Online version 2018

PART 1

1. There are a lot of such unusual volcanoes on the Taman peninsula. One of them is located right in the waters of the sea near the village of Golubitskaya and erupted, for example, in 2015. Answer in one word, what volcanoes are we talking about?

Answer: MUD VOLCANOES

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Photo: Nadezhda Philimonova

2. In ancient times this sea did not exist, and the Don flew into the Black Sea in the area of modern Kerch Strait. It is assumed that filling of the sea area took place in the middle of the 6th millennium BC. What is this sea?

Answer: AZOV SEA

3. Which mineral is marked with this symbol?

A) oil

B) graphite

C) iron ore

D) rock salt

Answer: B

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Photo: Roman Vorobiev

4. During the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society “Depths of Altai 2016” the Deserter, Dangerous, Badger and another one of these, which is the deepest not only in Altai, but also throughout Kek-Tash Siberia, were studied and investigated. Answer in one word what geographic objects are we talking about?

Answer: CAVES

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I.Levitan. Evening. The Gold Plyos

5. This Volga town in the Ivanovo region was glorified by Isaac Levitan. His paintings “Evening”, “After the Rain”, “Pustanok”, “Volga” and others were made here. And the name of the town, according to one of the versions, reminds the sound of a small wave rushing to the river shore. What is the name of this town?

Answer: PLYOS

6. In 2015, participants of a Russian expedition took a water sample from a unique relict lake Vostok on a depth of almost 4 kilometers. Bacteria unknown to science were discovered there. Which continent is this lake on?

Answer: ANTARCTICA

7. What animal was not first described in the middle of the 18th century by the naturalist Georg Steller, member of the Kamchatka expedition?

A) sea lion

B) spectacled cormorant

C) northern fur seal

D) snow leopard

Answer: D

8. Archedinsko-Don massif in the Volgograd region is a unique botanical monument of nature, one of the most northerly of its kind. What type of landscape is it? (Choose one)

A) mountains

B) deserts

C) steppes

D) rainforests

Answer: B

9. Many rivers flow from Kazakhstan to Russia. And which of the following rivers flows from Russia to Kazakhstan? (Choose one)

A) Irtysh

B) Ishim

C) Tobol

D) the Ural

Answer: D

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Engraving by S.P.Krashennikov

10. Here is an illustration of the first edition of the work of geographer and traveler Stepan Krasheninnikov, "Description of the Land of Kamchatka." What are the Kamchadals doing in it? (Choose one)

A) repairing arches

B) setting the snares

C) making a fire

D) weaving a net

Answer: C

11. Which cities are parts of the “Golden Ring” of Russia? (You may put numbers in any order)

1) Vyborg

2) Ivanovo

3) Sergiev Posad

4) Staraya Russa

5) Suzdal

6) Rostov the Great

7) Izborsk

8) Pskov

9) Pereslavl-Zalessky

10) Velikie Luki

Answer: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9

12. This city of Central Russia was once the capital of a small ancient Russian principality. Vintage armory is illustrated on its emblem. The first Soviet excavator was also produced here, and in the 20th century, a plant which produces truck cranes that are used throughout Russia became the city-forming enterprise. What is the name of this town? (Choose one)

A) Galich

B) Kirovo-Chepetsk

C) Pavlovo

D) Aleksin

Answer: A

13. “...How can I lead a reader into this world of long-lost creatures and the environment in which they lived? I know only two novels in which a similar attempt has been made. One is Jules Verne’s novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in which scientists go deep into one of Iceland’s volcanoes and find underground voids inhabited by mysterious creatures and extinct animals described vaguely. And on their way back to the surface, scientists are in another volcano floating on a raft in boiling water and even in melting lava later. All this is very improbable... The second is Conan Doyle's novel... However, there are also many implausible things in this novel; it ... made such a faint impression on me that I even forgot its name...”

Which famous geologist and Honorary President of the USSR Geographical Society wrote this in the introduction to one of his books?

Answer: VLADIMIR OBRUCHEV

14. In the 17th century, Russian pioneers called this land simply “Naze” or with clarification: “Naze at noon,” which meant “peninsula stretched to the south.” But by the end of the century, the peninsula started being named after its largest river.

What is the name of this peninsula?

Answer: KAMCHATKA

15. Houses on stilts can be found in Norilsk, Salekhard, Pevek and some other cities of Russia. What phenomenon is the reason for building houses above the ground?

