New FSU Quiz & Research

[mendeleyev]

I realize that this may have some questions and places that are totally new to readers, therefore I'm revising it from a quiz into a research project instead. Better to learn by research, than to simply not know the answers. Remember what Tsar Nikolas used to say to his daughters when they'd come to him for homework assistance: "Yandex (or Google) is your best friend!


Q What is the name for a Russian 3-stringed musical instrument with a triangular body? (It is thought to have been invented by serfs during medieval times.)
A


Q There is a hill overlooking Volgograd named Mamayev Kurgan. On this hill there is a very tall monument that can be seen from great distances. It features a woman holding a sword. What is the common English translated name of this monument?
A


Q True or False: One-tenth of all Russian citizens live in the Moscow metropolitan area.
A


Q What is the name for a (delicious) Russian dish that uses beets, shredded potatoes, herring, carrots, onions, (and sometimes eggs) and mayo?
A


Q True or False: AeroExpress is the only rail link between SVO Airport and the centre of Moscow.
A


Q True or False: Honoured guests are traditionally greeted with a large round loaf of bread with a small round container of salt in the middle.
A


Q Moscow is the major rail hub between all cities in Russia. There are 9 major rail stations. Three of the 9 stations share a common location often called "Three Stations Square." What are the names for each of those 3 stations?
A
A
A


Q The city of Volgograd sits along the banks of what river?
A


Q In the early years after the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Lenin asked for volunteers to work on the railroads. Those non-paid extra hours were performed on Saturdays. As the word for Saturday is "subbota," folk who volunteered were called by what nickname?
A


Q True or False: During the winter holidays, a large outdoor skating rink is constructed on Red Square.
A

 
Q A popular soup uses beetroot as the base. Every FSU home swears their recipe is the best. What is the name of this dish?
A


Q This city is now (again) called Volgograd but was founded as Tsaritsyn. What was the name of this city during the Great Patriotic War?
A


Q Russian ultra nationalists charged that Putin's approval for a NATO air base in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk (birthplace of Vladimir Putin) was a gift from Putin in exchange for the United States recognition of the Russian elections of what year?
A


Q The small Russian city of Shakhty (Шахты), population 220,000 and dying, is a coal mining area nestled among the Donetsk mountain ridge and rivers of the Rostov region, just off the M4 highway. Since it was not coal mining that made Shakhty famous during Soviet times, what scandals made the city famous. There were two. Do you know the name(s) and/or events of either?
A
A


Q Saint Petersburg is a port city to which body of water?
A

[krimster2]

Q In the early years after the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Lenin asked for volunteers to work on the railroads. Those non-paid extra hours were performed on Saturdays. As the word for Saturday is "subbota," folk who volunteered were called by what nickname?

A: "Pridoriks"

I win!

[mendeleyev]

Krimster, you have the last 3 letters right, however you might look closely at the name for Saturday in Russian. 

[Larry1]

Q What is the name for a Russian 3-stringed musical instrument with a triangular body? (It is thought to have been invented by serfs during medieval times.
A balalaika


Q There is a hill overlooking Volgograd named Mamayev Kurgan. On this hill there is a very tall monument that can be seen from great distances. It features a woman holding a sword. What is the common English translated name of this monument?
A statue of the motherland


Q True or False: One-tenth of all Russian citizens live in the Moscow metropolitan area.
A true


Q What is the name for a (delicious) Russian dish that uses beets, shredded potatoes, herring, carrots, onions, (and sometimes eggs) and mayo?
A herring under fur coat


Q True or False: AeroExpress is the only rail link between SVO Airport and the centre of Moscow.
A false


Q True or False: Honoured guests are traditionally greeted with a large round loaf of bread with a small round container of salt in the middle.
A  true


Q Moscow is the major rail hub between all cities in Russia. There are 9 major rail stations. Three of the 9 stations share a common location often called "Three Stations Square." What are the names for each of those 3 stations?
A don't know
A
A


Q The city of Volgograd sits along the banks of what river?
A  The Volga


Q In the early years after the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Lenin asked for volunteers to work on the railroads. Those non-paid extra hours were performed on Saturdays. As the word for Saturday is "subbota," folk who volunteered were called by what nickname?
A don't know


Q True or False: During the winter holidays, a large outdoor skating rink is constructed on Red Square.
A true

 
Q A popular soup uses beetroot as the base. Every FSU home swears their recipe is the best. What is the name of this dish?
A borsch


Q This city is now (again) called Volgograd but was founded as Tsaritsyn. What was the name of this city during the Great Patriotic War?
A stalingrad


Q Russian ultra nationalists charged that Putin's approval for a NATO air base in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk (birthplace of Vladimir Putin) was a gift from Putin in exchange for the United States recognition of the Russian elections of what year?
A don't know


