In the following question, a sentence has been given in Active Voice. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same idea in Passive Voice: "People felt that the police were corrupt."

Introduction / Context:
This question deals with an impersonal passive construction used with reporting verbs like "feel", "believe", or "say". The active sentence is "People felt that the police were corrupt." The agent "people" is indefinite and not very important, so English often uses a structure beginning with "It was felt that..." for the passive version. You need to identify the option that correctly expresses this transformation.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Active sentence: "People felt that the police were corrupt."
• Subject: "People" (indefinite group).
• Reported clause: "that the police were corrupt."
• Tense: simple past ("felt" and "were").
• The passive structure should normally avoid awkward phrases like "were felt".

Concept / Approach:
When the subject is a general group like "people" and the verb is one of opinion or feeling, English commonly uses an impersonal passive structure: "It was felt that ...", "It was believed that ...". This avoids clumsy constructions such as "the police were felt to be corrupt". The pronoun "It" serves as a grammatical subject, while the content clause "that the police were corrupt" carries the real information. The tense "was felt" corresponds to the simple past "felt".

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify verb and subject in the main clause: "People felt".Step 2: Recognise that "people" is an indefinite general subject that can be dropped in the impersonal passive.Step 3: Convert "felt" to passive using "It was felt that ...".Step 4: Keep the that clause unchanged: "that the police were corrupt."Step 5: Combine both to get: "It was felt that the police were corrupt."

Verification / Alternative check:
Compare meanings: "People felt that the police were corrupt" and "It was felt that the police were corrupt" both communicate that there was a general feeling or opinion of corruption regarding the police. The second version is more formal and passive, which is exactly what the question is asking you to produce. The time reference also remains simple past. Therefore, option A is correct.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Option B: "The police were felt to be corrupt" is grammatically possible but sounds awkward for standard exam English and focuses unnaturally on the police as subject of "felt".
• Option C: "Were being corrupt" changes the meaning to something more temporary and ongoing, which is not implied in the original sentence.
• Option D: "Were felt being corrupt" is ungrammatical.
• Option E: "It had been felt" moves the tense to past perfect, suggesting a time even earlier than the original simple past, which is not required.

Common Pitfalls:
Students frequently try to make the original object the new subject and use patterns like "The police were felt to be corrupt", following a mechanical rule. However, with verbs of opinion and vague subjects like "people", English strongly prefers the impersonal passive starting with "It". Recognising these verbs and patterns can help you avoid awkward and non standard structures in exam questions.

Final Answer:
The correct passive construction is "It was felt that the police were corrupt."