Reading 28–31 Blank Content (Informational Text)

Reading · Hard

Optional

You read one paragraph of informational text and choose the content — a sentence or phrase — that fills the blank. This isn't about filling in a single grammar point; you have to follow the logical flow of the whole passage and infer what 'content' belongs in the blank. An informational passage usually introduces a single phenomenon or concept and then explains its cause, process, and result in order. The blank is usually one link left empty in that logical chain, so the answer only appears once you look at both what the sentence before the blank was explaining and how the sentence after the blank picks it up. It's easy to confuse this with the connective-adverb blank in items 21–22, but the difference is that those items ask you to choose a single word, while here you have to construct and choose an entire sentence's worth of content. A common trap in this type is glancing only at the words near the blank and guessing the answer from plausible background knowledge. For example, 'cities are hot' is true as general knowledge, but if you bring in a cause the passage doesn't actually give — say, air-conditioner use — instead of the cause it really explains (concrete releasing heat slowly), that answer is logically wrong. Remember that this type is about following the cause-and-effect relationship that holds only within that specific passage, not general knowledge. To keep track of the passage's logic, you need to know exactly what relationship each connective between sentences signals — 예를 들어 (for example), 반면에 (on the other hand), 이처럼 (in this way), 이러한 이유로 (for this reason), and so on. The connective tells you in advance whether the blank needs an example, a contrasting point, or a result of what came before. This type belongs to the harder end of TOPIK II Reading. The vocabulary level is high, and filling the blank requires understanding the whole passage, so it takes a long time. If Level 3 is your target, it's more efficient to attempt this section only if you have time left over.

Blank Content (Informational Text)

• 예를 들어 — Used to give a concrete example that supports a general statement made earlier.
• 반면에 — Used to connect content that contrasts with what came before. It appears often in passages that compare two things.
• 이처럼 — Used to sum up and wrap up what was just explained. It points back to the preceding content without adding new information.
• 이러한 이유로 — Used to draw out a result, taking the cause explained earlier as its basis.
• 즉 — Used to restate what came before in other words, making it clearer (a paraphrase).
• 다시 말해 — Similar to '즉' — used to restate the preceding content again in simpler terms.
• 이에 따라 — Used to show a result that naturally follows, with the preceding situation as its cause.
• 그 결과 — Used to connect a result that appears once the process explained in the immediately preceding sentence has finished.
• 뿐만 아니라 — Used to add another point on top of what was just said. The added content must run in the same direction (positive or negative) as what came before.
• 오히려 — Emphasizes a reversal, when the result that appears is the opposite of what would normally be expected.
• 이와 달리 — A contrast expression similar to '반면에,' but the '이' clearly points back to a specific thing mentioned earlier while contrasting it.
• 왜냐하면 — Used to introduce a reason afterward. The sentence usually ends with '~때문이다' ('because ~').

• The key concept in the sentence before the blank (what it was explaining)
• The connective in the sentence after the blank that picks up the blank's content (e.g., '그 결과,' '이 때문에')
• The single topic word running through the whole passage (a key noun that recurs)

• First read the sentences before and after the blank and check what the logical gap is.
• Try summing up the whole passage's topic in a single word.
• Plug each of the four options into the blank and check whether it flows naturally with the surrounding context.
• Eliminate first any option that's unrelated to the topic or that reverses the logic before and after it.

• Judging from just the one sentence near the blank and picking an option that clashes with the passage's overall flow.
• Picking an option just because it contains a word that appears in the passage — what matters is whether it logically follows.

This is Hard difficulty, so it's not essential for a Level 3 target. If you have time to spare or are aiming for a higher level, it's worth practicing how to read the logical flow.