ANSWERS TO COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS FOR OLIVER TWIST Questions from Student’s Reader

ANSWERS TO COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS FOR OLIVER TWIST Questions from Student’s Reader
CHAPTER ONE
A. Pre-reading
1. Students’ own answers. They should guess that Oliver lived in a workhouse, or at least that he was poor.
B.
1. The setting is England (United Kingdom) in the 19th century.
2. Nearly 10 years passed. (Oliver was at the orphanage for 9 years, at the workhouse for several months, then locked up at the workhouse for several weeks — nearly a month — and then at Mr Sowerberry’s for several months.)
3. He lived in the orphanage with Mrs Mann, the workhouse, and Mr Sowerberry’s shop. Student’s opinion for worst/best.
C.
1. F - He was born in the workhouse.
2. T
3. F - She was not kind to any of the orphans.
4. T
5. F - Oliver was punished and the boys did not get more.
D.
1-d 2-c 3-b 4-a 5-e
E.
“You’ve given him too much meat, Mrs Sowerberry. You’ve been too kind to him. Leave him in this room without foodfor a few days, then feed him only soup. ”
1. Mr Bumble said this.
2. He was at Mr Sowerberry’s (outside the cellar where Oliver was locked in).
3. Noah Claypole teased Oliver about his mother, so Oliver started hitting him. They locked Oliver in the cellar and called for Mr Bumble.
“Please, sir, I want some more. ”
1. Oliver said this to the master of the workhouse.
2. He wanted more to eat. / The other boys chose Oliver to speak for them all.
3. He was locked in a dark room and at every meal he was beaten in front of the other boys. And the workhouse put up a sign to find someone to take Oliver away.
F.
5, 3, 1, 2, 4
G.
Allow students to gather information in Arabic or English, but their posters should be in English. Simply write Industrial Revolution in a search engine to bring up websites with information.
CHAPTER TWO
A. Pre-reading
1. Students’ own answers.
B.
1. They steal things.
2. He is a miser; he doesn’t like to spend money.
3. He was kind-hearted. / He felt sorry for Oliver. / Oliver reminded him of someone. Students’ own ideas about the woman in the painting and whether that affected Mr Brownlow’s decision to take Oliver home.
4. A policeman tells Nancy that Oliver went with Mr Brownlow. Fagin is afraid that Oliver will tell Mr Brownlow about them and Mr Brownlow will send the police after them.
C.
1. T
2. F - They entered after dark.
3. F - It was poorer and dirtier than he had ever seen.
4. T
5. T
D.
“I hope you’ve been at work this morning, boys. ”
1. Fagin said this to Charley Bates and Jack Dawkins.
2. They were stealing things — notebooks and silk handkerchiefs.
3. He thought they had made the things.
“It wasn’t that boy! It was two other boys. He was with them, but he didn’t take anything. ”
1. The bookshop owner said this.
2. “That boy” is Oliver. “Two other boys” are Charley Bates and Jack Dawkins/the Artful Dodger.
3. The magistrate set Oliver free.
“But what is this? Look there. ”
1. Mr Brownlow said this.
2. He was in a room in his house.
3. He was looking at a painting of a young woman who looked like Oliver.
CHAPTER THREE
A. Pre-reading
1. Students’ own ideas.
2. Students’ own ideas. Probably the gang will try to get Oliver back to them.
B. Answer these questions.
1. Mr Grimwig thinks Oliver won’t return to Mr Brownlow because he will return to the thieves (because he has money, new clothes and books). Mr Grimwig was partly right: Oliver did return to the thieves, but not willingly.
2. She didn’t want the people to stop her. If they thought she was kidnapping Oliver, they might stop her.
3. Fagin wants to make him a thief. He lets Sikes use Oliver to rob a house.
4. Mr Bumble went because Mr Brownlow put an advertisement asking for information about Oliver. Mr Bumble said only bad things about Oliver. As a result, Mr Brownlow didn’t want to hear anything about the boy again.
C.
1. T
2. F - Nancy and Bill Sikes did it.
3. T
4. F - Mr Brownlow put the ad.
5. T
D.
7, 1 3, 2, 8, 4, 6, 5
E.
“Do you really think he’ll come back?”
1. Mr Grimwig said this to Mr Brownlow.
2. He said this just after Oliver went to pay for the books. He’s talking about Oliver.
3. Mr Brownlow/He said of course Oliver would come back. The speaker and listener do not have the same opinion.
“Sadly, you were right. I do not want to hear his name ever again. ”
1. Mr Brownlow said this to Mr Grimwig.
2. He said “You were right” because Mr Grimwig had said that Oliver would return to the thieves.
3. He doesn’t want to hear Oliver’s name because he learned (from Mr Bumble) that Oliver was bad.
“I’m not happy about this either. I’ve tried to help you, but it’s no good. I’ll try and help you again, but this is not the time. Now, come with me. ”
1. Nancy said this to Oliver.
2. She told Mr Sikes to stop beating Oliver.
3. Nancy was taking Oliver to Mr Sikes so that Oliver could help him rob a house.
CHAPTER FOUR
A. Pre-reading
1. Students’ own ideas.
B.
