Select the correct direct form of the given sentence.

Professor told me that I could not rescue myself from that bait. 

Professor said to me, "You cannot rescue yourself from this bait."

The correct direct form of the given sentence is: Professor said to me, "You cannot rescue yourself from this bait."

This is because direct speech is the exact words that someone spoke. In the direct form, the subject and tense of the verb do not change.

The other options are incorrect because they change the direct form of the sentence in some way:

• Professor says to me, "You cannot rescue yourself from this bait." - This sentence changes the past tense to the present tense.
• Professor said to me, "You have not rescued yourself from this bait." - This sentence changes the tense of the statement from present to past perfect.
• Professor said to us, "You cannot rescue yourself from this bait." - This sentence changes the subject of the statement from "me" to "us."