Mendip Hills, range of hills in south-western England; located mostly in the county of Somerset and reaching up to the border of Avon in the north, the Mendips extend about 37 km (23 mi) north-west from the Frome valley. The Western Mendip rises to a plateau over 240 m (787 ft) high, and about 9 km (5.6 mi) wide. The limestone of which the hills consist has encouraged the formation of underground streams and caves, the most famous of these being Cheddar Gorge at the north-western end. Evidence of ancient settlements has been found on the hills, which were later mined by the Romans for lead.

India is a secular country that has traditionally absorbed and given birth to a variety of religions and religious sects. The majority of present-day Indians are Hindu, however, and this is reflected in many aspects of the shared culture across the country. Hinduism itself has, over centuries, absorbed and evolved a number of different philosophies and approaches, from the philosophical Advaita of Shankara to the devotion of the Bhakti movement.
The coexistence of significant minority faiths with the majority faith of Hinduism has by no means always been peaceable; Hindu-Muslim and Hindu-Sikh tensions (often fanned by motives other than religious ones) have, in the past, resulted in many deaths. The Ramajanmabhoomi movement, whose demands to build a Hindu temple on what they claim to be the birthplace of Rama in Ayodhya resulted in the destruction by a mob of the Babri Masjid (a mosque which they declared to have

India may be divided into four main regions: the Himalaya, the northern river-plains, the Deccan Plateau, and the Eastern and Western Ghats.
radio Listen to radio from India
The Himalaya mountain system is about 160 to 320 km (100 to 200 mi) wide and extends about 2,410 km (1,498 mi) along the northern and eastern margins of the Indian subcontinent, separating it from the rest of Asia. It is the highest, youngest, and one of the most active mountain systems in the world. Notable peaks wholly or partly within India include Kanchenjunga (8,598 m/28,208 ft), the third-highest peak in the world, after Mount Everest and K2 (Mount Godwin-Austen), Nanga Parbat (8,126 m/26,660 ft), Nanda Devi (7,817
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More than a fifth of the world’s total population lives within China’s borders. China gave birth to one of the world’s earliest civilizations and has a recorded history that dates from some 3,500 years ago. Zhongguo, the Chinese name for the country, means “central land”, a reference to the Chinese belief that their country was the geographical centre of the Earth and the only true civilization.

China’s Communist government placed great emphasis on radio when it began gathering support for its new policies in the early 1950s. Loudspeakers were placed in commune fields and workplaces from the 1950s to the 1970s, and the people gradually became accustomed to continual media presence in their lives; by 1997 more than 417 million radio receivers were in use. Between 1977 and 1981 the number of privately owned television sets in China grew from 630,000 to 7 million; overall, an estimated 400 million television receivers were in use in 1997. In Beijing, two sets for every three households is the urban average. A symbol of the freer economic climate of the 1980s was the inauguration of commercial radio broadcasting in 1986, in southern China. Though officially banned in 1993, satellite television receivers are widespread, serving to disseminate outside news and popular culture.
The Central People’s Television Station was established in Beijing in 1958; in the same year the first Chinese television sets were manufactured in the Tianjin State Radio Plant. Beijing has augmented the standard programming of the Central People’s Television Station with two additional channels, and many cities or provinces have their own local stations. The average composition of programming is 20 per cent news; 25 per cent sports, service, science, and programmes for children and specialized audiences; and 55 per cent entertainment.
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china

With the increase in foreign cultural exchanges since the mid-1970s, the official attitude towards the propaganda aspects of the arts has been relaxed. Foreign literature, which had been banned in the 1960s, began to reappear in China. In 1978 and 1979 some 200 translations of foreign works, including popular novels from the West, were completed in the People’s Literature Publishing House.

Founded by Zhu, the Ming dynasty first established its capital at Nanjing and revived the characteristically Chinese civilization of the Tang and the Song. Chinese power was reasserted in China and throughout East Asia. Civil government was re-established. Literature was patronized, schools were founded, and the administration of justice was reformed. The Great Wall was extended and the Grand Canal improved. The empire was divided into 15 provinces, most of which still bear their original names. Each province was supervised by three commissioners—one for finances, one for military affairs, and one for judicial matters.

India (in Hindi, Bharat), officially Republic of India, federal democracy in southern Asia and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, comprising, with Pakistan and Bangladesh, the subcontinent of India. India is the seventh-largest country in the world and the second most populous, after China. It geographically consists of the entire Indian peninsula and portions of the Asian mainland. India is bordered on the north by Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, China, and Bhutan; on the south by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, which separate it from Sri Lanka, and the Indian Ocean; on the west by the Arabian Sea and Pakistan; on the east by Myanmar (Burma), the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh, which almost cuts off north-east India from the rest of the country. With Jammu and Kashmir (the definitive status of which has not been determined), India has an area of 3,165,596 sq km (1,222,243 sq mi).

