As usual, the full test and answer sheet for the Korean SAT, also known as CSAT or the Suneung (수능), from 대학수학능력시험) exam, were released. They were actually released last year, and I had bookmarked them to share here but promptly forgot until now after hearing my coworker talk about how his son is panicked about it being just over a month away again.
The Suneung is the standardized college admissions test all Korean university hopefuls must take in their final year of high school. It makes or breaks your future, so much so that many students who score below their desired range will delay university applications for another year in order to try again (Suneung can only be taken once per year in November, for admission in spring of the following year, therefore the "2020" version of the test applied to college entrance year 2020 although it was taken in 2019).
However this last year was a historically important test date. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the test was delayed by a month. I believe this was only the 2nd time such a delay has ever occurred, the 1st being due to precautions following a shock earthquake in 2017.
Anyway, I thought I would take a moment to highlight some of the questions from this year's Suneung in the English language section. Readers seem to find this interesting. Here we go.
Question sheet of the Korean 2021 CSAT test English language section
Some sample 2021 Suneung questions
2021 Seuneung - Listening Comprehension section
Here are a few selected questions from the listening section. Students must listen to the short dialog (painfully, right after lunch time, leading many poor students to fall asleep) and answer the questions that appear on their test sheet.
Question 4 - Dialog
In this sample question, the test sheet includes this picture, asking students to choose the item in the picture that is incorrect according to the dialog.
Here's the dialog students would hear:
4. 대화를 듣고, 그림에서 대화의 내용과 일치하지 않는 것을 고르시오.
W: Wow, Sam. You turned the student council room into a hot chocolate booth.
M: Yes, Ms. Thompson. We’re ready to sell hot chocolate to raise money for children in need.
W: Excellent. What are you going to put on the bulletin board under the clock?
M: I’ll post information letting people know where the profits will go.
W: Good. I like the banner on the wall.
M: Thanks. I designed it myself.
W: Awesome. Oh, I’m glad you put my stripe-patterned tablecloth on the table.
M: Thanks for letting us use it. Did you notice the snowman drawing that’s hanging on the tree?
W: Yeah. I remember it was drawn by the child you helped last year. By the way, there are three boxes on the floor. What are they for?
M: We’re going to fill those up with donations of toys and books.
W: Sounds great. Good luck.
The answer, of course, is ⑤ because the dialog mentioned 3 boxes while the picture shows just 2.
Questions 16-17 - Monologe
This narration is used for 2 questions. Have a listen:
16번부터 17번까지는 두 번 들려줍니다. [16∼17] 다음을 듣고, 물음에 답하시오.
M: Hello, students. Last time, I gave you a list of English expressions containing color terms. Today, we’ll learn how these expressions got their meanings. The first expression is “out of the blue,” meaning something happens unexpectedly. It came from the phrase “a lightning bolt out of the blue,” which expresses the idea that it’s unlikely to see lightning when there’s a clear blue sky. The next expression, “white lie,” means a harmless lie to protect someone from a harsh truth. This is because the color white traditionally symbolizes innocence. Another expression, “green thumb,” refers to a great ability to cultivate plants. Planting pots were often covered with tiny green plants, so those who worked in gardens had green-stained hands. The last expression, “to see red,” means to suddenly get very angry. Its origin possibly comes from the belief that bulls get angry and attack when a bullfighter waves a red cape. I hope this lesson helps you remember these phrases better.
Now answer the following 2 questions.
[16~17] 다음을 듣고, 물음에 답하시오.
16. Which topic best describes the man's speech?
16. 남자가 하는 말의 주제로 가장 적절한 것은?
color change in nature throughout seasons
various colors used in traditional English customs
differences in color perceptions according to culture
why expressions related to colors are common in English
17. Which color is not mentioned?
17. 언급된 색깔이 아닌 것은?
Both answers are ⑤.
These questions are all each worth 2 points. Let's look at a slightly harder one.
Question 14 - Dialog
14. 대화를 듣고, 여자의 마지막 말에 대한 남자의 응답으로 가장 적절한 것을 고르시오. [3점]
M: Hello, Joe Burrow speaking.
W: Hello. This is Officer Blake from the Roselyn Police Station.
M: Oh, it’s good to speak to you again.
W: Nice to speak to you, too. Do you remember the boy who found your briefcase and brought it here?
M: Sure. I wanted to give him a reward. But he wouldn’t accept it.
W: I remember you saying that before.
M: Yeah. I’d still like to somehow express my thanks in person.
W: Good. That’s why I’m calling you. Are you available next Friday at 10 a.m.?