Q The small Russian city of Shakhty (Шахты), population 220,000 and dying, is a coal mining area nestled among the Donetsk mountain ridge and rivers of the Rostov region, just off the M4 highway. Since it was not coal mining that made Shakhty famous during Soviet times, what scandals made the city famous. There were two. Do you know the name(s) and/or events of either?
A don't know



Q Saint Petersburg is a port city to which body of water?
A The Baltic sea

[mendeleyev]

Q What is the name for a Russian 3-stringed musical instrument with a triangular body? (It is thought to have been invented by serfs during medieval times.)
A balalaika


Q There is a hill overlooking Volgograd named Mamayev Kurgan. On this hill there is a very tall monument that can be seen from great distances. It features a woman holding a sword. What is the common English translated name of this monument?
A While "Statue of the motherland" is an acceptable answer, the more common name is "Motherland is Calling."


Q True or False: One-tenth of all Russian citizens live in the Moscow metropolitan area.
A true


Q What is the name for a (delicious) Russian dish that uses beets, shredded potatoes, herring, carrots, onions, (and sometimes eggs) and mayo?
A herring under fur coat


Q True or False: AeroExpress is the only rail link between SVO Airport and the centre of Moscow.
A True


Q True or False: Honoured guests are traditionally greeted with a large round loaf of bread with a small round container of salt in the middle.
A  true


Q Moscow is the major rail hub between all cities in Russia. There are 9 major rail stations. Three of the 9 stations share a common location often called "Three Stations Square." What are the names for each of those 3 stations?
A Kazansky
A Yaroslavlsky
A Leningradsky

These are accessed by the Komsomolskaya Metro.


Q The city of Volgograd sits along the banks of what river?
A  The Volga


Q In the early years after the Bolshevik revolution, Vladimir Lenin asked for volunteers to work on the railroads. Those non-paid extra hours were performed on Saturdays. As the word for Saturday is "subbota," folk who volunteered were called by what nickname?
A Subbotniks


Q True or False: During the winter holidays, a large outdoor skating rink is constructed on Red Square.
A true

 
Q A popular soup uses beetroot as the base. Every FSU home swears their recipe is the best. What is the name of this dish?
A borsch


Q This city is now (again) called Volgograd but was founded as Tsaritsyn. What was the name of this city during the Great Patriotic War?
A stalingrad


Q Russian ultra nationalists charged that Putin's approval for a NATO air base in the Russian city of Ulyanovsk (birthplace of Vladimir Putin) was a gift from Putin in exchange for the United States recognition of the Russian elections of what year?
A 2012


Q The small Russian city of Shakhty (Шахты), population 220,000 and dying, is a coal mining area nestled among the Donetsk mountain ridge and rivers of the Rostov region, just off the M4 highway. Since it was not coal production that made Shakhty famous during Soviet times, what scandals made the city famous. There were two. Do you know the name(s) and/or events of either?

A The first was in response to forced collectivization and nationalization of industry. What became known as the "Shakhty scandal" in the 1920s and grew to international concern over the Shakhty Trial in 1928. A group of local coal mining engineers were arrested and charged by the Soviets for being associated with the mine owners who had fled the country after nationalization began. The trail was held in 1928, and of course the men were found to be guilty. 53 coal miners were executed and another 40 were sent to the Gulags. This event marked the beginning of the "Great Purge" which would be in full swing by the 1930s.

B Officially there was no murder in the Soviet Union, especially no mass murder. However, when mass murderers were caught, the state could never admit that the perfect Socialist society might have produced some misfits. Instead, the state routinely claimed that violent crimanals had been programmed by the Nazi's during the occupation, and then set loose to terrorize the Soviet population. Of course there were no prisons in the CCCP either, because there were no criminals. However, if caught as a criminal, you would be sent to a prison that officially did not exist.

In the mid 1970s, the 1980s and 1990s, Andrei Chikatilo, a school teacher in Shakhty, went on a rape and murder spree. He was caught in 1991. His grisly tales, most of his victims were girls, didn't phase state prosecutors at first. Even thought he had a sharp memory, and recalled in detail the names and circumstances of each of the 56 victims (and even leading officials to the various burial scenes), prosecutors claimed that since there were no eyewitnesses, he had not committed those crimes.

Only when a young prosecutor named Amurkhan Yandiev was assigned to the case did the investigation get serious. As it turns out, there were mounds of physical evidence that had been hidden in police storage, much of it hidden deliberately. The case horrified a nation that had prided itself on having no serial killers like the West.
 


Q Saint Petersburg is a port city to which body of water?
A The Baltic sea

[jone]

Last answer:  Actually, the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea.

[mendeleyev]

Thank you, Jone. Absolutely correct.