question: India, officially the Republic of India ("Bhārat Gaṇarājya"), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country (with over 1.2 billion people), and the most populous democracy in the world. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. 

The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. In the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, and Buddhism and Jainism arose. Early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires; the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, and Sikhism emerged, all adding to the region's diverse culture. Much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate; the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal Empire. In the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in 1947.
1. What is the population of India?
2. Does this make it the largest population in the world?
3. What is it ranked?
4. And by land mass?
5. Where is it located?
6. Is it land locked?
7. What body of water is to the southeast?
8. And what does it lay west of?
9. Is it near Sri Lanka?
10. What else?
11. What system came about in the first millennium BCE?
12. How does this categorize people?
13. Which religions followed?
14. When did Christiannity appear?
15. Who controlled the north?
16. And the south?
17. When did they begin to have an active commerce?
18. Under the rule of whom?
19. When did the royal of Britain take control?
20. What began later that century?
21. Known for?
22. Led by whom?
****
answer: 1. 1.2 billion people
2. no
3. second
4. seventh
5. South Asia
6. no
7. the Bay of Bengal
8. It shares land borders with Pakistan
9. yes
10. the Maldives
11. Social stratification
12. based on caste
13. Buddhism and Jainism
14. In the medieval era
15. the Delhi sultanate
16. the Vijayanagara Empire
17. in the 17th century
18. the Mughal Empire
19. mid-19th century
20. A nationalist movement
21. nonviolent resistance
22. Mahatma Gandh

(CNN) -- He may not have started from the top of the mountain but it was still a dream downhill for Patrick Kueng as he skied to victory at the World Cup event in Wengen. 

The course at the Swiss Alpine resort is renowned as the longest downhill course on the World Cup calendar at 4.4 kilometers (2.12 miles) long but high winds Saturday meant the skiers had to start their runs lower down the slope. 

Victory still tasted sweet for Switzerland's Kueng, who beat Austrian Hannes Reichelt and Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal with a time of one minute 32.66 seconds. 

"Since I was a kid, I've been watching this race," the 30-year-old told reporters. "My first dream was to race it and my second dream was to win it. 

"In 2006 I had a terrible accident in which I broke one leg and broke the ankle in my other leg. I ended up in a wheelchair and my thoughts did turn to quitting. 

"It was a very tough time, but when I decided to continue, it was nothing but 100 per cent. Eventually I got a World Cup spot and now I'm here!" 

Keung has never represented Switzerland at a Winter Olympics and is hoping that two World Cup victories this season will be enough to book his place on the plane to the Sochi Games next month. 

American Ted Ligety, a 2006 Olympic gold medallist in the combined, tuned up for his next tilt at the Games with a decisive victory in the super-combined in Wengen Friday.  What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Where was the event held?
2. What event?
3. Where Kueng is from
4. Who did he beat?
5. Where Hannes is from?
6. Where Aksel is from?
7. What was Kueng's timing on that match?
8. How old is he?
9. What was his first dream?
10. And second?
11. Did he win eventually?
12. Where is the longest downhill course?
13. How long was that?
14. in miles?
15. Did skieres have to do something special there?
16. What?
17. Did he have any accident?
18. When?
19. Where he ended up?
20. Did he ever represent his country in Winter Olympics?
Answer: 1. Wengen
2. the World Cup event
3. Switzerland
4. Hannes Reichelt and  Aksel Lund Svindal
5. Austria
6. Norway
7. one minute 32.66 seconds
8. 30
9. race in the World Cup
10. win it
11. yes
12. at the Swiss Alpine resort
13. 4.4 kilometers
14. 2.12 miles
15. yes
16. start their runs lower
17. yes
18. 2006
19. the World Cup
20. no

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. CHAPTER XXII. RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE 

Black Star and Night, answering to spur, swept swiftly westward along the white, slow-rising, sage-bordered trail. Venters heard a mournful howl from Ring, but Whitie was silent. The blacks settled into their fleet, long-striding gallop. The wind sweetly fanned Venters's hot face. From the summit of the first low-swelling ridge he looked back. Lassiter waved his hand; Jane waved her scarf. Venters replied by standing in his stirrups and holding high his sombrero. Then the dip of the ridge hid them. From the height of the next he turned once more. Lassiter, Jane, and the burros had disappeared. They had gone down into the Pass. Venters felt a sensation of irreparable loss. 

"Bern--look!" called Bess, pointing up the long slope. 

A small, dark, moving dot split the line where purple sage met blue sky. That dot was a band of riders. 

"Pull the black, Bess." 

They slowed from gallop to canter, then to trot. The fresh and eager horses did not like the check. 

"Bern, Black Star has great eyesight." 

"I wonder if they're Tull's riders. They might be rustlers. But it's all the same to us." 

The black dot grew to a dark patch moving under low dust clouds. It grew all the time, though very slowly. There were long periods when it was in plain sight, and intervals when it dropped behind the sage. The blacks trotted for half an hour, for another half-hour, and still the moving patch appeared to stay on the horizon line. Gradually, however, as time passed, it began to enlarge, to creep down the slope, to encroach upon the intervening distance.  1. Who were waving at each other?
2. What did Jane wave?
3. What did Lassiter wave?
4. What did Venters do?
5. And what did he hold up?
6. Who was with Venters?
7. What was the name of the horses?
8. What are their specific names?
9. Who saw something in the distance?
10. What did she see?
11. What did the dot turn out to be?
12. At this point could they still see Jane?
13. Where had they gone?
14. How did Venters fill about that?
numbered_answers:
1. Lassiter and jane
2. her scarf
3. his hand;
4. stood in his stirrups
5. his sombrero
6. Lassiter, Jane, and the burros
7. The blacks
8. Black Star and Night
9. bess
10. A small, dark, moving dot
11. a band of riders.
12. No
13. into the Pass.
14. felt  irreparable loss.