Short Keycuts in OS10

Please can someone help me (by the way, this is the first time I've been on here, so I hope I'm doing it correctly!)

I have an OS10 iMac but the short keycuts do NOT work. I am a very experience Quark user and it's driving me mad!

- they also don't work in Illustrator, so it can't be a Quark thing...

Any ideas?
thank you
Sarah