Sentence Correction

Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence,the neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,but their relatively sudden disappearnce during the paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led o their extinction.

A)appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path
B)appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
C)appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
D)appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
E)appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,

OA:B

Appear as is incorrect...
It should be appear to...
E is wordy and awkward...
So B is correct

Could anyone give an explanation why (B) is the correct answer.

Specifically, why " have been equipped " is correct usage. have been is present perfect which dictates any action started in the past but continues in the present. Since Neanderthal are extinct, how is this usage right ?

Also appear is in the present tense, Is it used bcos of the idiom "appear to " (or) because the modifier at the start of the sentence is present tense.

B)appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path

Why B is the correct answer here. B should not be correct here simply because it uses present perfect.

I picked D

OG answer is B.

In B, " to have been" means they are equipped from past till present ( today), right?.

should "been" be used here?

Did'nt understand it at all!!
Ron,could u please help us get the OA by the POE method??

shilpi84 wrote:Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence,the neanderthals appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,but their relatively sudden disappearnce during the paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led o their extinction.

A)appear as equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path
B)appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
C)appear as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their paths,
D)appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path,
E)appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,

OA:B

I'll try and help:

"Appear as equipped" would only be correct if the neanderthals' status was being compared to something else. For example: "the neanderthals appear as equipped to fight the cold as they do the tigers."

Since we know their status is not being compared, we can eliminate A, C, D.

So we're stuck between B and E. Let's look at E:

E)appeared to have been equipped for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,

"appeared to have been equipped" doesn't seem wrong at first. It's wrong due to the structure of the infinitive clause but who cares? That's the hard part to figure out. The EASY part of the sentence that is flawed is in the second half:

for facing any obstacle the environment could put in their path,

"for facing" is the present participle and the entire sentence is in the past tense. You can eliminate this one right away.

So, even without knowing why B is correct, you can select it.

But for edification purposes:

B is correct because it uses a singular "appear", uses the past participle, and uses infinitive after the past participle.

lunarpower wrote:this isn't a present perfect construction, because it's actually an infinitive.
i.e., it's not "they have been equipped"; it's "they appear TO HAVE been equipped".

in any case, you should probably just memorize this construction as a one-off idiomatic structure. if you say "they seemed/appeared to...", then, no matter how remote the event is (in time), you use this construction.

for instance:
it seems that the students cheated on the exam
(normal past tense in this construction)
but...
the students seem to have cheated on the exam
(not here)

Hi Ron

I have memorized this as you have suggested. However I am not able to understand what you mean to say by the example above

Further , one question still remains , which construction is better in context

appear to have been equipped
appeared to have been equipped

Basically I wanted to know which is the correct verb tense here

Aha....Totally confused...
Ron... I hope you reply to my first post to you...
Appear (Or Appears ) -> Present tense...
Appear is parallel to indicates, which is in present tense... So appear is also in present tense..
But when appear paired with to have been equipped (appear to have been equipped) gives you a action in past tense...
N the context of the sentence demands a past tense....So that's why we are using a past tense here....

Is this what you wanna say Ron??

Also is appear as equipped is present tense??

Also, OG explanatn points in the same direction....
OG says that Because Neanderthals "disappeared," the verb
describing their apparent abilities cannot be
present tense, so as equipped must be changed to to
have been equipped...