M: Yes. I’m free at that time. Why?
W: The boy will receive the Junior Citizen Award for what he’s done for you.
M: That’s great news!
W: There’ll be a ceremony for him at the police station, and he invited you as his guest. I was wondering if you can make it.
M: ___________________________
14. Which of the following is the most likely response from the man?
1. Don’t worry. I already found his briefcase.
2. Of course. You deserve to receive the award.
3. Don’t mention it. I just did my duty as a citizen.
4. Definitely. I want to go to congratulate him myself.
5. Wonderful. It was the best ceremony I’ve ever been to.
The answer is ④.
Each question above was worth 2 points overall in the test. All questions were either 2 or 3 points so now I'll look at some 3 point questions. Remember, could you deal with a foreign language at this level when you were a high schooler? I know I couldn't have. I doubt I could in Korean even today after living here for several years.
2021 Seuneung - Reading Comprehension section
The bulk of the test involves reading so I'll pick a few more samples from this section. I've tried to focus on a variety that demonstrates the types of questions present. The most popular types of questions are:
Identify the topic of the passage
Place the sentences or paragraphs in the correct order
Identify words that are incorrectly used in the passage
Choose the most appropriate words or sentences to complete the passage
Question 23 - Topic
Read the following paragraph and choose the most appropriate topic.
difficulties of overcoming human weaknesses to avoid failure
benefits of allowing machines and humans to work together
reasons why humans continue to pursue machine automation
influences of human actions on a machine’s performance
The answer is ③. This was a 3 point question.
Question 25 - Graph reading
Although this question was only worth 2 points, I've heard that these question types that rely on skill for reading a graph or chat are often some of the most difficult for students.
25. Look at the graph and choose which fact in the reading is wrong according to the graph's data.
The answer is ⑤. This was a 2 point question.
Question 37 - Arrangement
Read the following paragraph, then arrange the next 3 paragraphs in the most logical order.
And this has direct repercussions at the individual level: households can reduce the cost of electricity and gas bills, and improve their health and comfort, while companies can increase their competitiveness and their productivity. Finally, the market for energy efficiency could contribute to the economy through job and firms creation.
There are significant externalities to take into account and there are also macroeconomic effects. For instance, at the aggregate level, improving the level of national energy efficiency has positive effects on macroeconomic issues such as energy dependence, climate change, health, national competitiveness and reducing fuel poverty.
However, the calculation of such cost effectiveness is not easy: it is not simply a case of looking at private costs and comparing them to the reductions achieved. [3점]
[Blog author note: vocabulary that is considered highly specialized or difficult are provided with Korean translations in the test. For this question, the following 2 words and their translations are included.]
* repercussion: 반향, 영향 ** aggregate: 집합의
(A)-(C)-(B)
(B)-(A)-(C)
(B)-(C)-(A)
(C)-(A)-(B)
(C)-(B)-(A)
Question 42 - Incorrect word
42. Which word is used incorrectly in the passage?
42. 밑줄 친 (a)~(e) 중에서 문맥상 낱말의 쓰임이 적절하지 않은 것은? [3점]
The answer is ④. This was a 3 point question.
These are just a few of the questions from the actual test. The full test has 45 questions, all of which from every year are released reliably just minutes after the completion of the test and can be found on Naver simply by searching 2021학년도 수능 문제/정답 (2021 school year Suneung questions and answers).
Naver will return a convenient onebox result linking to all the relevant question and answer sheets from all main subjects in the test, including English, Korean, math, Korean history, other foreign languages (particularly Chinese), and other subjects like social studies, etc. All of this material is made available free for students' personal study use.
I hope this post is not only entertaining but also helps you to understand some of the difficulty and pressure faced by Korean students. Europeans may understand this a little better, but as an American myself, I can't begin to imagine if my college admission had required me to answer questions like these even in a relatively similar language like Spanish.
I think it also gives a hint about the average English level of most Koreans. As you can see by this test, they focus extensively on written problem solving, often at the expense of expressive speaking. I certainly know plenty of middle aged men whose spoken English is terrible but their ability to read and understand English language equipment manuals is impressive. I myself am the total opposite. I can get by fairly well in spoken Korean, but my writing and reading is terrible (I often find myself speaking written content out loud to spark my understanding). Don't ever ask me about Korean spelling. I never know my 에 from my 애 or my 의 from my 외 or even my ㄷ from my ㅌ sometimes.
For more sample questions from real Suneung tests, see my other posts under the Education tag:
10원 Tips - Education posts