Korea’s English Exam Was So Hard It Prompted an Apology. How Would You Do?

Background

South Korea’s college entrance test, the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), has a reputation for being one of the toughest exams in the world. Among its many sections, English is traditionally the most dreaded, demanding both precise grammar and nuanced comprehension.

This Year’s Controversy

The latest CSAT English paper pushed the limits of difficulty. Students encountered passages riddled with obscure vocabulary, ambiguous idioms, and questions that required interpretive leaps more suited to graduate‑level literature classes. The result? A wave of complaints, media outcry, and a public apology from the Korean Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE).

Following the apology, the head of the English testing department stepped down, acknowledging responsibility for the “unreasonable” level of challenge presented to millions of test‑takers.

Can You Tackle a Sample Question?

Below are a couple of representative items from the problematic section. Try answering them to see how you fare against the exam that caused such a stir.

Sample Question 1: Read the passage and choose the best interpretation of the author’s tone in the final paragraph.
Sample Question 2: Identify the error in the underlined phrase and rewrite the sentence correctly.

While the answers are not provided here, attempting these questions can give you a taste of the difficulty that sparked nationwide debate.