A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech:

The manager remarked that employees needed to submit their reports by Monday.

The correct direct speech sentence is: “Employees need to submit their reports by Monday,” the manager remarked.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

To convert a sentence from indirect speech to direct speech, we follow standard rules of grammar and tense conversion:

1. Identify the Reporting Verb:
The indirect sentence uses the reporting verb "remarked" ("The manager remarked that..."). In direct speech, we retain this reporting verb to maintain exact context.

2. Tense Back-shift Rule (Past Simple to Present Simple):
When converting indirect speech back to direct speech, past tense verbs in reported speech generally change back to present tense verbs.
In the given indirect sentence: "employees needed to submit..."
The verb needed (Simple Past) changes back to need (Simple Present) in direct speech.

3. Punctuation and Structure:
Direct speech encloses the exact words spoken inside quotation marks, separated from the reporting clause by a comma.

Combining these steps gives:
“Employees need to submit their reports by Monday,” the manager remarked.