732 The distinctive hereditary tartans that are alleged to be worn since antiquity by members of the Highland clans were in fact designed by Scottish woolen manufacturers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (A) that are alleged to be worn (B) alleged to have been worn (C) that are worn, it was alleged (D) alleged as having been worn (E) that are worn, allegedly OA-B[/spoiler]

IMO B too.. A,C, D, E are awkward and 'are' in A is not the correct tense usage

anksgupta wrote:IMO B too.. A,C, D, E are awkward and 'are' in A is not the correct tense usage i am not convince with your explanation to reject choice A.

gmat740 wrote:732 The distinctive hereditary tartans that are alleged to be worn since antiquity by members of the Highland clans were in fact designed by Scottish woolen manufacturers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (A) that are alleged to be worn (B) alleged to have been worn (C) that are worn, it was alleged (D) alleged as having been worn (E) that are worn, allegedly OA-B[/spoiler] IMO B We need "have" i.e. perfect tense....because of usage of since.....so A, C, E out. alleged as sounds awkward....i have always read alleged to.... Moreover in "D"....having looks to be wrong... Guys i have one doubt...do not you think that there should be some comma etc...before alleged in B...or some "that" before alleged in B... although B is the best answer but it looks a bit awkward...as in total

These tartans are supposedly no longer worn, but answer choice A suggests that the tartans are presently worn. Answer choices C and E do not form complete sentence, and answer choice D is wordy compared to B.

original sentence is using since and it is in passive form so as using since so have and been because of passive form!!!

The use of the word "since" tells us that people began wearing tartans in the past, but they are continuing to wear them in the present. When this is the case, we need to use the PRESENT PERFECT tense. A. "are alleged to be" is simple present tense, implying that it is only happening now. B. "alleged to have been" is present perfect. Correct! C. "that are" is simple past. D. "alleged as" is not idiomatically correct. "having been" is a progressive perfect construction, which is almost always wrong on the GMAT. E. "that are" is simple past.

+1 for B; correct tense usage (have been)

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