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Famous ThingsThe United Nations

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.

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 forcoordinating

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.

The United Nations
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

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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?

VOCABULARY REVIEW

A. Match the words on the left with the correct meaning on the right.

_____ 1. preserve a) limit

_____ 2. establish b) document or statement of rights, rules, information

_____ 3. solve c) ceasefire; stopping of fighting

_____ 4. charter d) keep; maintain

_____ 5. coordinating e) argument, fight, disagreement

_____ 6. affiliated f) set up

_____ 7. promote g) decide the amount

_____ 8. protect h) give a warning about danger or a plan to hurt

_____ 9. reduce i) find the answer to a problem

_____ 10. urgent j) bringing together

_____ 11. threaten k) lessen, make smaller

_____ 12. dispute l) related, associated, connected

_____ 13. truce m) needing very quick decision or action

_____ 14. restrict n) keep safe from danger

_____ 15. assess o) help or push something to happen

DISCUSS

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?

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 - ________________________

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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 2. F 3. F 4. F 5. T

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 2. f 3. i 4. b 5. j 6. l 7. o 8. n

9. k 10. m 11. h 12. e 13. c 14. a 15. g

B. Find a word...

1. international 2. poverty 3. refugees 4. military 5. finances

6. member 7. abroad 8. security 9. permanent 10. temporary

11. voluntary 12. assessed


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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 forcoordinating 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.




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