Famous Things

The United Nations

The United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that works to preserve peace and help people around the world. When the UN was established in 1945, 51 countries joined. Since then it has grown to include 193 member states. Only a few nations do not belong to the organization. The UN is not a world government and it does not make any laws. It works to solve problems. When countries become members, they agree to follow the rules of the UN Charter. This document states that the UN will maintain peace and security around the world, develop friendly relations among nations, respect peoples rights, and work to solve international problems. It will also be a center for coordinating the actions of nations. There are currently six official languages of the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. However, there are only two working languages, which are English and French. While the main headquarters of the UN are in New York, there are many other UN offices around the world. The UN has more than 30 affiliated agencies, together called the UN System, that work to solve problems around the globe. These organizations include the WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations International Childrens Fund). The UN System works to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, and reduce poverty. The agencies are also involved in fighting diseases such as AIDS, producing more food, and assisting refugees. In addition, they work to reduce drug trafficking and terrorism. The General Assembly of the UN is made up of all the member states and meets regularly to discuss the worlds most urgent problems. All member states, large or small, rich or poor, have a chance to speak and to vote in the General Assembly. The Security Council of the UN has fifteen members, five permanent and ten temporary. The five permanent members include the Peoples Republic of China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. The temporary members are chosen by the General Assembly and hold their seats for two years. The Security Council meets whenever peace is threatened, and it tries to settle disputes peacefully. If there is fighting, it tries to get a ceasefire, and may send a peacekeeping mission to keep the truce and keep the fighting parties apart. It can restrict goods going in and out of the country, and even can suggest military action. The International Court of Justice, or World Court, is another body of the UN. It is located in The Hague in the Netherlands. This Court settles disputes between UN member countries and gives advice to the UN and its agencies. The Secretariat, with 7500 staff from 170 countries, looks after the administrative work at UN headquarters in New York, and in UN offices abroad. The UN receives its finances from both assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The head of the United Nations is called the Secretary General.

Pre-Reading Warm Up Questions

1. Do you know when the United Nations was established? 2. Do you know how many member states there are in the UN today? 3. Where are the headquarters of the UN? 4. Do you know what the official languages of the UN are? 5. Can you name several different bodies or parts of the UN? 6. Do you know how many members there are in the Security Council?

COMPREHENSION
A.True or False. Read the statements below. If the statement is true, write T beside the sentence. If it is false, write F. If it is false, correct the information. 1. The UN was established in 1951 with 45 original members. 2. The UN makes laws that all member countries must follow. 3. There are two official languages at the UN. 4. The Security Council has fifteen permanent members. 5. The World Court is located in The Hague.

1 Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be photocopied by members of ESL-Llibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.

Famous Things
The United Nations
B. Practice asking and answering the following questions with your partner. Then write the answers in complete sentences. 3. When was the UN first established and how many countries were a part of it then? 4. 2. According to the UN charter, what is the organization supposed to do? 5. 3. What is the UN System? 6. 4. What are some of the responsibilities of the UN system? 7. 5. What is the difference between the General Assembly and The Security Council? 8. 6. What can the Security Council do when peace is threatened? 9. 7. What does the World Court do? 1. 1. What do you know about the history of the UN? Have you heard of the League of Nations? Why do you think the UN was established in 1945? 2. Do you think that the UN does a good job of keeping peace around the world? Explain your answer. 3. What UN agencies do you think do the best work? 4. What does it mean when we say that the permanent members of the Security Council have a veto power?Do you think this is a good idea or not? 5. Can you give some recent examples of disputes that have been heard by the World Court?

DISCUSS

VOCABULARY REVIEW
A. Match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right. _____ 1. preserve _____ 2. establish _____ 3. solve _____ 4. charter _____ 5. coordinating _____ 6. affiliated _____ 7. promote _____ 8. protect _____ 9. reduce _____ 10. urgent _____ 11. threaten _____ 12. dispute _____ 13. truce _____ 14. restrict _____ 15. assess a) limit b) document or statement of rights, rules, information c) ceasefire; stopping of fighting d) keep; maintain e) argument, fight, disagreement f) set up g) decide the amount h) give a warning about danger or a plan to hurt i) find the answer to a problem j) bringing together k) lessen, make smaller l) related, associated, connected m) needing very quick decision or action n) keep safe from danger o) help or push something to happen

B. Find a word in the story that means: 1. the world - ________________________ 2. state of being poor - ________________________ 3. people who are forced to run away from their countries - ________________________ 4. army - ________________________ 5. money - ________________________ 6. be a part of - ________________________ 7. in another country, across the ocean - ________________________ 8. safety - ________________________ 9. lasting forever - ________________________ 10. lasting a short time - ________________________ 11. doing something willingly, without being forced - ________________________ 12. something that is set or determined - ________________________
2 Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be photocopied by members of ESL-Llibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.

