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6.
What kinds of programmes do you like watching?
7.
Do you watch news regularly?
8.
Why is it essential to watch news programmes?
6.
Make up the outline of the text.
7.
Retell the text using the outline.
T e x t 2
The United Nations Organization
“
Membership in the United Nations is open to all
peace-loving states which accept the obligations of
the Charter and, in the judgment of the Organiza-
tion, are willing and able to carry out these obliga-
tions
.”
Article 4, Chapter 2, United Nations Charter
The name “United Nations”, coined by United States President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, was first used in the “Declaration by United Nations” of 1
January 1942,
during the Second World War, when representatives of 26
nations pledged their Governments to continue fighting together against the
Axis Powers.
States first established international organizations to cooperate on
specific matters. In 1899, the International Peace Conference was held in the
Hague to elaborate instruments for settling crises peacefully, preventing wars
and codifying rules of warfare. It adopted the Convention for the Pacific
Settlement of International Disputes and established the Permanent Court of
Arbitration, which began work in 1902.
The forerunner of the United Nations
was the League of Nations, an
organization conceived in similar circumstances during the First World War,
and established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles “to promote
international cooperation and to achieve peace and security”. The League of
Nations ceased its activities after failing to prevent the Second World War.
In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the
United Nations Conference on International
Organization to the United
Nations Charter. The United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by
51 countries committed to preserving peace through international
cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world
belongs to the UN: membership now totals 189 countries.
All UN Member States are represented in the General Assembly — a
kind of parliament of nations, which meets to consider the world’s most
pressing problems. Each Member State has one vote. Decisions on
“important matters”, such as international peace and security, ad
234
mitting new members, the UN budget and the budget for peacekeeping,
are decided by two-thirds majority. Other matters
are decided by simple
majority. In recent years, a special effort has been made to reach decisions
through consensus, rather than by taking a formal vote.
The Assembly holds its annual regular
session from September to
December. When necessary, it may resume its session,
or hold a special or
emergency session on subjects of particular concern. When the Assembly is
not meeting, its six main committees, other subsidiary bodies and the UN
Secretariat carry out its work.
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