Reading 5–8 What the text is about (advertisements and signs)

Reading · Easy

Must secure. One or two keywords decide it.

You read a short advertising line or a sign and choose what the text is about. The passage is usually only about two lines long, and you do not need to parse every sentence. This is the type where pinning down one or two key nouns inside the passage shows you the answer straight away. If you see the word '건강검진', the text is about health; if you see '분리배출', it is about the environment. In other words, the noun in the passage tells you the topic category. Trying to read every sentence closely only costs time and invites confusion. This is one of the easiest stretches in TOPIK II Reading. If Level 3 is your goal, you must not miss anything here. With repeated practice at catching the key noun you can solve these in seconds, and the time you save goes to the harder items later on.

What the text is about (advertisements and signs)

• 안전벨트·서행·졸음운전 → 교통안전 — When vocabulary about rules for riding in vehicles or using the road appears, the text is urging traffic safety. '뒷자리' and '음주운전' fall in the same category.
• 분리배출·재활용 → 환경보호 — Telling people to sort their rubbish by type marks an environmental campaign. Keep it apart from 'cutting single-use items', which has a different focus.
• 건강검진·정기검진 → 건강 관리 — Words such as '아픈 곳', '검진' and '조기 발견' mark a text urging health management. Keep it apart from diet and exercise advertising, which is a different category.
• 절전·물 절약 → 에너지·자원 절약 — Words such as '아껴 쓰다', '전기를 끄다' and '수도꼭지' mark a conservation campaign. It is easy to confuse with environmental protection, but the focus here is on saving the resource itself.
• 책·도서관 → 독서 권장 — Expressions such as '책' and '도서관에 들러 보세요' mark a text encouraging reading. Do not confuse it with notices about a library's location or opening hours.
• 헌혈·기부 → 나눔·봉사 — Words such as '작은 나눔', '헌혈' and '기부' mark a text encouraging giving and volunteering.
• 담배 연기·흡연구역 → 금연 캠페인 — When words such as '담배 연기', '흡연 구역' and '깨끗한 공기' appear, the text is urging people to quit smoking. It overlaps with health management, but where smoking is the concrete subject, quitting takes priority.
• 장바구니·텀블러 → 일회용품 줄이기 — Concrete actions such as '장바구니를 챙기다' and '텀블러를 사용하다' mark a campaign to cut single-use items. The focus differs from sorted disposal (reducing versus separating).
• 안전모·공사 중 → 작업장 안전 — Words such as '안전모', '공사 중' and '위험' mark a text announcing safety rules for a worksite.
• 이력서·면접 → 취업 준비 — Words such as '면접', '이력서' and '채용' mark a notice or advertisement about employment.
• 예방접종·마스크·손 씻기 → 감염병 예방 — Words such as '예방접종', '손 씻기' and '마스크 착용' mark a campaign to prevent infectious disease. Unlike health screening, the core here is stopping transmission and spread.
• 유기견·입양 → 반려동물 보호 — Words such as '유기견', '입양' and '끝까지 책임' mark a text about protecting companion animals.

• The key noun repeated or emphasized in the passage
• The short, declarative tone typical of advertisements and signs
• The topic category each of the four options belongs to (health / environment / reading, and so on)

• Skim the passage once and find the noun that stands out most
• Recall which topic category that noun belongs to
• Choose the option that matches that category exactly

• Picking an option because the sentence sounds plausible, even though its words never appear in the passage
• Missing the one key noun and picking another option from a similar category

This is the easiest stretch, so a miss here costs you dearly. Secure it by practising the single skill of catching the key noun.