Problem: While forming an integral part of the Christian calendar, particularly in Catholic regions, many Carnival traditions resemble those antedating Christianity. Italian Carnival is sometimes thought to be derived from the ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia. The Saturnalia, in turn, may be based on the Greek Dionysia and Oriental festivals. For the start of the Roman Saturnalia, on December 17 authorities chose an enemy of the Roman people to represent the Lord of Misrule in each community. These men and women were forced to indulge in food and physical pleasures throughout the week, horribly murdered on December 25th: "destroying the forces of darkness".
On which month and day did Saturnalia start?
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Answer: December 17

Problem: Ethnic Russians constitute 25.5% of the country's current population and 58.6% of the native Estonian population is also able to speak Russian. In all, 67.8% of Estonia's population can speak Russian. Command of Russian language, however, is rapidly decreasing among younger Estonians (primarily being replaced by the command of English). For example, if 53% of ethnic Estonians between 15 and 19 claim to speak some Russian, then among the 10- to 14-year-old group, command of Russian has fallen to 19% (which is about one-third the percentage of those who claim to have command of English in the same age group).
What is the ratio of young Estonians who speak Russian relative to those who speak English?
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Answer: about one-third

Problem: The transition from the mandolino to the mandolin began around 1744 with the designing of the metal-string mandolin by the Vinaccia family, 3 brass strings and one of gut, using friction tuning pegs on a fingerboard that sat "flush" with the sound table. The mandolin grew in popularity over the next 60 years, in the streets where it was used by young men courting and by street musicians, and in the concert hall. After the Napoleonic Wars of 1815, however, its popularity began to fall. The 19th century produced some prominent players, including Bartolomeo Bortolazzi of Venice and Pietro Vimercati. However, professional virtuosity was in decline, and the mandolin music changed as the mandolin became a folk instrument; "the large repertoire of notated instrumental music for the mandolino and the mandoline was completely forgotten". The export market for mandolins from Italy dried up around 1815, and when Carmine de Laurentiis wrote a mandolin method in 1874, the Music World magazine wrote that the mandolin was "out of date." Salvador Leonardi mentioned this decline in his 1921 book, Methode pour Banjoline ou Mandoline-Banjo, saying that the mandolin had been declining in popularity from previous times.
Who were two of the prominent players in the 15th century?
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Answer:
unanswerable