Advanced Reported Speech: Multiple Choice

Choose the words that complete each reported sentence. Your first choice counts.

1. "We're renting a flat near the station," my cousins told me last year. They've since bought a house in the country. Last year my cousins told me that _____ a flat near the station.

2. "Where are you staying?" the taxi driver asked us as we left the airport in Malta last summer. The driver asked us where _____.

3. "I'll bring your ladder back tomorrow," our neighbour said on Sunday. It's Friday now, and we're still waiting for it. On Sunday our neighbour said he _____ our ladder back _____.

4. "I can't take you to football on Saturday," I told my son last week. Then my meeting was cancelled, so I took him after all. Last week I told my son that _____ him to football on Saturday.

5. "I've lost the concert tickets!" Lena said when she rang me on Tuesday. An hour later, she found them in her coat pocket. On Tuesday, Lena told me _____ the concert tickets.

6. "I'm going to start my diet next Monday," Uncle Raj announced at New Year. It's March now, and he still hasn't started. At New Year, Uncle Raj announced that he _____ his diet _____.

7. "What do you want for your birthday?" my aunt asked me a few weeks before I turned eighteen. My aunt asked me what _____ for my birthday.

8. "I'll never eat raw fish," my dad said years ago. These days he eats raw salmon every Friday. Years ago, my dad said he _____ raw fish.

9. "You'll pass easily," my driving instructor told me the day before my test last spring. I failed. My instructor told me _____ easily.

10. "I don't eat meat," Lucy told me when we first met in 2019. These days she loves a bacon sandwich. When we first met, Lucy told me she _____ meat.

11. "Have you ever been to Scotland?" the interviewer asked me in 2022. At the time I said no, but I went there last summer. The interviewer asked me _____ to Scotland.

12. "We're having a party tonight, so sorry about the noise!" our new neighbours told us last Friday. Our new neighbours told us they _____ a party _____.

13. "I've been learning Spanish since 2017," Marco told me when we met in 2020. He gave up his lessons the following year. In 2020, Marco told me he _____ Spanish since 2017.

14. "We can repair your laptop by Friday," the shop assistant told me two weeks ago. It still isn't ready. Two weeks ago, the shop assistant told me they _____ my laptop by Friday.

15. "Can you feed my cat while I'm away?" my friend Elif asked me before her holiday in August. Elif asked me _____ her cat while she was away.

16. "I'm having a wonderful time here," my sister wrote from Rome last summer. She's back at work in Leeds now, and so am I. In her message from Rome, my sister wrote that she _____ a wonderful time _____.

17. "The old bridge is being repaired," our guide told us on our trip to Prague in 2021. The work finished years ago. On that trip, our guide told us the old bridge _____.

18. "When will you finish painting the fence?" my landlord kept asking me last spring. I finally finished it in June. Last spring, my landlord kept asking me when _____ painting the fence.

19. "If it rains on Sunday, we'll cancel the race," the organisers announced last week. It poured, but the race went ahead anyway. The organisers announced that if it _____ on Sunday, they _____ the race.

20. "Someone stole my bike yesterday," Omar told us at football last Saturday. At football, Omar told us that someone _____ his bike _____.