Famous Things
The United Nations
ANSWER KEY Please note: The reading for this topic is also available in full-page format at the end of the lesson (page 4). PRE-READING QUESTIONS 1. Individual Answer COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS A. True or False 1. F Written Answers 1. The UN was first established in 1945 with 51 member countries. 2. According to the UN charter, the organization is supposed to maintain peace and security around the world, develop friendly relations among nations, respect peoples rights and work to solve international problems. 3. The UN System is a group of affiliated agencies that works together to solve problems around the world. 4. The UN System works to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, and reduce poverty. The agencies also work to fight diseases like AIDS, produce more food, assist refugees and reduce drug trafficking and terrorism. 5. The General Assembly is made up of all the member states and meets regularly to discuss the worlds most urgent problems. The Security Council has fifteen members, five permanent and ten temporary, and meets whenever peace is threatened. 6. When peace is threatened, the Security Council tries to get a ceasefire and may send a peacekeeping mission to keep the truce. The Council can also restrict goods going in and out of the country and can even suggest military action. 7. The World Court settles disputes between UN member countries and gives advice to the UN and its agencies. VOCABULARY REVIEW A. Match the word(s) 1. d 9. k 2. f 10. m 3. i 11. h 4. b 12. e 5. j 13. c 6. l 14. a 7. o 15. g 8. n 2. F 3. F 4. F 5. T

B. Find a word... 1. international 6. member 11. voluntary 2. poverty 7. abroad 12. assessed 3. refugees 8. security 4. military 9. permanent 5. finances 10. temporary

3 Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be photocopied by members of ESL-Llibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.

Famous Things
The United Nations

The United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that works to preserve peace and help people around the world. When the UN was established in 1945, 51 countries joined. Since then it has grown to include 193 member states. Only a few nations do not belong to the organization. The UN is not a world government and it does not make any laws. It works to solve problems. When countries become members, they agree to follow the rules of the UN Charter. This document states that the UN will maintain peace and security around the world, develop friendly relations among nations, respect peoples rights, and work to solve international problems. It will also be a center for coordinating the actions of nations. There are currently six official languages of the UN: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. However, there are only two working languages, which are English and French. While the main headquarters of the UN are in New York, there are many other UN offices around the world. The UN has more than 30 affiliated agencies, together called the UN System, that work to solve problems around the globe. These organizations include the WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations International Childrens Fund). The UN System works to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, and reduce poverty. The agencies are also involved in fighting diseases such as AIDS, producing more food, and assisting refugees. In addition, they work to reduce drug trafficking and terrorism. The General Assembly of the UN is made up of all the member states and meets regularly to discuss the worlds most urgent problems. All member states, large or small, rich or poor, have a chance to speak and to vote in the General Assembly. The Security Council of the UN has fifteen members, five permanent and ten temporary. The five permanent members include the Peoples Republic of China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. The temporary members are chosen by the General Assembly and hold their seats for two years. The Security Council meets whenever peace is threatened, and it tries to settle disputes peacefully. If there is fighting, it tries to get a ceasefire, and may send a peacekeeping mission to keep the truce and keep the fighting parties apart. It can restrict goods going in and out of the country, and even can suggest military action. The International Court of Justice, or World Court, is another body of the UN. It is located in The Hague in the Netherlands. This Court settles disputes between UN member countries and gives advice to the UN and its agencies. The Secretariat, with 7500 staff from 170 countries, looks after the administrative work at UN headquarters in New York, and in UN offices abroad. The UN receives its finances from both assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The head of the United Nations is called the Secretary General.
4 Copyright 2009. This eBook is produced and distributed by Red River Press Inc. All rights reserved. The contents within this e-book/document may only be photocopied by members of ESL-Llibrary.com in accordance with membership terms and conditions. Contact info@esl-library.com for complete details.