A part of the following sentence is underlined. Choose the option that can replace the underlined part to improve the sentence. In case Options A, B and C are not found suitable, choose Option D: 'No Improvement Required.'
The new policy was believing to have reduced corruption in the department.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The subject 'The new policy' cannot perform the action of 'believing.' Therefore, the sentence needs to be in the passive voice (was believed) rather than the active continuous form (was believing).
The phrase 'to have reduced' is a perfect infinitive. It is used to show that the reduction in corruption happened before the time of the belief.
Option A (is believed to reduce) suggests a general current belief about a future or habitual reduction.
Option B (was believed to have reduced) correctly indicates that in the past, people held the belief that the policy had already successfully reduced corruption.
Correct Sentence:
The new policy was believed to have reduced corruption in the department.