3. History of Russia. When were the events held?

1. Christianity was adopted in…. 2. The Kulikovo battle was in… 3. St’Petersburg was founded in… 4. Great Patriotic War ended in… 5. Olympic games were held in Moscow in…

Варианты ответов

1380; 1980; 1703; 990; 1945

Ответ

1.990

2. 1380

3.1703

4. 1945 5. 1980

Additional reading

Before reading: Imagine, you are to prove that our country is worth being proud of. What 10 most important facts about Russia can you tell a foreigner to support this idea?

Now read and compare with your own ideas.

10 Facts About Russia

1. Russia is the biggest country IN THE WORLD!

Yep, that's right - the first and most important piece of all the 10 facts about Russia! If the Soviet Union was 1/6th of the Earth's landmass, the Russian Federation is "only" 1/8th. You can say we shrank a little bit - but we're still number one in terms of size.

Russian Federation includes 13 seas (yes, that's thirteen!), and has the biggest land border in the world. That's one of the reasons we still use landmines - there's simply no other efficient way to guard such a huge territory.

2. Mikhail Gorbachev was the first and only President of the USSR

..."but how about the rest", you ask? Simple - they were (and are) the presidents of the Russian Federation.

Boris Yeltsin was the first such President, by the way, while Gorbachev became the USSR's first democratically elected leader shortly after he was appointed as the General Secretary of the Communist Party.

3. Russia was the first country to launch a man into space.

His name was Gagarin. Yuri Gagarin. This man was the first in mankind's history who made it to orbit and successfully flew around the globe several times on 12th of April 1961.

I'd bet you've heard about another man - Alan Shepard, who was the first American astronaut. However, his flight was suborbital, while Gagarin's mission was a full-scale space flight.

To bring down the tension, I must admit that Americans were the first who landed on the moon - so we're pretty even here. 

4. The most beautiful girls live in Russia.

I totally agree. Russian women are the most beautiful in the world - although I must say I'm biased - after all, I'm married to one 

If you think I'm wrong - come on, drop by to Russia and disprove me! Wander around Moscow, go to Samara and Volgograd - and you'll see I wasn't lying even a bit! 

5. Russia is multinational and multicultural.

Thought otherwise? Well, think again! Russia has got more than 100 nationalities - Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, Bashkirs - it would take a separate page to list them all.

Plus, nearly all of world's major religions are practiced in Russia - Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and many smaller, exotic ones.

6. Russia gave birth to many great artists, scientists and writers.

Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Pushkin - rings the bell? How about Aivazovsky and Vasnetsov? Gogol and Turgenev? Lomonosov and Karamzin?

This is just a small portion of world's greatest minds who were born in Russia. If you've never heard about these names - do some research, because these people's donation to the world culture is hard to overestimate!

7. Russian weapons are some of the best in the world.

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you're talking about Russia? Come on, be frank - you've been thinking of Kalashnikov!

Indeed, our weapon brands are among the most recognized in the world. The USSR threatened everyone with ballistic missiles (our presidents still do from time to time, but thanks god they are much more sober).

"Topol-M","S-400","Su-34"...the list can go on forever. Can't say I'm particularly proud of such "fame", but at least we can make *something* good :p

8. Russia adopted equal rights before USA.

In 1918, Russian women were granted suffrage. Same thing happened earlier in many other countries including Canada, but the US has only granted the voting rights to women in 1920.

The same about slavery - Russia freed its serfs in 1861 as part of the Emancipation Reform by Tsar Alexander II. In US, it only happened in 1865, with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

9. Moscow is the biggest city in Europe

Having a population of more than 10 million residents, Moscow became Europe's biggest city. In addition, I would say Moscow is the fastest growing city in Europe. It's not hard to check - just look at our traffic jams and the amount of construction works around 

UPDATE: Moscow just got bigger, its expansion is underway as we speak. Hopefully it means less jams and affordable housing, but I suspect it will be the other way around 

10. Moscow metro is the world's biggest fallout shelter

Planned by Stalin, Moscow metro was supposed to shelter most of the city's population in case of nuclear war. Just look at how deep the central stations are, and you'll see I'm not exaggerating.

If you look closely in the passages, you'll see that most of them have metal sections. These sections actually hide metal blast doors that will seal off the stations in case of WWIII.

The best way to discover Russia is to visit Russia. To know Russia is to love Russia. When the foreigners are going to Russia they have to ask a lot of questions to find out information about various things.

Make up a dialogue.

Just imagine…Оne of you is foreigner and other indigenous resident of Russia. You should tell about your country, your city or may be about sights, traditions of Russia.