Pliny the Elder （老普林尼）wrote the （1）

first

first

（one） encyclopedia with the help of his nephew.This work is made up of 37 books and had many （2）

subjects

subjects

（subject） such as anthropology（人類(lèi)學(xué)）and painting.Through the following few centuries，encyclopedia were connected to religion.The first Christian edition appeared in 560 AD， （3）

and

and

the first Muslim volume came to light soon after.
   One of （4）

the longest

the longest

（long） encyclopedia ever was produced in 1403 when The Yongle Encyclopedia appeared in China.It had 11，095 volumes.Most of the original work （5）

has been lost

has been lost

（lose） through the centuries，and people can see less than 400 volumes today.The word "encyclopedia" coming from Greek （6）

means

means

（mean） "a general knowledge".It has been in use （7）

for

for

at least 500 years.
   In （8）

the

the

20^th century，the Encyclopedia Britannica became the most well known （9）

western

western

（west） work of this type.At the same time，topical encyclopedia became the most popular，covering different topics.At the end of the century，many publishers began to publish （10）

them

them

（they） in digital formats such as Compact Discs （CDs） and Digital Versatile Discs （DVDs）.