In the following question, a sentence has been given in the Active voice. Out of the four alternatives, select the option that best expresses the same meaning in the Passive voice:\n\nThe movie critic wrote a sarcastic review.

Introduction / Context:
This grammar question tests your understanding of how to change a sentence from the Active voice into the Passive voice without changing the tense or meaning. The given sentence The movie critic wrote a sarcastic review is in the simple past tense and clearly shows who did the action and what was done. To get full marks, you must preserve the time reference (simple past) and correctly shift focus from the doer (the movie critic) to the receiver of the action (a sarcastic review).

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Active sentence: The movie critic wrote a sarcastic review.
• Subject in active voice: the movie critic.
• Object in active voice: a sarcastic review.
• Main verb: wrote, which is the simple past form of write.
• We want a passive version that keeps the same time reference and meaning.

Concept / Approach:
For a transitive verb in the simple past, the passive structure is: object of the active sentence + was or were + past participle of the verb + by + original subject. Here, the object a sarcastic review becomes the new grammatical subject. Because review is singular, we use was. The past participle of write is written. Finally, we add by the movie critic to show who performed the action. So the core passive form is: A sarcastic review was written by the movie critic.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the object a sarcastic review and move it to the subject position in the new sentence. Step 2: Keep the tense as simple past, so use was written as the passive form of wrote. Step 3: Add the agent phrase by the movie critic after the verb phrase to show who did the action. Step 4: Form the full passive: A sarcastic review was written by the movie critic, which matches the original meaning and tense exactly.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, convert the passive sentence back to active: A sarcastic review was written by the movie critic becomes The movie critic wrote a sarcastic review. This is identical in meaning and tense to the original sentence, which confirms that the transformation is correct. None of the other options produce exactly this form with the same tense.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, A sarcastic review is written by the movie critic, uses the simple present tense is written, which changes the time reference from past to present. Option B, A sarcastic review has been written by the movie critic, uses the present perfect tense has been written and suggests a recent or still relevant action. Option D, The movie critic has written a sarcastic review, is in the Active voice and present perfect tense, so it does not answer the requirement to change the sentence into the Passive voice in the same tense.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners often forget that voice changes should not change tense. Some students also wrongly think that any sentence with by is automatically passive and correct. Others may pick has been written because they recognise it as passive but fail to notice that the tense has changed. Always check three things: subject, tense, and whether the new sentence is actually passive.

Final Answer:
The correct passive form of the sentence is A sarcastic review was written by the movie critic.