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Question

Difficulty: MediumDirect and Indirect (Reported) Speech

Read the direct speech statement below and complete its reported speech version by filling in the missing expressions in the blanks.

Answer:Direct Speech: "We will launch the communications satellite next week if the weather conditions remain favorable," the mission director announced.

Reported Speech: The mission director announced that they 【would】 launch the communications satellite 【the following week】 if the weather conditions 【remained】 favorable.

Answer

blank_1: would; blank_2: the following week (or the next week / the subsequent week); blank_3: remained
In indirect speech introduced by a past-tense reporting verb ('announced'), the auxiliary 'will' backshifts to 'would', the time expression 'next week' changes to 'the following week' (or 'the next week' / 'the subsequent week'), and the simple present verb 'remain' backshifts to simple past 'remained'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the required modal verb backshift for 'will'.
'will' changes to 'would' in indirect speech.
When reporting speech with a past-tense introductory verb ('announced'), the modal auxiliary 'will' shifts back to its past form 'would'.
2
Convert the temporal expression 'next week'.
'next week' shifts to 'the following week', 'the next week', or 'the subsequent week'.
Time reference adverbs pointing to future periods must shift to reflect the reporting perspective.
3
Apply tense backshift to the conditional clause verb 'remain'.
'remain' changes from simple present to simple past 'remained'.
Verbs in the present simple tense backshift to the past simple tense when reported after a past tense reporting verb.

Key Concept

Direct to Indirect Speech Rules: Modal Backshift, Temporal Adverbial Shifts, and Present-to-Past Tense Changes
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

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