Tip 1 for “Choose the picture or graph” questions?

Use the reading time: scan the four pictures before the audio and note who, where and doing what, and how the pictures differ.

Tip 2 for “Choose the picture or graph” questions?

The right picture shows the moment of speaking; typical traps show something already done (-았/었어요, -았거든요) or something that will happen later (-ㄹ게요, -(으)ㄹ 거예요, 금요일에…).

Tip 3 for “Choose the picture or graph” questions?

Focus on the last line and on-the-spot action words: '이리 주세요', '잠깐만요', '지금 바로…', '이렇게요?', '눈 감으세요'. Don't pick a picture just because an object in it was mentioned.

Tip 4 for “Choose the picture or graph” questions?

Q3 (charts) always gives two facts: a trend over years (line chart) and a ranking or share (bar or pie chart). Compare the four charts before listening to know which numbers matter, and jot numbers down as you hear them.

TOPIK II · Listening · Questions 1–3 · Level 3

Choose the picture or graph

알맞은 그림·그래프 고르기

TOPIK II Listening Q1–3: listen to a short dialogue (Q1–2) and pick the picture showing what is happening right now, or listen to a short statistics report (Q3) and pick the correct chart. It tests whether you catch the place, the current action, and trends and rankings in data.

Test tips

Use the reading time: scan the four pictures before the audio and note who, where and doing what, and how the pictures differ.
The right picture shows the moment of speaking; typical traps show something already done (-았/었어요, -았거든요) or something that will happen later (-ㄹ게요, -(으)ㄹ 거예요, 금요일에…).
Focus on the last line and on-the-spot action words: '이리 주세요', '잠깐만요', '지금 바로…', '이렇게요?', '눈 감으세요'. Don't pick a picture just because an object in it was mentioned.
Q3 (charts) always gives two facts: a trend over years (line chart) and a ranking or share (bar or pie chart). Compare the four charts before listening to know which numbers matter, and jot numbers down as you hear them.
Learn the trend and ranking words: 늘다/증가하다, 줄다/감소하다, -았다가 (change of direction), 꾸준히, 가장 많았고, 그다음은, 그 뒤를 이었습니다, -순이었습니다, 절반.
Only one chart matches the report: if the line chart is right, both bar charts contain an error – eliminate quickly, then double-check.

Signal words and patterns

When you see these in a question, they point to the answer or to a trap.

지금 바로
이리 주세요
잠깐만요
-고 있다
늘다 / 줄다
-았다가
가장 많았고
그다음은
그 뒤를 이었습니다
-순이었습니다

Worked examples

Press to listen

Transcript

다음을 듣고 알맞은 그림 또는 그래프를 고르십시오.

Explanation

For questions 1–2, scan the four pictures before listening (who, where, doing what), then listen for the action happening at the moment of speaking. The man works at a bakery ('주문하신 생일 케이크 나왔습니다') and the woman is the customer collecting her cake. His last line, '지금 바로 리본을 달아서 포장해 드릴게요', tells us he is tying the ribbon on the box now, so picture 3 is correct. Pictures 1 and 4 show scenes at home that only happen after she takes the cake away. Picture 2 shows bread and an oven, which the dialogue never mentions.

Words in this question · sign in to save words

주문하다
초
리본
달다
포장하다

Practise now

27 questions in the bank

5 questions per round, each checked immediately with the explanation, translation and key words.