The purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of background knowledge, time pressure, and involvement on reading comprehension. One hundred and twenty college students read three passages and answered comprehension questions in eight different experimental conditions: activated vs inactivated background knowledge, with vs without time pressure, and high vs low involvement. The results showed main effects of background knowledge and involvement on reading comprehension, indicating essential roles of background knowledge in facilitating the processes of reading comprehension in Korea’s EFL educational contexts. In addition, the study found an interaction effect of background knowledge and time pressure on reading comprehension. Pedagogical implications are suggested.