Fantasies for young readers really began with the fairy tales of writers such as the Brothers Grimm. Of course, all the children who grow up reading these books and tales never, at heart, really grow up at all, for such wonderful stories are forever carved in their minds. And fairy tales are as much fun to read when we are fifty, only for memorable reasons, as they are when we are children.
But it's obvious these days that fantasies aren't only for the little ones. In 1977, 23 years after The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien was published, Terry Brooks published his first novel, The Sword of Shannara. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List, where it remained for over five months. Following the release of Tolkien's work, earlier works of fantasy, like T．H. White's Once and Future King and Eric Eddison's The Mezentian Gate(in 1958) came out before The Sword of Shannara, but neither had an influence quite like The Sword of Shannara. Fantasies were truly reborn.
As the popularity of fantasies began to grow quickly, the film and television industry climbed_aboard_the_bandwagon. During the eighties, the fantasy/adventure movie was born. Conan is a classic to the eighties. Other less memorable films can still be found in video stores. The lack of really good fantasy movies in the recent past can be blamed on substandard (标准以下的) special effects. However, now, in an age of postmodern computer technology, the impossible is no longer a concern. Since the release and popularity of The Lord of the Rings, cinema screen production rights have been purchased for scores of fantasy novels, from Terry Brooks to Robert Jordan.
The future of fantasies has never looked so assured. Even children's cinema has had its own successes through the big screen release of the Harry Potter series and the classic Peter Pan. While there remains a choice to go beyond the reality we know, there will always be fantasies.
1．What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A．Fairy tales live in people's mind.
B．Fantasies are attractive to persons of all ages.
C．Fantasies appear earlier than fairy tales.
D．The Brothers Grimm is famous for The Sword of Shannara.
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据第一段的“And fairy tales are as much fun to read when we are fifty, only for memorable reasons, as they are when we are children.”可知，不论是孩子还是中老年人都觉得童话这类书很有趣，由此可推知，童话对各个年龄段的人都具有吸引力。
2．Which of the following fantasy books showed the rebirth of fantasies?
A．The Sword of Shannara. B．The Lord of the Rings.
C．Once and Future King. D．The Mezentian Gate.
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据第二段的“... The Sword of Shannara. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List ... but neither had an influence quite like The Sword of Shannara. Fantasies were truly reborn.”可知，The Sword of Shannara的出版标志着奇幻文学的重生。
3．The underlined phrase “climbed aboard the bandwagon” probably means “________”．
A．faced challenges B．gave up hope
C．made an announcement D．followed the trend
解析：选D 词义猜测题。根据第三段的“As the popularity of fantasies began to grow quickly ...”可知，奇幻文学的受欢迎程度迅速提高；由“...now, in an age of postmodern computer technology, the impossible is no longer a concern. Since the release and popularity of The Lord of the Rings ...”可知，由于电脑技术的发展，随着奇幻文学的流行，电影业和电视业也加入到这个大潮中来，由此可判断本短语的含义为“顺应潮流”。
4．What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．Types of fantasies.
B．Famous fantasy works.
C．The development of fantasies.
D．The popularity of fantasies.
解析：选C 主旨大意题。本文以时间为线索，介绍了奇幻文学的发展。
