistic or rhetorical choices — such as tone, imagery, syntax, analogy, or structure — contribute to the impact of that passage.
Your response must:
- Clearly identify each work and quote/describe the specific passage
- Explain the significance of the passage in relation to the work's overall message or theme
- Analyze at least one specific rhetorical or stylistic technique per work
- Make explicit connections between technique and rhetorical purpose
- Be written in formal academic English
Work 1: _________________________
Work 2: _________________________