Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34.
The Lord of the Rings
One of the most popular stories of the 20th century was written by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. He was an English writer and university professor at Oxford. He was a member of an informal literary discussion group with C.S. Lewis, who was a friend of his. It was C.S. Lewis who persuaded Tolkien to publish an earlier book called The Hobbit, published in 1937. The book became popular enough for the publisher George Allen and Unwin to ask Tolkien to write a sequel to the book. This book turned out to be the three-volume novel The Lord of the Rings, which was published between 1954 and 1955.
The Lord of the Rings was meant to take off where The Hobbit ended. But the story quickly became a dark tale of the corrupting effects of the ring. When the ring was in the hands of a person who desired power, it could give power to the person. The story was divided into six books, two for each of the published volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The book starts off with Bilbo, a character from The Hobbit. He leaves his belongings, including the ring, to a cousin named Frodo Baggins. The ring is actually the source of power of the Dark Lord named Sauron, who had been searching for the ring. Once Sauron learns who is carrying the ring, the adventure begins.
The lord of the Rings was actually a sequel to Silmarillion, a book that gives the historical background of his popular novel. In these two books, people can see that Tolkien had interests in language, religion, Roman Catholicism, fairy tales and Norse mythology.
Although The Lord of the Rings became a bestseller, the reviews of Tolkien's novel were not always favorable. Some hated the elves and others did not like Tolkien's style of writing. They dismissed it as intellectually snobbish. However, the book has been listed as the favorite work of many Europeans. C.S. Lewis said of the book, "Here are beauties which pierce like the sword or burn like cold iron." Anyone who has really read the book should agree.
The word sequel in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________.
A.new story
B.next in a series
C.ending of a book
D.review of a book