Reading in TOPIK is not one kind of reading or a long run of identical texts. The section begins with local vocabulary, grammar, and short functional messages, then moves to coherence, the author's stance, newspaper headlines, sentence insertion, and longer texts.
The number of questions and the time allowed depend on TOPIK I or II and on PBT or IBT. The detailed map below concerns published PBT papers; the confirmed IBT boundary is shown separately so that paper numbering is not projected onto the computer-based exam.
1. How many questions and how much time are there in TOPIK Reading
Reading in four exam versions
- TOPIK I PBT
- 40 questions · 60 minutes
- TOPIK I IBT
- 26 questions · 40 minutes
- TOPIK II PBT
- 50 questions · 70 minutes
- TOPIK II IBT
- 30 questions · 40 minutes
| Exam | PBT | IBT | Practical conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOPIK I | 40 questions in 60 minutes | 26 questions in 40 minutes | Do not practise the timing of 40 paper questions if you are registered for IBT |
| TOPIK II | 50 questions in 70 minutes | 30 questions in 40 minutes | The 50-number PBT route is not an IBT map |
| Action | Choose an answer on the answer sheet | Choose with a mouse; the tutorial includes interactive ordering | Become familiar with the content and the interface separately |
In TOPIK I PBT, Reading follows the 40-minute Listening section immediately, within one session. In TOPIK II PBT, it is a separate 70-minute second session after Listening and Writing. Every PBT Reading question has four answer choices.
Average time per question says nothing about a particular number: a short gap and a long text require different amounts of reading. It is more useful to plan checkpoints by task group.
2. What tasks appear in TOPIK I PBT Reading
In published TOPIK I PBT papers, Reading begins with short phrases and everyday texts and ends with connected passages that have several questions. Related numbers are grouped below by the actual operation, so that the map does not become sixteen nearly identical entries.
| Numbers | Task type | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 31–33 | Identify the topic of a short text | The general concept joining two simple sentences |
| 34–39 | Fill a gap | The grammatical form, particle, vocabulary, and government within the sentence |
| 40–45 | Read a notice, table, or short text | Which statement does or does not match the information |
| 46–48 | Identify the central idea | What the author wants to convey with the whole passage |
| 49–56 | Answer paired questions about a text | A gap, purpose, detail, mood, or content |
| 57–58 | Restore the order | Connectors, pronoun references, cause and result |
| 59–70 | Work with connected medium and long texts | Topic, purpose, precise content, sequence of events, and the author's attitude |
TOPIK I is not limited to recognizing individual words. The final tasks already require you to retain the development of a short text and distinguish its overall idea, a specific detail, and the author's emotional reaction.
3. What tasks appear in TOPIK II PBT Reading
Across nine published TOPIK II PBT papers, the main groups retain a recognizable sequence. This makes it possible to prepare by function, but it does not remove the need to read the instructions in the particular paper.
| Numbers | What is given | What is required |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | A sentence with a gap | Choose a suitable grammatical or lexical construction |
| 3–4 | An underlined expression | Find the expression closest in meaning |
| 5–8 | A notice, sign, advertisement, or short message | Identify what the text is about |
| 9–12 | A text, table, or graph | Find the statement that matches the content |
| 13–15 | Several sentences | Restore their logical order |
| 16–18 | A paragraph with a gap | Insert content that connects both sides |
| 19–24 | Three texts with two questions each | A gap, idea, author's state, or precise content |
| 25–27 | A newspaper headline | Choose the most accurate explanation of the event |
| 28–31 | A more complex text with a gap | Restore a logical or semantic link |
| 32–34 | A medium-length text | Find the statement that matches the content |
| 35–38 | An extended text | Identify the topic or central claim |
| 39–41 | A text and a separate sentence | Find the insertion point from the left and right joins |
| 42–50 | Long literary, journalistic, or explanatory texts | Attitude, purpose, topic, gap, content, and the author's stance |
- Form within a sentence
- Short functional text
- Paragraph coherence
- Compressed meaning in a newspaper headline
- Topic and stance
- Several operations in a long text
4. How IBT Reading differs from the paper map
The current IBT has fewer questions and considerably less total time. It is an independent exam version, not a shortened sheet made from the first PBT numbers.
The official TOPIK II IBT tutorial shows an interactive ordering task: sentences are dragged with the mouse into the right positions. The coherence skill itself is familiar from PBT, but the candidate's action and the interface differ. The tutorial does not establish that every other task type and number matches PBT.
- 01
Check your registration
Establish TOPIK I or II and PBT or IBT before choosing a book, timer, and numbered route.
- 02
Complete the official tutorial
Try answer selection, dragging, and moving between questions separately.
- 03
Transfer the skill, not the number
Ordering, insertion, detail, and topic remain useful operations, but their IBT position cannot be guessed from PBT.
