Convert the sentence provided below from its passive voice structure to an active voice structure: The findings were interpreted to have been misrepresented by the spokesperson in the official release.

Correct — C. The stem has two verbs. The reporting verb were interpreted names no interpreter, and no option keeps it: all four use believed or said.

The voice change happens in the infinitive: to have been misrepresented by the spokesperson becomes to have misrepresented, with the doer as subject and the findings as object.

The spokesperson is believed to have misrepresented the findings → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  It is believed that the spokesperson misrepresented the findings. — It is believed that swaps the stem's frame, subject + reporting verb + perfect infinitive, for an it-clause with a finite verb. That rebuilds the sentence; (c) keeps the frame and turns its infinitive active.
• (b)
  The official release was said to have misrepresented the spokesperson. — misrepresented the spokesperson reverses the roles. In the stem the spokesperson does the misrepresenting; here the official release misrepresents the spokesperson.
• (d)
  It was believed that the spokesperson had misinterpreted the release. — misinterpreted the release changes both the verb and its object. The stem says the findings were misrepresented, not that a release was misinterpreted.

Reporting verbs such as believe, say, expect have two passive frames for the same report:

It is believed that the company acquired the land.
The company is believed to have acquired the land.

In the second frame the infinitive carries the voice: to have been acquired (passive) turns into to have acquired (active). The perfect form shows the acquiring came before the believing.

Key facts

• to have been + past participle is the perfect passive infinitive, as in to have been misrepresented.
• to have + past participle is the perfect active infinitive, as in to have misrepresented.
• X is believed to have done Y and It is believed that X did Y report the same belief in two passive frames.
• In a voice change the agent after by becomes the subject: by the spokesperson → the spokesperson.

Common traps

• Choosing (a) because it reports the same belief, when the key rewards the option that keeps the infinitive frame
• Missing the role reversal in (b), where the release misrepresents the spokesperson
• Missing misinterpreted in (d), a different verb from the stem's misrepresented

No directly related past PYQ was found.