Read the quotation below and complete the instruction that follows. "The view of life I communicate in my pictures excludes the sordid and ugly" (Rockwell). Select the indirect quotation that correctly sequences the verbs.

The reporting verb “says” is in the present tense, so the verb in the indirect quotation stays in the present tense too. Rockwell’s pictures “communicate” the kinder view of life; “communicated,” “will communicate,” and “are communicating” change the tense or meaning unnecessarily. The correct choice is “Rockwell says that his pictures communicate the kinder view of life.”

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