From: Anatolle <chgkntagil@postnt.com> Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 17:55:10 +0600
Если я не ошибаюсь (а я надеюсь, что я не ошибаюсь) [тем не менее здесь Анатолий ошибается -- в Санкт-Петербурге Елена Кисленкова проводит игры на английском языке с 1998 года. -- БВ], то 10-12 мая в Нижнем Тагиле впервые в Восточном полушарии играли ЧГК на английском языке. Состоялся он благодаря Льву Горенштейну, слава ему, слава, слава!
Теперь и вы можете заценить этот экперимент. Только сразу оговорюсь: свеченность и легкость вопросов в данном случае намеренная - игрокам и так было непросто.
Translated by Lev Gorenstein, May 2002.
1. Pavel Florensky once wrote: "They are the most revealing depths of one's will, and Eastern people consider them to be the most diffident part". With that in mind, here's how Florensky described the most famous of their formations: "IT has sin, temptation, and charm. IT is lascivious and corrupt, and expresses nothing positive but inner embarrasment". Who has IT?
Answer: Gioconda (Mona Lisa). Comment: They are lips. "IT" stands for the smile.
2. Once during the World War I the famous humorist Arkady Averchenko has brought a military-related tale to a censorship office. The censor allowed the tale, but marked out the sentence "The sky was deep blue". Answering the surprised author's question, the censor noted that these words could lead the enemy to the conclusion that the action takes place in the South, and thus they could disclose the secret. The secret of what?
Answer: The disposition of Russian troops.
3. An American comedian Steve Wright joked: "One day I decided to mix myself a drink. I took two parts of one, and one part of the other, and the drink turned out perfectly". Please name both ingredients that Steve used.
Answer: Hydrogen and oxygen (forming H2O).
4. During one of V. V. Mayakovsky's performances someone short approached the poet and yelled a very famous phrase. Mayakovsky stepped toward this person and responded: "And I'm doing it!". What did the shorty yell?
Answer: "From the sublime to the ridiculous there is but one step".
5. In Levant the "bAba ganUsh" dish is often called "a poor man's caviar". During the Middle Ages the Italians believed that its main ingredient causes insanity, and called it "melanzana". Yet, according to one source, at about the same time in Russia this dish was very respected because of its rarity. So what is the main ingredient of "bAba ganUsh"?
Answer: Eggplant.
6. You hardly know too many stories about day-to-day life of the Senate, but this particular story about a very ready-witted Senator Palpatin you certainly know (or at least have heard about it). Being unscrupulous, he orchestrated his own elections to become a President of the Old Republic and soon proclamed himself an Imperor. Yet it was his closest aide that achieved the most notorious fame. This story was put in a novel by Alan Din Foster (even though his name was not on the cover). We don't ask you the name on the cover, nor the name of this witty Senator. We don't even ask you the true name of this famous aide. All we ask is this aide's most known alias.
Answer: Darth Vader
7. Deni Vre-Luka was one of the most talented authograph forgers of the 19th century. Among the masterpieces that he managed to sell to the unsuspecting French were letters from Caesar to Cleopatra, as well as letters from Judas, Pontius Pilate, Joan of Arc and Cicero. Please name the languages that Deni Vre-Luka knew.
Answer: French Comment: 19th century French was the only language he knew, and all his letters were written in this language.
8. Employees of the "News room" division of the "Euronews" TV channel claim that their job is best described by the number, that is similar to a telephone one. The difference is in the groupping of digits: two digits, then one, and then three more. Please reproduce their number.
Answer: 24 - 7 - 365. Comment: 24 hours a day - 7 days a week - 365 days a year
9. In the year 2000 the compilation of the critical essays reviewing classic world-famous writings was published in the West. The compilation consisted of two parts. The second part was devoted to the works of an American writer Vladimir Nabokov. And who's works were reviewed in the first part?
Answer: The works of Russian writer Vladimir Sirin. Comment: To publish his classic works in Russian, Nabokov used the pen-name "Vladimir Sirin". Only few of his early (pre-revolution) poems were published under the name Nabokov, and both the author and the reviewers considered them to be inferior.
10. According to Ovid, this God created world from Chaos. This God had an altar near Athens and apostle Paul has told Athenians that he came to preach them this particular God. Your knowledge might not help you to name this God. How did Ovid an Paul call him?
Answer: Unknown.
11. Gerald Darrell recalls that Argentinian customs was a real bureaucratic hell because the officials were sending him in rounds with tons of formal papers and documents. On top of that, almost all officials had the last name Garcia. Only one of them (the one that gave Darrell the final authorization signature) had a different last name. This name looked symbolic to Darrell, because in his opinion only the owner of this name could possibly remain a live human being in that office. What was this last name?
Answer: Dante
12. Dear experts, please tell us why some editions of J. Rowling's Harry Potter book series are prublished with a dull grey cover?
Answer: So that the adults were not ashamed to read them in public places.
Вот такие вот пирожки...
Best regards,
Anatolle, chgkntagil@postnt.com
Эту страничку посмотрели раз(а)
Boris Veytsman, .