TOPIK II Reading Blanks: Find the Evidence Before and After the Gap
Quick summary: Treat a blank as a missing bridge, not an isolated vocabulary quiz. Read the sentence before it to predict the bridge’s job—result, contrast, explanation, or example—then read the sentence after it to check what the bridge must make possible. The best choice needs to fit both sides without adding a new claim the passage cannot support.
First name the job of the blank
Before looking closely at the options, summarize the surrounding logic in simple symbols:
- cause → blank → decision
- general claim → blank → example
- expectation → blank → opposite result
- problem → blank → response
This one-line sketch prevents an attractive phrase from controlling your answer. A choice beginning with 그러나 may sound natural by itself, but it fails if the ideas do not actually contrast. A choice with 그 결과 needs a result that follows from the preceding event.
The National Institute for International Education currently describes TOPIK II PBT and IBT as different formats, including different reading-item counts. The exercises here are original and do not assume that one blank type always appears at a fixed question number. They teach a general reading process for reconstructing omitted content.
Read both edges of the gap
| Evidence position | What to inspect | What it can tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Sentence before | cause, problem, expectation, introduced topic | what kind of sentence can follow |
| Start of each option | connector, repeated noun, demonstrative | how the option claims to connect backward |
| End of each option | decision, result, evaluation | what the next sentence should develop |
| Sentence after | pronoun, time marker, consequence, example | what must already be established |
Pay special attention to nouns that repeat with a small change. If the passage mentions 운영 시간 (operating hours) and the next sentence says 연장 운영 (extended operation), a missing sentence about reviewing the operating plan has a strong lexical link. Repetition alone is not proof, but it helps verify the logical relationship.
Worked example: the answer must support the next sentence
Read the passage and choose the best sentence for the blank.
도서관이 평일 폐관 시간을 한 시간 늦췄다. 퇴근 후 이용자는 늘었지만 마지막 한 시간에는 빈자리가 많았다. ( ) 다음 달부터는 시험 기간에만 연장 운영할 예정이다.
- 이에 도서관은 연장 운영 방식을 다시 검토했다.
- 그러나 도서관은 매일 더 늦게 문을 닫기로 했다.
- 예를 들어 이용자는 더 이상 책을 빌릴 수 없었다.
- 반면에 시험 기간에도 운영 시간을 줄였다.
Correct answer: 1. The first two sentences describe a trial and a mixed result: more people came after work, yet many seats were empty in the final hour. The blank should turn that observation into a response. 이에 means “in response to this,” and reviewing the extended-hours plan naturally prepares the next sentence’s revised plan: extend hours only during exam periods.
Why the other answers fail:
- 2 contains a contrast marker, but “closing even later every day” conflicts with the following restriction to exam periods. It also ignores the empty final hour.
- 3 claims to give an example, yet the passage never states a general idea that “users could no longer borrow books.” The claim itself has no support.
- 4 starts a comparison with 반면에, but there is no matching group or period to compare. The unsupported claim about reduced exam-period hours also fails to explain the following decision about future extended operation.
Notice that option 1 is not correct merely because 이에 follows a problem. It is correct because its object—연장 운영 방식—connects backward to the trial and forward to the revised schedule.
A four-step solving routine
1. Cover the choices and predict a role. Write one word: result, contrast, explanation, example, or response.
2. Extract two anchors. Choose one concrete expression before the gap and one after it. In the example, they are “many empty seats in the final hour” and “only during exam periods.”
3. Test each option in full. Do not stop after its first connector. Read before + option + after as one paragraph.
4. Reject unsupported additions. An option can be reasonable in real life and still be wrong. Ask, “Which words in the passage license this detail?” If none do, eliminate it.
Second exercise: distinguish a result from a new topic
온라인 신청 안내문이 길어서 같은 문의가 반복되었다. 담당 부서는 핵심 절차를 세 단계로 정리한 그림을 첫 화면에 넣었다. ( ) 문의 담당 직원들은 복잡한 사례에 더 많은 시간을 쓸 수 있게 되었다.
A. 그 결과 기본 절차를 묻는 문의가 줄었다.
B. 하지만 안내문의 분량을 더 늘렸다.
C. 즉 시민들은 온라인 신청을 중단했다.
Answer: A. The picture simplifies the basic procedure; fewer basic questions is a direct result, and that reduction explains why staff can spend more time on complex cases. B adds a change in document length without support and does not explain fewer basic inquiries or the staff’s extra time. C treats stopping online applications as a restatement, but nothing in the passage supports that event; it would also make the final sentence difficult to explain.
Review table for close options
| Check | Pass question |
|---|---|
| Logical role | Does the option perform the role predicted from the surrounding sentences? |
| Backward link | Can I point to the exact cause, object, or claim it refers to? |
| Forward link | Does it set up the next pronoun, result, or decision? |
| Scope | Does it avoid “all,” “never,” or a new actor unless the text supports them? |
| Whole paragraph | Does the completed passage keep one topic and timeline? |
After practicing in TOPIK Note, write the failed check in your own notebook—“forward link” is more useful than memorizing option 1. You can place blank questions within the larger exam-reading map in TOPIK Reading Question Types.
Sources and scope
- NIIED TOPIK overview — official source for the current distinction between TOPIK PBT and IBT and their section/item structure.
- Korean Basic Dictionary: -기 때문 — official definition of an expression marking the preceding content as a cause or reason.
- Korean Basic Dictionary: -은 반면에 — official definition of an expression contrasting preceding and following facts.
The role labels, two-anchor routine, and review table are the TOPIK Note team’s editorial study recommendations, not an official scoring method. All passages and choices are original.