5. How to solve different types instead of reading everything the same way
| Operation | Where to start | Decisive signal |
|---|---|---|
| A gap in a sentence | Read the frame around the brackets | Government, part of speech, tense, negation, and collocation |
| Sentence order | Find the neutral introduction | 그러나, 그래서, references such as 이/그, and repetition of an already named object |
| Sentence insertion | Check pronouns and the inserted sentence's topic | A natural left and right join at the same time |
| Match to the content | Break the choice into subject, action, time, and degree | An exact line or link between lines, not general thematic similarity |
| Topic or main idea | Compare the opening, turn, and conclusion | The broadest conclusion without adding an outside idea |
| Author's attitude or purpose | Find evaluative vocabulary and why the text was written | What the author does with the text: explains, criticizes, proposes, remembers |
| Newspaper headline | Unpack compressed relations | Who did what, what changed, and what the result was |
| An unfamiliar word | Check its role in the question | Whether it affects the subject, negation, condition, or sought detail |
Full translation is not a universal first step. A grammar gap needs local context; a topic needs the whole semantic frame; a precise detail needs the line that answers the particular question.
6. Two examples: order and main idea
Both exercises were created by TopikLab and are not questions from a past session. The first demonstrates sentence-to-sentence connections; the second, the hierarchy between a thesis and its details.
A. 그래서 요즘에는 장바구니를 항상 현관 앞에 둔다.
B. 예전에는 장을 보러 갈 때마다 비닐봉지를 새로 받았다.
C. 그러나 쓰레기가 많이 생겨서 다른 방법을 찾게 되었다.
Answer
Previous habit → problem → new solution
예전에는 introduces the original habit, 그러나 contrasts it with the waste problem, and 그래서 introduces the current action as the result of looking for another way.
Connectors alone are not enough: 장바구니 in A becomes the very alternative method needed in C.
외국어를 공부할 때 틀린 문제의 답만 확인하고 넘어가는 경우가 많다.
그러나 왜 틀렸는지 기록하지 않으면 비슷한 문제에서 같은 실수를 반복하기 쉽다.
모르는 단어 때문인지, 질문을 잘못 이해했는지, 시간이 부족했는지를 구분해야 다음 연습을 정할 수 있다.
따라서 오답 기록은 정답을 모으는 일이 아니라 실수의 원인을 찾는 과정이어야 한다.
Main idea
Error analysis should find its cause
Unknown words, a misunderstood question, and lack of time are three examples of a possible cause, not three equally important main ideas.
The final 따라서 states the conclusion, but the whole text supports it: ordinary practice → its limitation → a useful distinction → a new principle.
After working through the sequence and main idea, open a Reading task group in TopikLab for your level, complete a different test, and check which evidence you selected.
7. How working with long texts changes
At the end of TOPIK II PBT, one text can serve two or three questions. This means rereading must change its purpose: first understand the framework, then find evidence for the specific question rather than translate the paragraph again from the first line.
A useful annotation for a long text is: subject → stance or problem → development through cause, example, or contrast → conclusion. In a literary extract, the thesis may instead be situation → event → reaction → change of state.
- 01
Read the tasks
Separate the global question—topic, purpose, attitude—from the local question about a gap or content.
- 02
Build the framework
Mark the participants, subject, and semantic turn; do not copy out every noun.
- 03
Return for evidence
For each choice, find a line or link between lines and check the subject, time, degree, and causality.
- 04
Leave what remains unsolved
If a question does not yield after two purposeful passes, mark it and save time for accessible tasks.
8. Time and common reasons for losing points
| What happened | Likely reason | What to train |
|---|---|---|
| A gap takes a long time | The form or government was not recognized, so every option's meaning is being tried | Short sets focused on one grammatical function |
| The order feels arbitrary | References and what information must already have been introduced are ignored | Left and right joins, connectors, and referents |
| Two answers seem the same | Choices were not broken down into checkable claims | Subject, time, degree, cause, and negation |
| Every word is understood but the topic is wrong | A detail or example was taken for the conclusion | Formulating one overall idea after reading |
| An unfamiliar word stops the reading | It is not checked whether the word affects the question | The word's role in the sentence and whether reading can continue without an exact translation |
| There is no time for the end | Early questions are reread with no new purpose | Checkpoints by group and a rule for purposeful return |
There is no official time limit for each number. In practice, first measure your own time by group, then set two or three checkpoints within the full section. Specific minutes are a personal strategy, not an NIIED rule.
Books, articles, and news help expand vocabulary and reading endurance, but do not by themselves teach you to distinguish TOPIK question types. Keep them as an additional mode; make the main diagnosis on tasks from the exam and format you need.
9. What to check before a full Reading section
- The material matches the TOPIK I or II and PBT or IBT version for which you are registered.
- You know the number of questions and time for your exact exam version.
- For PBT, you know the map of recurring groups, but still read each block's instructions anew.
- For IBT, you have completed the official tutorial and understand the mechanics of interactive answers.
- For each type, you have identified its own evidence centre: a local form, a join, a detail line, or the framework of the whole text.
- In a full section, you have checkpoints, and one difficult question cannot take time from the entire ending.
10. Frequently asked questions
Is it necessary to translate the entire text?
No. Look for a part of the text that functions as a question. A full translation often wastes time, but does not improve the proof of the answer.
How to increase your reading speed?
Measure time by task type, automate task recognition, and train the transition from question to proof.
Is it worth learning lists of words?
It is more useful to store words together with the sentence, meaning in context and function of the text where they interfered with the answer.
What is more important: more texts or a thorough analysis?
Both modes are needed: detailed analysis changes the method of solving, and new texts check transfer and pace.