1. The action takes place in London (Fagin’s house, and briefly Sikes’s house), the house in the countryside that Sikes and Crackit tried to rob, and the workhouse where Oliver was born.
2. Crackit got back to London. We don’t know yet what happened to Sikes; he hadn’t returned home yet. Oliver was found and taken in by the people of the house.
3. Monks is tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. He looks around nervously. He looks cruel. Students might remember from SB Unit 2 that Monks is Oliver’s half-brother, or they might just say he is a thief. He is not happy that Oliver was used for a robbery, though the reason is not very clear. He seems mostly afraid of the police.
4. Oliver stayed more than six weeks with Mrs Maylie. They learned that Mr Brownlow had moved to the West Indies six weeks earlier.
C.
1. F - Only Toby went back.
2. T
3. F - Oliver was left in the field and went to the house in the morning.
4. F - He met him at Fagin’s house.
5. T
6. T
D.
4, 7, 6, 1, 2, 5, 3
E.
“He looks so helpless and small. If it hadn’t been for your generosity, I might be helpless like this small child! ”
1. Rose said this to Mrs Maylie.
2. She is talking about Oliver, who is wounded.
3. She means that Mrs Maylie was generous to adopt Rose when she was a child. This is why Rose now feels she wants to be generous in turn to some other child — Oliver.
“You don’t need to do anything. I’m lucky because I have an aunt who has enough money to help people like you. ”
1. Rose said this to Oliver.
2. Oliver offered to work for Rose, to water her flowers or do anything for her.
3. Probably because this is Rose’s way of showing her gratitude to Mrs Maylie, by being kind to someone else.
“She was rich enough for a good hospital. I stole from her before she died! ”
1. Nurse Sally said this to Mrs Corney.
2. She stole a gold locket from Oliver’s mother.
3. The speaker said this more than ten years/nearly eleven or twelve years after Oliver was born, and she died after saying this.
CHAPTER FIVE
A. Pre-reading
1. Students’ own answers.
B.
1. Oliver stayed about three months/most of the summer with Mrs Maylie in the countryside.
2. Dr Losberne, Harry Maylie and Mr Giles came to see Rose when she was ill.
3. Harry asked Oliver to write to him often (and secretly) to tell him about Rose and Mrs Maylie.
4. Mr Bumble had married Mrs Corney and now he was the master of the workhouse. Mr Bumble met Monks. Monks wanted information about the woman who was with Oliver’s mother (Nurse Sally).
5. They met in an old factory in a slum of the town. Mrs Bumble gave him the locket that Nurse Sally had stolen from Oliver’s mother.
C.
1. F - They went to the countryside.
2. T
3. F - He walked into him in the village where he posted the letter.
4. F - The man who came with Mr Giles was Harry Maylie.
5. T
D.
(1)
2, 3, 1, 4, 6, 5 (2)
4, 1, 3, 6, 2, 5
E.
“Rose is so young and so good that nothing bad will happen to her. ”
1. Oliver said this to Mrs Maylie.
2. He said this when Rose was very ill.
3. He thinks that Rose will not die.
“She will sleep for a long time. Perhaps she will wake up better. But I am very worried that she will not wake up at all. ”
1. Mrs Maylie says this.
2. She’s talking about Rose Maylie.
3. She is worried because Rose is very ill and might die.
“I don’t want to know about him! I want to know about his nurse. Where is she?”
1. Monks says this at the inn where he meets Mr Bumble.
2. “Him” is Oliver.
3. She died the previous winter.
CHAPTER SIX
A. Pre-reading
1. They are afraid that Monks will hurt them or push them into the water. Students’ own ideas about what Monks will do.
B.
1. Monks threw in the locket that had been stolen from Oliver’s mother. He didn’t want Mr and Mrs Bumble to talk about what he did. Mr Bumble had been afraid that Monks would kill him and Mrs Bumble, so he was happy to still be alive.
2. He was away for several months — most of the time that Oliver was with the Maylies. He has been back for three weeks and ill in bed all that time.
3. She went to Fagin’s house to get some money for Bill Sikes. She met Monks, who had come to talk to Fagin. Fagin and Monks went upstairs to talk privately, but Nancy crept upstairs and listened to their conversation.
4. Nancy learned that Monks was Oliver’s half-brother, that he was trying to make Oliver a criminal and get him imprisoned. She also learned that Monks knew that Oliver was staying with Mrs Maylie, and she learned where Mrs Maylie was staying in London. She went to the hotel to tell Rose Maylie all of this.
5. Oliver saw Mr Brownlow. He got the address, and Rose and Oliver went to meet him at his home.
6. Fagin learns that the police have arrested the Artful Dodger.
C.
1. F - He throws in the gold locket. He does not try to kill them.
2. T
3. F - They went upstairs to talk but Nancy secretly followed them and overheard them.
4. T
5. F - A hotel servant got permission for Nancy to go upstairs to Rose.
6. F - He came into the room after Nancy had left.
7. F - He said that going to the police would not help Oliver.
8. F - He came to be a thief.
D.
5, 1, 2, 6, 3, 4
E.
“Now we can all forget all about this story, can’t we?”
