Choose the option that is the direct form of the sentence.

He exclaimed sadly that it was a pity that so many lives had been lost in the floods.

He said sadly, “What a pity that so many lives have been lost in the floods.”

The direct form of the sentence is He said sadly, "What a pity that so many lives have been lost in the floods!"

The other options are incorrect because they do not make the necessary changes to the reporting verb, exclamation mark, or tense of the verbs.

• The option "He said sadly, “It was a pity that so many lives were loss in the floods.”" does not use the exclamation mark.
• The option "He said sadly, “What a pity that so many lives are being lost in the floods!”" uses the present tense of the verb "be".
• The option "He said sadly, “It is a pity that so many lives had been lost in the floods.”" uses the past perfect tense of the verb "be".
• The option "He said sadly, “What a pity that so many lives have lost in the floods.”" does not use the correct form of the verb "lose".