A sentence is provided in direct speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding indirect speech.
'Though the facts were evident, the jury chose to ignore them,' he observed.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Correct Answer
He observed that though the facts had been evident, the jury had chosen to ignore them.
Explanation
When converting direct speech into indirect speech, verbs in the Simple Past Tense within the quotation marks must be changed into the Past Perfect Tense when the reporting verb is in the past tense ('observed').
'were evident' (Simple Past) shifts to 'had been evident' (Past Perfect).
'chose to ignore' (Simple Past) shifts to 'had chosen to ignore' (Past Perfect).
The introductory conjunction 'that' is added after the reporting verb.
Option 2 is the only option that correctly applies these tense modifications while preserving the exact wording and articles of the original statement.
Key Points
Tense Shift Rule: Simple Past (V2 → Past Perfect (had + V3).
Note on Answer Key: The provided key marks this as 'None,' which represents a typo or error in the test script; Option 2 is structurally and grammatically accurate.