1. Monks said this to Mr and Mrs Bumble.
2. They were in an old factory in the slums and Monks had just dropped the gold locket into the river.
3. He wants them to forget that they met him and gave him the locket. He doesn’t want anyone to know about it or about who Oliver is.
“He said that the only thing that could explain who the boy really is lies at the bottom of the river. ”
1. Nancy said this to Rose.
2. She’s reporting Monk’s speech (to Fagin).
3. The gold locket that Nurse Sally had stolen from Oliver’s mother lies at the bottom of the river.
“It was easy to take money from Mr Sowerberry. So we can also take things from other people. I think I would be a good thief. ”
1. Noah Claypole said this to his wife Charlotte.
2. They were in an inn in London, where they were eating dinner.
3. Fagin overheard this and he offered to let them join his gang of thieves. They agreed.
CHAPTER 7
A. Pre-reading
1. Students’ own answers.
B.
1. Noah (Morris) went to see what had happened to the Artful Dodger who is now with the police. Then he followed Nancy to see who she spoke with and what she said.
2. Nancy met them on London Bridge but took them down some steps next to the bridge to talk in a dark place. Noah Claypole/Morris Bolter heard their conversation.
3. Fagin was suspicious of her because the previous week she had tried to go out walking at 11 o’clock at night.
4. Nancy told them what Monks looked like and where they could probably find him. Mr Brownlow offered to take her away from her life of crime. She refused.
5. Sikes killed Nancy. Then he went away to the countryside north of London and hid. (After a week he heard people talking about the murder and he went back to London because he heard the police thought he was in Birmingham.)
C.
1. T
2. T
3. F - It was Mr Brownlow and Rose Maylie, and they talked on the dark steps next to the bridge.
4. T
5. T
6. T
7. F - He was going to marry her but she died young.
D.
3, 6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 7
E.
“Find out where she goes, who she sees and what she says. Can you do that?”
1. Fagin says this to Noah Claypole (Morris Bolter).
2. He is talking about Nancy.
3. He wants her followed because he thinks she is planning something and he wants to know what it is.
“Thank you for helping us. Now let us help you. Come with us, away from your old life. ”
1. Mr Brownlow said this to Nancy at London Bridge.
2. She had given him information on how to find Monks.
3. She didn’t accept the offer. She was killed by Sikes as a result.
“I did not think my father’s oldest friend would be so unkind to me. ”
1. Monks says this to Mr Brownlow.
2. This was at Mr Brownlow’s house.
3. He had kidnapped him and brought him to his house and he was making him sit and talk about himself and Oliver.
CHAPTER 8
A.
1. Students’ own ideas.
B.
1. Toby Crackit, Kags, Chitling and Charley Bates were in the house.
2. Mr Brownlow took Oliver to the town where Oliver was born. They stayed in a hotel in the town. Rose, Mrs Maylie, Mrs Bedwin, Dr Losberne, Mr Grimwig and Monks were also there.
3. His father’s will said that Oliver should only get his share of the money if he grew up with good morals, so Monks wanted him to be a thief so he wouldn’t get the money. He secretly watched Oliver as he grew up. He sent the Artful Dodger to find him and introduce him to Fagin, who would make him a thief.
4. Mr and Mrs Bumble said that they did not sell a locket to Monks and that they had never seen him. But a servant from the workhouse said that she saw Mrs Bumble take a gold locket and some papers from Nurse Sally when she died.
5. We learn that Rose Maylie was the younger sister of Agnes, Oliver’s mother, so she is Oliver’s aunt. She was only a small child when her parents died and she was eventually adopted by Mrs Maylie.
6. Oliver and Mr Brownlow wanted to know where Fagin had put the papers that Monks had given him. The papers would show who Rose was.
C.
1. T
2. Chitling and Bates escaped through a window.
3. T (But then the people outside heard Charley’s calls and tried to get inside to get Sikes.)
4. F - He offered fifty pounds but Sikes fell to his death, so no one caught him.
5. F - She is only Oliver’s aunt, the sister of his mother.
6. T
D.
5, 1, 4, 7, 2, 9, 6, 3, 8
E.
“I will give fifty pounds to the man who takes that man alive. ”
1. Mr Brownlow said this.
2. He was talking about Bill Sikes.
3. This was when Sikes was in a house in the slums; he had killed Nancy a week earlier and had returned to London. Mr Brownlow was with a crowd of people outside the house. The crowd was trying to get in to arrest Sikes.
“And there is the road to the house where I lived with Mrs Mann when I was little. Perhaps my
orphan friends are still there!”
1. Oliver said this.
2. He was in a coach going back to the town where he was born.
3. He hoped to give them clothes and teach them to read and write.
“When he ran away, I helped the Artful Dodger to find him so he could introduce him to my
friend Fagin, and then Fagin helped him to be a thief. ”
1. Monks said this, talking about Oliver.
2. He wanted Oliver to be a thief because Oliver would only inherit his share of his father’s money if he grew up with good morals. / because Oliver would not inherit his share of his father’s money if he had bad morals.
3. He was in a hotel in the town where Oliver was born. Mr Brownlow and others were with him.