Catboy - Eric Walters [18]
Ten
“Okay, we only have a few minutes before the bell goes,” Mr. Spence said, “so there’s just enough time for a review.”
We’d spent a big chunk of the afternoon studying the United Nations.
“Who can tell me when the UN was founded?”
Two dozen hands went up, including mine. He nodded to Mohammad.
“Nineteen forty-five,” Mohammad said.
“Correct. And now, which city, so nice it was named twice, is the home to the United Nations?”
Every hand went up again.
“Rupinder?”
“New York, New York, in the United States,” Rupinder answered.
“Correct again. It’s a great city. How many people have been to New York?”
This time only two hands were raised. I thought it would be incredibly cool to go to New York. I could hardly imagine a place bigger and busier than Toronto, but I knew New York was way bigger.
“When you get older, you should all try to see that city. Remember, travel is a great education,” Mr. Spence said. “How many member states are there in the UN?”
Almost every hand went up.
“Simon?”
“One hundred and ninety-two countries have official status,” Simon said.
“Another correct answer, although some people have difficulty believing there are that many countries in the world. But I invite them to visit Toronto, where you can find people from every one of those countries living here.”
“And maybe all in the same class,” Simon said, and everybody laughed.
“That would be one incredibly big class,” Mr. Spence added. “But one I’d love to teach. Now back to the review. How many of those one hundred and ninety-two countries make up the Security Council?”
Several hands shot up. I knew the Security Council was made up of the biggest or most powerful countries. The permanent members had the power to “veto” any vote, which meant if all the other countries wanted something and one of those countries didn’t, then it didn’t happen.
“Alexander, can you answer that, please,” Mr. Spence said.
I turned around. Alexander had his head buried in a book, no surprise. He read more than anybody I’d ever met.
“There are five permanent members of the Security Council,” Alexander said without raising his eyes. “They are the United States, Russia, England, France and China. There are also ten other members, who are elected to a two-year term on a rotating basis by the other member states.”
“Very good. Not only did Alexander answer that question correctly, but he also answered my next two questions, and all without losing his place in the book he’s reading.” Mr. Spence paused. “Alexander, have you been peeking at my notes?”
Alexander looked up from his book in surprise. “No, sir, I would never ever look at your—”
“Alexander, I’m just joking. Great answers. Next question. What functions does the United Nations perform?”
A series of short answers were given, including signing treaties, deciding on international laws, settling disputes, dealing with emergencies like earthquakes and floods, planning for the future and taking action on global issues like pollution, the oceans and the Antarctic.
“Those are all great answers. Now my final question. What is the purpose of the United Nations? Why does it exist? And please, I don’t want anybody to repeat its function.”
For the first time, there weren’t any volunteers to answer the question. Lots of kids liked to answer questions that had a right or wrong answer, especially if they knew they had the right answer. Me, I liked when an answer couldn’t be right or wrong. I raised my hand.
“Taylor.”
Now I had to think through my answer.
“I think the world is like this classroom,” I said. “We have people from all over the world, from different countries and cultures, who speak different languages.”
“We do have a world within these walls,” Mr. Spence agreed.
“And the same way we’ve been learning about our differences and how to say hello in each other’s languages, we’ve also been learning about how we’re all the same, and we all have the same rights. We have our classroom rules,” I said, gesturing to the big chart hanging on the wall that we made up that first day of school. “The United