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Practice Exercise 1 Identifying Quoted and Reported Speech 
 
Read the following paragraph and underline all instances of reported speech. Circle any 
quoted speech. 
Maria recently returned from a conference in Dubai and told her colleagues about her trip 
there. She said that the architecture of Dubai was really fascinating, with many new 
buildings of glass and steel. Of course, she also saw the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest 
building. Some of her friends went up to the top, but Maria said she didn’t because she 
has a fear of heights. 
“I don’t even like being on a second-story balcony, so the Burj Khalifa 
was definitely out of the question for me!” 
Maria said that there were many shopping centers 
in Dubai, but that they were expensive. The weather was “unbelievably hot.” On her last 
night in Dubai, Maria and her friends went on a dinner cruise on a small boat in the 
harbor. There was music and great food, and they could see the lights of the city as the 
boat cruised through the harbor. “It was the perfect ending to two weeks in Dubai,” she 
said. 
 
Practice Exercise 2
Punctuation for Quoted Speech 
 
Correct the errors in the following sentences.
1. “Tomorrow’s weather will be mostly sunny with a chance of afternoon showers.” 
the weatherman announced. 
2. The instructor said: “absolutely no laptop usage during lecture time.” 
3. “Can we postpone the test until Monday”? the students asked. 
4. “All new students must go to the student center to get their new ID card said the 
instructor. You must do this before you can get a library card.” 
5. “There will be no tuition increase this year, ” said the president. In fact, there will 
be no tuition increase for the next 3 years.”
 

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