Answer: EVER FROST

PART 2

16. This Russian million-plus city emerged as a working village during the construction of a railway bridge across a large river. At the end of the 1920s, Anatoly Lunacharsky wrote about the city: “[If] five years ago [it] was still ... a half-village, [today it is] an original city that grew into a capital with a history of two thousand years and is rushing forward like a true Siberian Chicago ". What is the name of this city?

Answer: NOVOSIBIRSK

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Photo: Tatyana Zaharova

17. The Ilmensky Mountains near Miass in the Urals became the first reserve in Russia in 1920 and the purpose of that was preservation of a complex that is unique in diversity of natural objects. Answer with one or two words, what are these natural objects?

Answer: MINERALS (OR ROCK FORMATIONS)

18. There are many dense forests around this city where partisans fought during the Great Patriotic War. And the city got its name from the word meaning impassable thickets – the wilds. What is this city called now?

Answer: BRYANSK

19.Here is a photo of clouds. What is the name of this type of clouds?

A) cumulus

B) stratus

C) cirris

D) pearl

Answer: C

20. The map is marked with the Arctic river port city which is located almost 865 kilometers from the mouth of the Yenisei. Nevertheless, ocean-going ships enter it while passing the Northern Sea Route. According to one of the versions, the settlement is named after the river channel which a local fisherman Egorka often visited. What is the name of this town?

Answer: IGARKA

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Photo: Vyacheslav Direnko

21. Urban-type settlement Posiet is the southernmost port of Russia. It is named after Admiral Constantin Posiete who visited it in 1854. In which subject of the Russian Federation is this port located? (Choose one)

A) Republic of Daghestan

B) Krasnodar Territory

C) Primorye Territory

D) Sakhalin Region

Answer: C

22. Look at the map of Russia. 7 cities are marked on it. Answer in one word: what kind of structure system unites these cities?

Answer: SUBWAY

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Photo: RGS press service

23. In 2018 the Russian Geographical Society organized the first field season of the Complex Archeological and Geographical Expedition to explore the Tunnug Barrow in the Republic of Tyva, which was attended by dozens of volunteers from all over Russia and from foreign countries.

Applications for participation in the 2019 season can be submitted in the very near future on the website http://mk.rgo.ru.

And here is a beautiful ancient artifact found quite close to the expedition site during excavations of another barrow in Tuva in the Valley of Kings. Which ancient people created this masterpiece? (Choose one)

A) Scythians

B) Sarmatians

B) Polovtsy

D) Pechenegs

Answer: A

24. All that is momentary, all that is perishable,

You buried in centuries

You, like a baby, are sleeping, ...,

In sleepy eternity’s hands.

What is the name of the Italian city that was described in the poem by Alexander Block? (it is replaced with dots in lyrics). Also it was the capital of the Western Roman Empire.

Answer: RAVENNA

25. Here is the emblem of one of the Volga towns. It refers to the so-called speaking emblems (when the emblem’s image indicates the name of the town). What is the name of the town?

Answer: KAMYSHIN

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Photo: Sergey Kotov

26. The mountains around Novorossiysk are composed of marl - no wonder this rock is called the “gray gold of Novorossiysk”. Pieces of obtained marl are grained in crushing equipment, afterwards gypsum and active mineral additives are added, than the mixture is kilned in a special calciner and grinded again. As a result, building material is produced. Novorossiysk is one of the leaders in its production in Russia. What is this building material?

Answer: CEMENT

27. Names of a number of straits of the Arctic seas of Russia have preserved this word and the Pomors called straits by this word as well. This word also describes a geometric shape. What is this word?

Answer: SPHERE

28. The most mass type of nuclear-powered ice-breakers in Russia is called the same as the region of the Earth for which these vessels are intended for navigation. What is the name of the region of the Earth, and the type of ice-breakers?

Answer: ARCTIC

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Photo: ugra-mhl.ru

29. Four subjects of the Russian Federation have the status of autonomous area. In which of them is the Ugra Mammoths hockey team located?

Answer: KHANTY-MANSIYSK AUTONOMOUS AREA

30. A spaceship is going to the planet Mars. In what sequence will the spaceship pass layers of the Earth’s atmosphere? (Put numbers in appropriate order)

1) mesosphere

2) stratosphere

3) thermosphere

4) troposphere.

Answer: 4, 2, 1, 3