Quiz

1) Using the table below supply the Russian for the following names of countries:

Austria
Great Britain
China
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Mongolia
Russia
Spain
Ukraine

2) The Russian words you already know. Match the following Russian words and English-language definitions.

• A country house or cottage in Russia
• a fortified medieval Russian city; the most famous one is in Moscow and now houses the central offices of the Russian government
• a Russian-made sub-machine-gun, used especially by terrorists and guerrillas
• a traditional Russian musical instrument of triangular shape with three strings
• a small sometimes moveable booth from which newspapers and cigarettes are sold
• a Ukranian, Russian and Polish soup based on beetroot
• a violent and sudden uprising, political revolt; a coup d'etat
• an alcoholic drink originating in Russia, made from grain, potatoes, etc
• an extensive grassy plain usually without trees
• an organised persecution or extermination of an ethnic group, especially of Jews
• any of a series of Soviet artificial satellites; the first one orbited the earth in 1957
• the capital of the Russian federation
• the most prominant Russian ballet company
• the policy of restructuring the Soviet economy under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev
• the Russian-state airline
• the Soviet secret police after 1954
• the standard monetary unit of Russia
• until 1917 the emperor of Russia

3) Public amenities. Selecting your answers from the list of words supplied on the right, answer the following questions

4) Russian leaders. Supply the English equivalent of the following Russian rulers. Their dates have been supplied to help you.

Владимир (980-1015)
Иван (1533-1584)
Петр I (1682-1725)
Екатерина II (1762-1796)
Николай II (1894-1917)
Ленин (1917-1924)
Сталин (1927-1953)
Брежнев (1964-1982)
Горбачëв (1985-1991)
Ельцин (1991-1999)
Путин (2000- )

Competition

Submit a project (group or individual) on one of the following topics, and you could win a €50 book token!

Topics:

• Give an account of the life and work of a Russian politician or dissident.
• Examine the development of one art form (painting, architecture, sculpture, music, literature or film) from its origins to the present day in Russia. Give reasons for the changes.
• Discuss how learning about another country's history, culture or social development can enhance one's understanding of and attitude towards one's own environment.

For further details please contact the department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2.