70 minutes for 50 reading questions works out to 84 seconds each. But passages get longer toward the end, so unless you save time in the early questions, you will run short. The key is reading each question type differently.
50 questions worth 100 points, 70 minutes. Just like listening, every question is an even 2 points.
Q1–12 are short sentences, ads, and notices; passages get longer from there on — explanatory writing, essays, then fiction. From Q42 on you're in the highest-difficulty range, which needs Level 6 vocabulary.
| Range | Type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Q1–4 | Fill-in-the-blank grammar · similar expressions | Low–Mid |
| Q5–8 | What is this text about (ads/signs) | Low |
| Q9–12 | Content match — notices, graphs, articles | Mid |
| Q13–18 | Sentence ordering · blank content | Mid |
| Q19–27 | Conjunctive adverbs · idiomatic expressions · essays · article headlines | Mid–Mid-high |
| Q28–41 | Explanatory-text blanks · match · topic · sentence placement | High |
| Q42–50 | Fiction · the writer's attitude · purpose | Highest |
Because you're reading the whole thing. This type is solved by catching just one noun.
'몸에 좋은 영양소 / 매일 아침 한 잔' (nutrients good for your body / one cup every morning) means milk; '흔들리지 않게 / 안전하게 보관' (so it doesn't shake / store safely) means packaging or moving services. Look for just one key noun and one key verb.
When the choices are abstract words (health, environment, safety), all you need to judge is which category the passage's concrete word falls under. You don't need to translate the whole sentence.
Eliminate the sentences that can't be first. This one principle alone filters out half the choices.
A sentence starting with a demonstrative (이·그·저, this/that) or a conjunction (그래서·하지만·그러나, so/but/however) needs something before it to refer back to, so it can't come first.
After that, chain the order by what the demonstrative points to. If a sentence says '그 방법은' (that method), there must be an earlier sentence that introduced the method.
Check the connective relationship before and after the blank first. What relationship the missing words have comes before what those words actually are.
'그러나·하지만' (however/but) signals the opposite of what came before; '그래서·따라서' (so/therefore) signals a result; '예를 들어' (for example) signals a concrete case.
If '아무리' (no matter how) appears, a concessive form (-아/어도) must follow later. Knowing these paired expressions narrows the answer even if you can't fully understand the passage.
Reading the passage with each choice plugged into the blank one at a time is the most reliable method. Eliminate the ones that sound awkward first.
Look first at the demonstratives and conjunctions in the given sentence. Those decide the position.
If it has '이러한 이유로' (for this reason), it goes right after the spot where the reason was given. If it has '그러나' (however), it belongs where the content flips.
If there's no demonstrative, look for where the passage's flow breaks. The right position is the one where the sentence makes both the before and after read naturally.
Feelings aren't stated directly — they show up through actions and situation. Work backward from 'what the character did' to the emotion.
It's faster if you've paired actions with emotions in advance: silently looking out the window → conflicted/heavy-hearted (착잡함·서운함), checking the clock repeatedly → anxious (초조함), smiling while avoiding an answer → awkward/embarrassed (난처함).
You can't solve this if you don't know the emotion vocabulary itself. Make a separate list of the emotion adjectives that come up often — 서운하다 (feel let down), 난처하다 (be in an awkward spot), 황당하다 (be baffled), 뿌듯하다 (feel proud/fulfilled), 안쓰럽다 (feel pity for), 홀가분하다 (feel relieved/light).
It's because you're trying to solve everything. If Level 3 is your goal, giving up on Q39 onward and putting all your time into the first 38 questions gives a higher total score.
Since every question is worth an even 2 points, a hard question near the end and an easy one near the start have the same value. Getting stuck on a hard question is a net loss.
Always leave time for marking your answer sheet. Build the last 10 minutes into your plan for guessing on remaining questions and transferring your answers — this prevents the disaster of 'solved everything but never marked it.'