A punctuation question with changing word order tests whether a question is asked directly or reported. Read the words leading into the blank and check how the question is introduced. A direct question puts a verb before its subject, the person or thing it’s about, and ends with a question mark. A reported question keeps the subject first and ends as a statement, with a period. The word order and end mark must agree, so test both rather than choosing by sound.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at how Rao introduces the question, especially the punctuation after question.
- Hint 2
Decide whether Rao’s question is asked directly or reported. What word order and end mark does that kind of question need?
Step-by-step
Check the order, then the introduction
Step 1Test the word order and end mark
After with his newly developed alloy, the choices change word order and the end mark, so let’s check them together. Do those parts agree? The version would the alloy with a period uses question order but ends like a statement. The version the alloy would with a question mark uses statement order but ends like a question, so both versions mix question and statement forms.
- Step 2
Decide whether the question is direct
Is Rao asking the question directly or reporting what he wondered? The colon in he posed a question: introduces the question itself, so it’s asked directly. The phrase about the newly developed alloy gives the setting for the question without changing how it’s introduced.
- Step 3
Use direct question order and punctuation
How should Rao’s direct question begin and end? A direct question puts a verb before the subject and ends with a question mark, so would comes before the alloy here. The version the alloy would with a period makes a statement, so use would the alloy retain its activity? Choice B.