curriculum/challenges/english/blocks/learn-how-to-use-reported-speech/683999c2dc1744cb2b53971d.md
Read the text and answer the question below.
Imagine someone wrote the minutes for the meeting between Lisa and Mark. These were the notes taken.
Lisa and Mark discussed the recent database crash that happened last week. Lisa mentioned that after reviewing the logs, she realized the system overload might have been prevented if they had monitored the system load more closely. Mark agreed and added that the logs showed an unusually high number of queries hitting the database just before the crash. He suggested that if these queries had been spread more evenly, the system might not have failed.
Lisa also pointed out that they hadn't updated their database management software for some time. She believed that if the latest patches had been installed, some of the vulnerabilities exploited during the crash could have been fixed. Mark shared the same thought and expressed frustration that they had not prioritized the update earlier, which might have prevented the problem.
Finally, Lisa noted that although the situation was difficult, it was an important lesson. She asked how they could avoid such issues in the future, emphasizing the need for a more proactive maintenance strategy.
What did Mark suggest as a possible cause for the system failure?
The database management software was outdated.
Mark did not mention software updates as the cause here.
The queries were not spread evenly.
The hardware was malfunctioning.
Mark did not talk about any hardware problems.
The system load was monitored too closely.
Mark actually suggested that monitoring more closely could have prevented the failure.
2
Find in the first paragraph the part where Mark and his suggestion are mentioned. A structure in the Third Conditional is used, which means that what was mentioned did not actually happen - it was only a possible outcome in case a different course of action was taken. By reading this line you will be able to correctly answer this question.