Forest, plant community, predominantly of trees or other woody vegetation, occupying an extensive area of land. In its natural state, a forest remains in a relatively fixed, self-regulated condition over a long period of time. Climate, soil, and the topography of the region determine the characteristic trees of a forest. In local environments, dominant species of trees are characteristically associated with certain shrubs and herbs.

Forest, plant community, predominantly of trees or other woody vegetation, occupying an extensive area of land. In its natural state, a forest remains in a relatively fixed, self-regulated condition over a long period of time. Climate, soil, and the topography of the region determine the characteristic trees of a forest. In local environments, dominant species of trees are characteristically associated with certain shrubs and herbs. The type of vegetation on the forest floor is influenced by the larger and taller plants, but because low vegetation affects the organic composition of the soil, the influence is reciprocal..

forest

Forest, plant community, predominantly of trees or other woody vegetation, occupying an extensive area of land. In its natural state, a forest remains in a relatively fixed, self-regulated condition over a long period of time. Climate, soil, and the topography of the region determine the characteristic trees of a forest. In local environments, dominant species of trees are characteristically associated with certain shrubs and herbs. The type of vegetation on the forest floor is influenced by the larger and taller plants, but because low vegetation affects the organic composition of the soil, the influence

Forest, plant community, predominantly of trees or other woody vegetation, occupying an extensive area of land. In its natural state, a forest remains in a relatively fixed, self-regulated condition over a long period of time. Climate, soil, and the topography of the region determine the characteristic trees of a forest. In local environments, dominant species of trees are characteristically associated with certain shrubs and herbs. The type of vegetation on the forest floor is influenced by the larger and taller plants, but because low vegetation affects the organic composition of the soil,

subspecies are the Siberian (Amur) tiger and the Indian tiger. The modern tiger is thought to have originated in northern Asia during the Pleistocene epoch (1.6 million to 10,000 years ago) and spread southward thereafter, crossing the Himalaya only about 10,000 years ago.

Lion
I
INTRODUCTION
Lion, member of the cat family whose size, power, and bearing have captured human imagination since earliest times. Called the king of beasts, lions once ranged throughout Africa and from Europe to Iran and India. By 1900 lions were no longer found in Syria; today Eurasian wild lions are limited to the Gir Sanctuary in India. Lions also roam Africa south of the Sahara, particularly the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This drastic reduction in range came about as human beings and domestic livestock spread into savannah lands. Because lions live in open areas, they are easily shot by hunters and herders. In sanctuaries, however, they are a great attraction for tourists, and within such confines their survival is not endangered except by disease.
Lions have relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. The animal stands 1.23 m (4 ft) high at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. It varies in length and in colour, from black to tawny; well-fed, healthy lions have longer, fuller manes. The smaller, equally muscular females are of the same tawny colour but lack manes. Both sexes have hooked claws, which are retractable (can be withdrawn), and wide, powerful jaws. The lion's roar, which can be heard up to 9 km (5.6 mi) away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and again in the early morning. In the open savannahs they inhabit, lions need travel only about 8 km (5 mi) and spend only two to three hours a day in pursuit of food, passing the remaining hours resting and sleeping. Lions do not hunt every day.
II
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Among the most gregarious of the cats, lions associate in groups of one or more family units called prides. A pride has 5 to 37 members composed of 4 to 12 adult females, their cubs, and 1 to 6 adult males. The females, which represent several generations, rarely leave the pride. Male cubs stay in the pride until they are expelled when nearly adult. They then roam about for several years, after which they begin to contend with rival males to head a pride. Many males often remain nomadic, and even those that take over a pride remain with the females for only a few months to a few years before they leave on their own or are forced out by rivals. When a male lion takes over another's pride he takes over the territory and the females within it. He will often kill some of the existing cubs that were fathered by the dominant male lion that he defeated. A pride frequently breaks up into groups that later recombine into different assemblages of individuals. In prides of Indian lions the adult males are not resident.
The size of the territory that a lion pride works depends on the amount of available prey in the territory, which may range in area from 20 to 400 sq km (8 to 150 sq mi). Lions of both sexes maintain territories by leaving a strong scent on bushes and by roaring to warn off wandering prides and nomadic males.
III
PREDATORY BEHAVIOUR
The prey of lions ranges from insects to giraffes; the animals prefer large animals such as zebra. Hunting takes place in the evening and is primarily a female group activity. The lionesses cautiously stalk their prey and cut off escape routes. Once within close range, they run it down in sprints reaching about 50 to 60 km/h (30 to 37 mph). The lionesses' great weight and momentum usually bring down their victims, which are then dispatched with a bite to the throat that suffocates the prey. After the female has made a kill, the male comes to share the meat. Males may scare off females in order to take some of the meat. A lion may eat 40 kg (88 lb) of meat at one time and then go for more than a week before the next kill.
IV
REPRODUCTION AND LIFESPAN
Lions are polygamous (have more than one mate) and breed every 18 to 26 months in the wild; captive lions breed every year. After a gestation period of about 110 days, one to four cubs are born, with thick, spotted coats. Lions in captivity can live up to 20 years; in the wild, males live an average of 12 years and females an average of 16 years.
Scientific classification: The lion belongs to the family Felidae. It is classified as Panthera leo.

