Change the following from active to passive: Does the statute bind municipal councils to such obligations?

Correct — C. Does the statute bind is simple present, so the passive takes am/is/are + past participle.

The object, municipal councils, becomes the subject. It is plural, so the auxiliary is are.
Does drops out, are moves to the front, and bind becomes bound.
The statute becomes by the statute, and to such obligations stays after it.

That gives 'Are municipal councils bound by the statute to such obligations?' → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Have municipal councils been bound by the statute to such obligations? — Have ... been bound is the present perfect passive. The active does bind is simple present, and changing the voice must not change the tense.
• (b)
  Were municipal councils being bound by the statute to such obligations? — Were ... being bound is the past continuous passive. It moves the simple present does bind into the past and adds an ongoing sense the active never had.
• (d)
  Do municipal councils are bound by the statute to such obligations? — Do ... are bound stacks two auxiliaries. In the passive, be forms the question, so do drops out: 'Are municipal councils bound', not 'Do municipal councils are bound'.

Voice changes, tense stays. A simple present question, Do/Does + subject + verb + object?, becomes Am/Is/Are + object + past participle + by + subject?

Two things shift. Do or does disappears, because be now forms the question.

And the auxiliary agrees with the new subject. The statute is singular, hence does, while municipal councils is plural, hence are.

Key facts

• Simple present passive: am/is/are + past participle.
• Bind, bound, bound: the past tense and the past participle are both bound.
• In a passive question the be-auxiliary comes before the subject: Are the councils bound ...?

Common traps

• Keeping the singular of does in the passive. The auxiliary agrees with the new subject, municipal councils, which is plural.
• Choosing the present perfect because it sounds formal. The voice change must keep the simple present.

No directly related past PYQ was found.