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. “How surprising that no one noticed the missing document until today!” cried the assistant.

Explanation

The correct option is (b). The given direct speech is an exclamatory sentence expressing surprise. While converting direct to indirect speech for exclamations: We remove quotation marks and the exclamation mark. We use a reporting verb suitable for emotion, such as exclaimed with surprise / cried / exclaimed. We change the sentence into a statement using “that.” We apply backshift of tense when the reporting verb is in the past (cried). We change time expressions: today becomes that day. Direct: “How surprising that no one noticed the missing document until today!” Indirect should therefore be: The assistant cried that it was surprising that no one had noticed the missing document until that day. Option (b) correctly applies both tense backshift (noticed → had noticed) and time change (today → that day). Why other options are incorrect: Option (a): Does not change “today” to “that day” and does not backshift to “had noticed.” Option (c): Changes reporting verb and uses “till now,” which is incorrect for past reporting; also alters the time reference. Option (d): Incomplete/incorrect structure; it does not properly form an indirect statement with “that it was surprising...” Booster tip: With past reporting verbs, time words change: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the previous day. Copyright © 2026 Adda247 So the correct answer is (b)