Reading and Responding
What this section tests
Reading passages range from notices, timetables and advertisements to emails, blogs and short literary extracts. The exam rewards precise location of information and correct reading of connectors. You are not translating; you are mapping text structure to question type.
Concepts to master
- Text type and purpose: 안내문 (notice), 광고 (advertisement), 후기 (review), 문의 (inquiry). Ask: who wrote it, for whom, and what action is requested?
- Connectors and their logic: 그러나/하지만 (contrast), 따라서/그러므로 (conclusion), 게다가/뿐만 아니라 (addition), 반면에 (opposition), 즉 (restatement). A single connector usually decides the answer.
- Grammatical signals of obligation and permission: -아/어야 하다 (must), -아/어도 되다 (may), -(으)면 안 되다 (must not), -지 말다 (do not).
- Relative clauses: the modifier before a noun carries the condition (지난주에 신청한 사람만).
- Vocabulary in context: infer unknown words from the surrounding clause rather than guessing from Chinese characters.
Traps
- Negation buried in a long phrase: 참가할 수 없다, 무료가 아니다.
- Scope words: 모든, 대부분, 일부, 오직 - a choice that says all when the text says some is wrong.
- Time and condition mismatch: the event is on Saturday but registration closes Friday; the question asks about registration.
- A true statement from the passage that does not answer the question asked.
Rule of thumb
Read the question stems before the passage, then underline the exact clause that answers each one. If you cannot point to a clause, the choice is a guess, not an answer.
Worked example
A notice reads: “신청은 5월 10일까지이며, 당일 참가만 가능하고 사전 신청자는 참가비가 없습니다.” Question: What must a participant do? Answer: register by 10 May. A distractor saying “pay on the day” contradicts 사전 신청자는 참가비가 없습니다, and “register on the day” contradicts 사전 신청.