Flowers that have numerous spirally arranged parts separately attached to their floral axes appeared earlier in the evolution of angiosperms. Flowers that vary from this condition are more derived. Thus, whorling, reduction of parts, fusion of parts, loss of parts, and bilateral symmetry indicate modification. The flower in possession of all or any one of these characteristics is more derived.

The palace was perfected during the Renaissance and remains one of architecture's most enduring images, a dignified, large-scale city element that has been adapted and repeated ever since. Palaces were first built in Florence, Italy, and then throughout the Western world. In France the concept of the palace was combined with that of the late medieval castle to produce the French country château—the setting, with its gardens and fountains, of aristocratic life from the 16th century onwards. In England the lord's manor became the squire's hall, the centre of an estate

House, a dwelling place for human habitation. Whether a crude hut or an elaborate mansion, and whatever its degree of intrinsic architectural interest, a house provides shelter and acts as a focal point for day-to-day living

The feathers of birds, collectively called plumage, play several roles. Brightly coloured plumage, sometimes including ornamental feathers called plumes, is often influential in attracting a mate, but display of such plumage is used with equal frequency by males to try to intimidate other males competing for females or for territory. Some birds are camouflaged to resemble their surroundings, thus escaping the notice of possible predators (see camouflage). They sometimes even adopt a pose that enhances the protective coloration. The marsh-dwelling herons called bitterns “freeze” with their striped necks and long bills pointing straight up, emphasizing their resemblance to the surrounding reeds. .

Most birds can fly, and all are ultimately descended from ancestors that could fly, although there are many extinct flightless species. The bodies of birds are therefore highly modified for efficiency in flight. The digital and wrist bones of the forelimb are extensively fused to form a rigid support for the large flight feathers of the wing. Fusing of bones for strength and lightness is also found in the skull and pelvic girdle. Many bones of adult birds are hollow rather than filled with marrow, and are connected to a system of air sacs dispersed through the body. The sternum, or breast bone, of most birds is relatively large and bears a central ridge, or keel, known as the carina. The sternum and carina support some of the major muscles used in flying. Flightless (ratite) birds—including the ostrich, the kiwi, and their relatives—do not have a carina and the sternum is reduced in size. The wing structure of most flying birds is the same but there are differences in flying styles. Larger flying birds, such as buzzards, vultures, albatrosses and eagles, spend much of their time in the air gliding or soaring. They use their broad wings with splayed feathers to glide on strong winds or “rest” on rising warm air. Most smaller birds have to flap their wings to sustain their flight.
The jaws of modern birds are extended as toothless bills or beaks, covered with a layer called the ramphotheca, which can be hard, as in most birds, or leathery, as in ducks. The lack of teeth lessens the weight of the skull.

Most birds can fly, and all are ultimately descended from ancestors that could fly, although there are many extinct flightless species. The bodies of birds are therefore highly modified for efficiency in flight. The digital and wrist bones of the forelimb are extensively fused to form a rigid support for the large flight feathers of the wing. Fusing of bones for strength and lightness is also found in the skull and pelvic girdle. Many bones of adult birds are hollow rather than filled with marrow, and are connected to a system of air sacs dispersed through the body. The sternum, or breast bone, of most birds is relatively large and bears a central ridge, or keel, known as the carina. The sternum and carina support some of the major muscles used in flying. Flightless (ratite) birds—including the ostrich, the kiwi, and their relatives—do not have a carina and the sternum is reduced in size. The wing structure of most flying birds is the same but there are differences in flying styles. Larger flying birds, such as buzzards, vultures, albatrosses and eagles, spend much of their time in the air gliding or soaring. They use their broad wings with splayed feathers to glide on strong winds or “rest” on rising warm air. Most smaller birds have to flap their wings to sustain their flight.
The jaws of modern birds are extended as toothless bills or beaks, covered with a layer called the ramphotheca, which can be hard, as in most birds, or leathery, as in ducks. The lack of teeth lessens the weight of the skull.