FUNDAMENTALS
Many ancient cities lie buried beneath the soil, many others have been continuously inhabited for five thousand years. Read about ancient cities in today’s quiz. Write in with your suggestions, questions (with answers) to senjam@gmail.com ANCIENT CITIES OF THE WORLD 1. This ancient city is located below sea level but it has remained dry through the thousands of years of its existence. Name this city that has been called the lowest permanently inhabited site on Earth. 2. Mohenjo Daro literally means Mound of Dead in Sindhi. Which other ancient city of the Indus Valley Civilisation has the same literal meaning? 3. Which ancient city built, destroyed and rebuilt over years now exists as a suburb of the city of Tunis in Tunisia? 4. Pompey’s Pillar is the most well-known ancient monument still standing in which ancient city? 5. Which ancient Indian city known for its sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs is flanked by two storm water channels; the Mansar in the north, and the Manhar in the south? 6. It literally means the edge of a town or a high city and refers to citadel built on hills for purposes of defence. It exists in Argos, Thebes, Corinth and most famously in Athens. What are we referring to? 7. In contemporary Iran, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid or the Throne of Jamshid. Which ancient city are we talking about? 8. Name the capital city of the Inca empire that is believed to be shaped like a Puma — the mountain lion? 9. According to legends, which city was founded by the twin sons of the Priestess Rhea Silvia and Mars, the God of War? 10. This city has been regarded as the cradle of Chinese civilisation as it was the capital city of 13 ancient dynasties of China. Identify. ANYTHING GOES 1. What is the name of the search engine used by Flipkart to enable its users to look for products within the Flipkart site
and app? (Commander G.R. Balakrishnan (Retd), Chennai) 2. In 1936, Isabella Gilbert developed a device that could be worn over the cheeks and enhance the beauty of a person. The device never took off and was even panned for being a bad invention. What did this machine seek to achieve? (Vasudev Prakash, Mysuru) 3. Which Indian army regiment was given the sobriquet Fakhr-e-Hind by the Pakistan army as a mark of respect for its exploits in the 1965 Indo Pak war? (Madhavi Chandran, Kochi) 4. In 1934, Ferdinand Porsche got a contract to design a people’s car. He submitted two prototypes by 1935. Who gave him the contract and what car did he design? (Muhammed Arif, Mumbai) 5. Fill in the blanks of this sequence to get the official name of a country in its native language ‘…..” (Rajeev Lochan, Kolkata) 6. Which hotel, a part of the skyline of Quebec City, is generally recognised as the most photographed hotel in the world? (U.N. Murthy, Secunderabad) 7. Which was the first country to leave what is now EU following a referendum? (S. Meenakshi, Secunderabad) 8. Obelus, virgule and vinculum — all the signs are used for what common mathematical function? (Gargi Sarkar, Panpra-Khatra, Bankura)