Test your knowledge of perestroika

[Larry1]

For those of you who wonder what life was like in Russia a quarter of a century ago, RBTH has devised a nostalgic quiz to test your knowledge of perestroika…

I think I missed only two questions but the quiz doesn't think much of my results:

You might have lived in Moscow during Perestroika, but you seem to have forgotten the details. Some lessons still need to be learned. Read Gorbachev's opinion on perestroika today

Ouch.

http://rbth.com/arts/2015/08/20/quiz_what_do_you_know_about_perestroika_48623.html

Take the quiz and post your results. I'm curious as to whether Mendy gets a perfect score.

[BdHvA]

I got I think 7 questions correct.

I am reasonably certain on answer is wrong but some wiser than me can confirm.

[Boethius]

More than one question is wrong.  Perestroika was never about the collapse of the USSR.  It was about rebuilding communism.  The Bolsheviks believed the USSR would exist forever.  Glasnost' is openness, not freedom of speech.  There was no freedom of speech in the USSR, even during so called glasnost'.


One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was first released in a magazine during Khrushchev's time in power.  But when he fell from power, it disappeared from bookshelves and libraries.  If a Soviet citizen had a copy, he/she was not arrested, but the copy was confiscated, and the person with the magazine/book was put on a KGB list.

[mendeleyev]

Survey said:

Seems like you know Perestroika inside out. Well done! The only thing we can suggest - cook pasta perestorika with RBTH

That being said, I agree wholeheartedly with Bo in that several questions were way off.

None of the choices for glasnost or perestroika were correct. NONE! One option about glasnost was somewhat close, but perestroika was about restructuring, and none of those answers fit. So, I guessed easily at what the computer wanted the answers to be.

In the photo of the little girls at a vending machine, one can clearly see "сок" but unless I am wrong, I do not recall lemonade sold in such machines. Maybe I am splitting hairs on that one--sorry. Or, maybe I am just wrong about lemonade.

However, it was a fun little quiz and I think very useful for readers who want to know more about Russia and the CCCP. Even today, I sometimes marvel at how the current culture is still impacted by those years. Just as the Soviet period was influenced by the Tsarist period before it, today some remnants of the CCCP are easily found in modern Russian thinking and living.

Thanks to Larry for continuing to give up these unique opportunities to learn! 


Footnote: I am puzzled lately at RBTH--they are owned and controlled by the Kremlin, but of late have shown some streaks of independent thinking. I have done free lance work with them in the distance past, but walked away a few years back when Mr. Putin organized all state controlled media under the Russia Today umbrella.

[Boethius]

Mendy, I don't ever recall seeing lemonade in the USSR.  In Ukraine, there were juice bars, decades before they were popular in the West, with some very interesting combinations (pumpkin/apple was delicious).  But no lemonade.  There were lemon fizzy drinks.  I'll have to ask the better half, once he's back.

[Larry1]

However, it was a fun little quiz and I think very useful for readers who want to know more about Russia and the CCCP. Even today, I sometimes marvel at how the current culture is still impacted by those years. Just as the Soviet period was influenced by the Tsarist period before it, today some remnants of the CCCP are easily found in modern Russian thinking and living.

That topic would make an excellent thread.

Thanks to Larry for continuing to give up these unique opportunities to learn! 

My pleasure, Mendy. Thank you, as always, for continuing to share your knowledge with us. I love the history and culture threads. I'll have a thread on Trotsky up in a few hours.

[HoundDaddyLee]

I think I missed only two questions but the quiz doesn't think much of my results:

Ouch.

http://rbth.com/arts/2015/08/20/quiz_what_do_you_know_about_perestroika_48623.html

Take the quiz and post your results. I'm curious as to whether Mendy gets a perfect score.

I missed two also and got the same snarky reply...


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