Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer answer to each of the questions.
One of the most interesting authors of the twentieth century, J.R.R. Tolkien, achieved fame through his highly inventive trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Born in 1892, Tolkien received his education from Oxford and then served in World War I. After the war, he became a professor of Anglo-Saxon and English language and literature at Oxford University.
Although published in 1965, the three books that comprise The Lord of the Rings were written in intervals from 1936 to 1949. This was mainly due to Tolkien’s responsibilities as a professor and the outbreak of World War II. By the late 1960s, this fascinating trilogy had become a sociological phenomenon as young people intently studied the mythology and legends created by Tolkien. The trilogy is remarkable not only for its highly developed account of historical fiction but also its success as a modern heroic epic. The main plot chronicles the struggle between good and evil kingdom as they try to acquire a magic ring that has the power to rule the world. The novels, which are set in a time called Middle Earth, describe a detailed fantasy world. Established before humans populated the Earth, Middle Earth was inhabited by good and evil creatures such as hobbits, dwarves, elves, monsters, wizards, and some humans. The characters and the setting of Middle Earth were modeled after mythological stories from Greece and Northern Europe.
Although readers have scrutinized the texts for inner meaning and have tried to connect the trilogy with Tolkien’s real life experiences in England during World War II, he denies the connection. He claims that the story began in his years as an undergraduate student grew out of his desire to create mythology and legends about elves and their language.
Tolkien was a masterful fantasy novelist who used his extensive knowledge of folklore to create a body or work that is still read and enjoyed throughout the world today.
Reading aloud was more common in the medieval world because ______.
A. people relied on reading for entertainment
B. silent reading had not been discovered
C. there were few places available for private reading
D. few people could read to themselves
