Test 1


Read the definitions of the names suggested by I. A. Walshe in Russian-English Dictionary of Winged Words. Match each sentence with the corresponding name. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. Heroine of a Russian folk tale, a personification of kindness and sisterly love. The name may also be used as an endearment to girls or women with long fair hair.

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2. In Greek mythology, a gigantic wrestler whose strength was invincible as long as he touched the earth. The name is applied to persons who draw their strength from their love for their country and its people.

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3. A major deity of ancient Greece, universally represented in art as a young, virile and beautiful youth. The name is applied to exceptionally handsome young men.

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4. In Slavonic mythology, she was a dreaded ogress who lived in a small hut perched on four chicken legs. She looked like a frightfully ugly old woman. Her food was people, especially children whom she captured and hen cooked in a big pot. She was a powerful magician and flew through the air in a large mortar steered with a pestle.

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5. The name is applied with reference to:

  • a dissipated man;
  • the one who has recognized his errors, is repentant of the wrongs he has done;
  • the one who has returned to his family, the circle of his friends, etc.

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6. (Alexander Pushkin, “Poltava”.) Used jocularly of a wealthy person.

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7. (From Roman mythology.) Used of women of alluring grace and beauty.

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8. (The central figure of a medieval legend which tells of a Jew who cannot die but must wander over the earth as punishment for refusing to allow Christ to rest at his door on his way to Crucifixion.) Applied to persons who do not seem to be able to settle down anywhere for long.

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9. The hero of numerous folk tales widely spread in Turkey, Persia and the countries of Central Asia and the North Caucasus, a wag and wit, a boon companion, a merry and kind-hearted fellow and an eternal vagabond, Khoja Nassreddin (Ходжа Насреддин) is always on the side of the poor and the down – trodden, speaking out against despotic rulers, corrupt judges, the cringing hypocritical rich. The phrase is used with reference to persons who protest against social injustice, indifference and bureaucracy.

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10. (Figure in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale about an ugly duckling that proves to be a cygnet and grows up into a beautiful swan.) Used of an apparently unprepossessing person whose merits, gifts, etc. first passed unnoticed but are later unexpectedly revealed.

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Venus
Baba-Yaga
Disturber of the Peace
the Prodigal Son
Kochubey
Antaeus
(the) Ugly Duckling
Apollo
Alionushka
the Wandering Jew