The sentence "Someone gave the old man a push" is in the active voice. Out of the following options, select the passive voice sentence that best expresses the same meaning.

Introduction / Context:
This question tests the ability to change a sentence from active voice to passive voice without changing the tense or the basic meaning. The active sentence Someone gave the old man a push has a simple past tense verb and two objects. The aim is to form a passive sentence that keeps the simple past and correctly promotes one of the objects to the subject position.

Given Data / Assumptions:

- Active sentence: Someone gave the old man a push. - Verb: gave (simple past). - Objects: the old man and a push. - The doer (subject) is an indefinite pronoun, someone, which is often omitted or left vague in passive constructions.

Concept / Approach:
When converting a sentence with two objects into passive voice, either object can become the subject of the new sentence, provided the meaning remains clear. Here, a common and grammatically correct passive form is A push was given to the old man. This retains the simple past passive structure was given and clearly indicates the action received by the old man. The indefinite subject someone can be omitted because it is not important who exactly did the action.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the verb and tense in the active sentence: gave in simple past. Step 2: Choose one of the objects to promote to subject position in the passive sentence; here, a push is chosen. Step 3: Form the passive verb in simple past: was given. Step 4: Attach the other object with an appropriate preposition: to the old man. Step 5: Combine to get: A push was given to the old man. Step 6: Confirm that this matches option D exactly.

Verification / Alternative check:
Compare the meanings explicitly. Someone gave the old man a push and A push was given to the old man both describe the same event: the old man received a push from an unspecified person. The tense is preserved, and no extra information is introduced. Therefore, option D is a faithful passive transformation of the original sentence.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, The old man got a push from someone, is close in meaning but uses got in place of was given, which is less formal and not a direct grammatical transformation. Option B, Somebody had given a push to the old man, shifts the tense to past perfect, which does not match the simple past of the original. Option C, The old man was being pushed by someone, suggests continuous action rather than a single push and changes the aspect to past continuous passive.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners often change the tense unintentionally when converting between active and passive, or they prefer informal verbs like got, which are not ideal in exam contexts. Another frequent issue is misunderstanding continuous versus simple aspects. Remember that was given is the standard simple past passive form of gave and that this should be used unless the original sentence clearly indicates ongoing action.

Final Answer:
A push was given to the old man. is the correct passive voice version of the given active sentence.