COMPRE OE ANSWER KEY (SEMESTER 1)

Compre OE (1)

1. It was to take a picture of the street.

2. The word is ‘Half-heartedly’.

3. He/ She treated her courteously/ politely and respectfully.

4. Danny's friend, Chee Meng, had been kidnapped and the police wanted to find out more information from Danny to help them find Chee Meng.

5. Danny failed to mention seeing a little girl in a black samfoo wearing a heart-shaped jade pendant talking to Chee Meng just before he was kidnapped.

6. Any two of these reasons:
- The police could not find him.
- No one gave any information about him despite the reward offered by Mr. Lim.
- It was difficult to find him in such a crowded place (like Hong Kong).

7. *He recognised her black samfoo and heart-shaped pendant.

8. *She turned and ran away when she saw Danny.

9. It / ‘It’ refers to the film in Danny’s camera.

10. The sentence is “But no one had come forward.”

Compre OE (2)

1. *He did not like to have a dictionary as a birthday present.

*He had expected something more interesting than a dictionary as a birthday
present.
*He probably did not appreciate having a dictionary as a birthday present and therefore disliked his uncle for getting him such a boring present.

2. Tony had pasted the pictures on every wall in the house as the writer had forgotten to give Tony a book to paste them in.
The writer gave Tony a bottle of glue and funny pictures but no book to put them in
so he pasted them on the walls of ths house, thus messing up his home.

3. He decided to let Tony choose his own present.
He decided to let Tony choose a present for himself.

4. The two words are “highly critical”.

5. It would be very noisy and no one would get any sleep.

6. He sat down to rest his aching feet. / His feet were aching.

7. The word is “despair”.

8. There were many little boys in grey suits, just like Tony. / Tony was not the only little boy in a grey suit.

9. *He chose purple clothes, a false beard, a caveman’s axe and a space gun.

10. It / ‘It’ refers to a strange figure dressed in purple clothes who was actually Tony.


Compre OE (3)

1. He had always wanted to be a doctor and had studied medical books in his spare time.

2. He pretended to be ill.

3. They had to do work while he lay in his bunk (and ate special food).

4. *He wanted to check if the sailors were really sick. / deceiving him.
*He wanted to see for himself if Skinner was right about the sailors deceiving him.

5. *He saw the ‘sick’ sailors chatting and joking happily and wanted to teach them a lesson.

6. *It was not meant to treat any illness.
*It was not real medicine, but was made up of chilli sauce, salt water, mustard
and soap.

7. -The ‘medicine ‘tasted awful / very bad.
- He did not want to taste the awful ‘medicine’.

8. It was the thought of taking the awful ‘medicine’ which made them recover suddenly.

9. It refers to Skinner’s special ‘medicine’.

10. He gave them the worst jobs and food and kicked them when he saw them not working as hard as the rest of the crew.


Compre OE(4)

1. It is in the Atlantic Ocean.

2. It was hot and there were many poisonous insects.

3. The sentence is ‘Thousands of convicts died before their sentences were finished.’

4. He hoped to escape on a raft made from bags filled with coconuts.

5. It / ‘it’ refers to (testing)(the idea of) launching a weighted sack on one of the big waves.

6. *His raft might not be carried away by the waves.
*He might not be swept free of the island.

7. *His movement was stealthy/ careful/ quiet etc.

8. *They were happy that they managed to escape. / They were congratulating each other for having escaped. / They were celebrating their escape.

9. If the men tried to walk on the thin-crusted mud, they would/ could/ might get sucked down.

10. *It suggests that the waves are strong/ powerful/ forceful etc.


Compre OE(5)

1. Whoever controlled that stretch of water would also control the trade in the region.

2. They were the Mancs and the Scousers.

3. The Mancs ruled Trafford.

4. The sentence is ‘The encounter ended when later that day, the Scouser ships withdrew.’

5. They could help piece together some of the history of the country.

6. Treasure hunters had been plundering from its wreck for years.

7. It / ‘It’ refers to the lower hull of the Cantona.

8. They were solid oak (timber) and metal.

9. It lay buried in the sand and so was preserved.

10. There was a big hole in the side of the ship when it was shot and water had gone in, causing it to sink.


Compre OE(6)

1. The boar tried to attack the writer whenever he went to feed the pigs.

2. It / ‘it’ refers to the boar running down the fence near where the writer was walking.

3. He was worried that the boar would attack him if it got through the fence./ The boar tried to get through the fence to the writer and if it succeeded, the writer would have no chance of defending himself against its attack.

4. He was near the trees and shrubs and could run there if the boar got out.

5. He threw a rock at the boar and tried to spear it with some branches

6. The sentence is ‘I ran for a large tree just in time – another four metres he would have had me.’

7. He knew the boar would attack Uncle Frank.

8. It was shot.

9. - He did not want his aunt to know that he was responsible for the boar’s behaviour.
- He did not want his aunt to know that he was the one who had made the boar angry.
- He was afraid he would be punished.

10. He was forced to kill his own boar.
He could not understand why his boar suddenly turned savage and tried to attack them.


Compre OE(7) Note : The writer can be a boy or a girl.

1. He pushed it next to the window.

2. Ben’s bedclothes should be untidy and messy as Ben would have moved in his sleep if he was alive.

3. He looked neat, restful, quiet and happy./ He was tidy, with his fingers curled up in a relaxed manner and his hair was neatly brushed.

4. He had died of respiratory failure.

5. He believed it when he brushed against Ben’s face and felt that it was cold.

6. The sentence is ‘I knew then I couldn’t pretend any more that he would wake up in a minute, and put out his arms, asking to be lifted.’

7. It / ‘It’ refers to believing/ accepting the fact that that Ben was dead.

8. He was afraid he might disturb Ben.

9. He/ She wanted to assure Ben of his/ her love for him and he/ she believed Ben’s spirit was still near him/ her.

10. He/ She started to sob out the sorrow deep in his heart.