A. One of the most interesting authors of the 20th century, J.R.R. Tolkien became famous through his very creative fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, which is still read and enjoyed worldwide. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, an Afrikaans-speaking area of South Africa, in 1892. After the death of his father, four-year-old Tolkien, with his mother and younger brother, moved to England and settled near Birmingham. Tolkien later attended Oxford University. After serving in World War I, he became a professor of Anglo-Saxon and English Language and Literature at Oxford University.

B. The three books of The Lord of the Rings were written between 1936 and 1949. It took Tolkien so many years to complete the novel due to his duties as a professor and the problems caused by World War II. The novel is about a battle between good and evil trying to get a magical ring that has the power to rule the world. The books were published in 1965 and they soon became very popular, especially among young people. By the late 1960s, about twenty years after this unusual novel was written, young people had become interested in the mythology and legends Tolkien had created and started to study them.

C. The Lord of the Rings is set in a world called Middle Earth, populated by good and evil creatures - dwarves, elves, monsters, wizards and some humans. The author created a large number of characters, each with a distinct and unique personality. He based these characters on mythological tales from Greece and Northern Europe, creating a fantasy world with its own unique and magic history, geography, culture and language. The novel is so rich in characters and so full of unusual facts that it can be hard to understand without careful attention from readers.

D. People often ask whether Ethiopia, a country in Africa, had influenced Tolkien's creation of Middle Earth. That's what some writers and Lord of the Rings bloggers think. Their theory is based on the fact that so many of the place names in this classic fantasy are surprisingly similar to the names of Ethiopian places, like Gondor in the novel and Gondar in Ethiopia. Despite the fact that Tolkien never visited this country, his African birthplace inspired parts of the novel, even though he lived in England while writing it.

E. Many readers and scholars have analysed J.R.R. Tolkien's works, particularly The Lord of the Rings, and have tried to connect them with his real-life experiences from both World War I and World War II. However, the author never agreed with this opinion. He stated that during his university years his main goal was to create myths and legends about elves and their languages. The novel mentions several invented languages, but only two of them are well-described by the author. They are Quenya and Sindarin - both used by the elves. Tolkien was very careful with inventing a new language and paid a lot of attention to its every detail.

F. The production of The Lord of the Rings film series, directed by Peter Jackson, was both a big challenge and a huge success. All three films were shot at the same time in Peter Jackson's native New Zealand and were shown in the movie theatres between 2001 and 2003. The series won numerous prestigious awards and is considered one of the most influential film series ever made. Disney Studios refused to produce an animated version of the novel, noting that it would be very expensive to make. In fact, the real reason was the fact that Tolkien found Walt Disney's movies 'terrible' and didn't want to 'let Disney touch The Lord of the Rings'. This shows how much Tolkien wanted to protect his story.

This is a personal story told by Daniel Smithson, an American student.

When I graduated from high school in a small town in Texas, USA, it felt like the end of an era. I had spent the last four years of high school studying doing sports and hanging out with friends. But now, all of that was behind me. As I stood on stage in my cap and gown, shaking hands with the school principal and receiving my diploma, I couldn't help but feel excited and nervous about what was coming next – university. I had always dreamed of going to university, and after months of sending applications and waiting, I finally received an acceptance letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, one of the top universities in the country. It was a real surprise for me. I knew that getting into MIT would be incredibly hard as a lot of young people try to get accepted there. I could hardly believe it! What fascinated me was the fact that MIT, like no other university, encourages students to conduct research or participate in it. I really liked this idea! I also discovered through their website that MIT is known for its strong programmes in political science and urban studies – two areas I could choose as electives.

As summer passed and the start of the academic year approached, I began to feel anxious. I was excited about the opportunities ahead, but the idea of moving hundreds of miles away to a city where I knew no one stressed me out. I'd lived in the same small town my entire life, surrounded by familiar faces and places. My parents were incredibly supportive, reminding me that feeling nervous before such a big change is normal. My mom, in particular, seemed to understand exactly how I felt. 'It's okay to be scared,' she told me one evening as I was packing my suitcase. 'But this is your chance to explore new things, meet new people and grow into the person you're meant to be.' To calm my nerves, I spent time researching my future university. I knew well it was very prestigious, but I took a risk of applying there because of its reputation for engineering - the exact field I wanted to follow. On their website I looked up clubs and nearby hangout places. I even reached out to a few fellow students who would be living in the same dorm. Slowly, my excitement began to overshadow my fear.

The day I left for university was emotional. I hugged my parents tightly before loading my bags into the car. When I arrived, I saw that the campus was even more beautiful than I had imagined - wide green lawns, tall red brick buildings and students bustling everywhere. During orientation week I met other first-year students who were just as nervous as I was. We talked about our majors, where we were from and what we hoped to achieve. As we laughed and shared our stories, I began to feel more at ease. What helped me relax was realising that I wasn't alone - everyone was going through the same emotions. By the end of the first week, I realised that while it was hard to leave home, it was also exciting to begin this new chapter of life. I still missed my family, but I knew this was where I needed to be. University was going to be an adventure and for the first time in weeks, I felt ready for it.

elective: არჩევითი საგანი    dorm: საერთო საცხოვრებელი