The United Nations

The United Nations: The Promise of Peace

An Introduction to the Lecture and to Note-Taking

A. Pre-listening Activities

PREVIEW OF CONTENT

Many people already know what the United Nations Organization is and where it is located, but how many know when and why it was first planned?

In this lecture the answers to these questions are explored, and some recent statistics about its operating budget are given.

PREVIEW OF VOCABULARY

Before you listen to the lecture on the United Nations, it will be helpful to preview some of the vocabulary and sentences that are used in the lecture. You will first be given several vocabulary items in isolation. Below each group of items are sentence definitions for each. You are to fill in the blanks with the appropriate vocabulary items from the list. Use your dictionary if necessary to select the correct item for each sentence definition/ After you have worked through the Preview of Vocabulary, you will be given the Preview of Sentences. The highlighted vocabulary words are presented in the same context in which they are used in the lecture.

Pledge headquarters charter

1. The main office of an organization is its

2. To promise sincerely is to

3. The constitution of the United Nations Organization is known as its

lend philanthropist nuclear weapons budget

4. To give money on the condition that it be repaid at a later date is to money.

5. A is a very rich person who gives money for good causes, such as education and medical research.

6. A is a list of income and expenses for a certain period of time.

7. Instruments of war that use atomic energy are known as .

PREVIEW OF SENTENCES

Here are some of the sentences you will encounter in the lecture.

1. The United Nations headquarters is in the United States, in New York City.

2.In 1944 twenty-six countries pledged to continue to fight against Germany and Italy in World WarⅡ.

3. The charter of the U.N. was formally signed by fifty countries in October of 1945 in San Francis co, California.

4. In 1950 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the well-known oil millionaire and philanthropist, gave the Unit ed Nations Organization a section of land in New York City.

5. The United States government lent the U.N. $65 million to construct a building to house the int ernational organization.

6. The United Nations budget now totals more than $450 million per year.

7. It is so vital, so really necessary, that countries settle disputes or disagreements in this day of w orld-wide nuclear weapons.