A
The Lord of the Rings，one of the best sellers in the new millennium(千年)，was made up of three parts—“The Fellowship of the Ring”，“Two Towers”，and “The Return of the King”．Millions upon millions of people have read it in over 25 different languages，but fewer know about the author and the history of the composition of the creative masterwork.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892.His parents died when he was a child. Living in England with his aunt，Tolkien and his cousins made up play languages，a hobby that led to Tolkien’s becoming skilled in Welsh，Greek，Gothic，Old Norse and AngloSaxon.
After graduating from Oxford，Tolkien served in World War Ⅰ.In 1917.While recovering from trench fever，he began composing the mythology(神话) for The Rings. As a professor of AngloSaxon in 1930s at Oxford，Tolkien was part of an informal discussion group called the Inklings，which included several writers. The group was soon listening to chapters of Tolkien’s imaginative work The Hobbit.
Hobbit was a name Tolkien created for local people that could best be described as halfsized members of the English rural(乡村的) class. Hobbit live in hillside holes. One of them，Bilbo Baggins，looks for treasures with a group of dwarves(侏儒)．On the way，he meets the twisted，pitiful creature Gollum，from whom he sees a golden ring that makes the holder invisible.
One of Tolkien’s students persuaded her employer，publisher Allen & Unwin，to look at a draft(草稿)．The chairman of the firm，Stan ley Unwin，thought that the best judge for a children’s book would be his tenyearold son. The boy earned a shilling for reporting back that the adventure was exciting，and The Hobbit was published in 1937.
It sold so well that Unwin asked for a continuation. Over a dozen years later，in 1954，Tolkien produced The Lord of the Rings，a series of books so creative that they hold readers—new and old—after their publication.
1．What can we learn from the text?
A．The Lord of the Rings didn’t sell well in the last millennium.
B．People know better about Tolkien himself than about his works.
C．Tolkien was quite familiar with old English.
D．Tolkien knew very well about different kinds of local languages in Africa.
C 解析：推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句话可知，他对古英语很熟悉，而不是精通非洲各地的语言，故选C项而排除D项。
2．What can we learn about “Hobbit” that Tolkien created in his works?
A．Hobbit was a race living in English downtown areas.
B．Hobbit was a local people who were very tall and strong.
C．Hobbit was a social group of people who lived in old castles.
D．Hobbit was a group of people who were mostly dwarves.
D 解析：细节理解题。由第四段第一句话可知，Hobbit是Tolkien创造出来的一个名词，用来指比正常人矮一半的人，即侏儒(dwarves)。
3．Which of the following helped most in making The Hobbit published?
A．One of Tolkien’s students.
B．Stan ley Unwin’s son.
C．Allen & Unwin.
D．Bilbo Baggins.
B 解析：推理判断题。根据倒数第二段可知，出版商Stan ley Unwin让他的儿子看The Hobbit并评价。他的儿子看过后觉得很好，于是Unwin便出版了The Hobbit。因此B项正确，即Stan ley Unwin的儿子在The Hobbit的出版过程中起的作用最大。
4．What is mainly discussed in the text?
A．The Lord of the Rings and its writer.
B．A completely new masterwork in the new millennium.
C．A famous professor at Oxford University.
D．The power of the magic ring.
A 解析：主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章主要讲述了《指环王》和它的作者的情况。
