Voice change: choose the best passive form of the sentence Somebody told me that there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition.

Introduction / Context:
This item tests your ability to convert an active voice sentence into passive voice while preserving meaning and tense. The original active sentence is Somebody told me that there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition. We must choose the passive form that keeps the correct tense and natural English usage.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The subject in the active voice is Somebody, which is vague and not important to the message.
The indirect object is me, which will become the subject in the passive sentence.
The that clause there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition describes the reported event in past perfect tense.
We need a passive structure beginning with I was or similar, since the focus shifts to me.

Concept / Approach:
To change this sentence into passive voice, we move the indirect object me to subject position as I, use the appropriate form of be plus past participle of tell, and keep the that clause unchanged. Since the active verb told is in simple past, the passive auxiliary must be was, giving was told. The clause there had been a robbery remains in past perfect because it refers to an event earlier than the act of telling. It is not necessary to mention the agent somebody in the passive sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the verb and objects in the active sentence: Somebody told me that there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition. Step 2: Move me to the subject position to form I as the new subject. Step 3: Convert told to its passive counterpart was told, by using was plus the past participle told. Step 4: Keep the that clause there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition unchanged because it describes the content of the information. Step 5: Combine everything into I was told that there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can check the equivalence by rephrasing both sentences. The active sentence says that some unidentified person informed me about a robbery. The passive version I was told that there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition gives the same information but focuses on me as the receiver. The time relations are preserved because the telling happened in the past, and the robbery occurred before that, hence past perfect had been remains appropriate.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B I was told that there was a robbery in the jewellery exhibition changes the past perfect had been to simple past was, which slightly alters the time relationship and does not strictly match the original.
Option C I was being told suggests a continuous action at some time, which does not reflect the simple completed act of telling in the original sentence.
Option D It was told to me is an unnatural construction in English; we normally say I was told rather than it was told to me.
Option E I had been told that there was a robbery reverses the time structure by using past perfect for told and simple past for the robbery, which changes the sequence of events.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often worry unnecessarily about carrying over the word somebody and try to create sentences such as I was told by somebody, which is grammatically possible but not required. In passive voice, especially in exam questions, we usually omit unknown or unimportant agents. Another common error is to disturb the tense inside the that clause when only the main verb is being passivised. Remember that when you change the voice of the reporting verb, the tense of the reported clause usually remains the same.

Final Answer:
The best passive form is I was told that there had been a robbery in the jewellery exhibition.