1. Which verbs do we use to report someone's words? 2. How do tenses change? 3. How do pronouns/possessives change? 4. Which verb is used to report questions? 5. How do we report a positive/negative command?
Yesterday protesters managed to hold up work on the Oldbury bypass. Protest leader Alison Compton defended the action by members of the Green World group. 'If we don't protest, soon (►) there'll be (there / be) no countryside left,' she told reporters. The bypass is now well behind schedule, and if the protesters had not held up the work so often, it would have opened two months ago. 'If these fields disappear, we'll never see them again,' said Ms Compton. 'Why can't we use public transport? If more people travelled on buses and trains, we wouldn't need new roads. If the motor car had never existed, the world would have been a more pleasant place today.' But many people in Oldbury want their new bypass. 'If they do not build it soon, the traffic jams in the town will get worse,' said Asif Mohammed, whose house is beside the busy A34. 'We just can't leave things as they are. If things remained the same, people's health will suffer even more from all the pollution here. It's terrible. If we don't get the traffic out of the town, I will go mad. If I had known earlier how bad this problem would get, I would have moved out years ago. But now it has become impossible to sell this house because of the traffic. The government waited too long. If they had done something sooner, there would be less traffic today' And the protest is making the new road even more expensive. 'If this goes on, there won't be enough money left to finish the road,' says the Transport
B: Yes, it is. If it b) was frozen, we could have gone skating.
2 A: Haven't you got enough money for a holiday?
B: Oh yes. I've got some saved up b) in case I suddenly need it.
3 A: What are you going to do next year?
B: I wish I a) knew the answer to that question.
4 A: These figures are too complicated to work out in your head.
B: Yes, if b) only we had a calculator.
5 A: What are you doing later this afternoon?
B: Oh, b) in case the game finishes, I'll go home, I expect.
6 A: Do you think I should take the job?
B: You shouldn't do anything c) unless you think it's the right thing to do.