The distinctive hereditary tartans that are alleged to be worn since

B. Since and passive require - have been worn.

Also, IMO B

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 --> to be worn is not clearly modified the noun tartans the time it started to be worn and the lasting of such action to the present because of the appearance of since in the sentence
(B) alleged to have been worn --> since and have been are best accompanied by each other
(C) that are worn, it was alleged --> unidiomatical clauses and incorrect tense of verb was
(D) alleged as having been worn --> as used after alleged seems uidiomatic
(E) that are worn, allegedly --> allegedly is incorrectly and meaninglessly modified for verb worn.

+1 B

"since" usually requires present perfect.
"that are alleged" is wordy. We must avoid the unnecesary use of the verb "to be".

i pick B here. "the distinctive hereditary tartans" has no verb in the original sentence. so A, C and E are out. in B "as having been worn" unnecessarily wordy, passive and awkward. please correct me if i am wrong

Good Question... thanks for the explanation. Need a small clarification, is "have been" always required with "since"?

"Since" is in the sentence, "have been" should also be present.

The word "since" tells you that the tartans are currently being worn and that this action (the wearing) started in the past and continues through today. So the "have been worn" tense is necessary. At first, I thought there might be an issue with the "that" construct, but the only correct verb tense answer removes the "that" completely, so there was no further question that the answer is B.

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 - sounds good but 'to be worn' has not modified the tartans properly
(B) alleged to have been worn - as the use of since have/had should be & that is why it is PERFECT
(C) that are worn, it was alleged - tense 'was' is not correct
(D) alleged as having been worn - alleged as is a wrong idiomatic use
(E) that are worn, allegedly -- 'allegedly' wrong modification

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.

The bold part requires a present perfect. So B is better than A.

Answer must be B

Here's the official explanation provided by the GMAC for this question:

This sentence discusses tartans allegedly worn since antiquity. In context, since antiquity indicates that the wearing of the tartans allegedly started in the distant past and was or is still continuing at the time of the allegation. An appropriate verb form to convey this meaning is the present perfect passive to have been worn.

Option A: The present passive infinitive to be worn is incompatible with the past-tense meaning conveyed by since antiquity.

Option B: Correct. The present perfect passive infinitive to have been worn correctly conveys the intended sense of an ongoing activity that allegedly started in the distant past and was or is still continuing at the time of the allegation.

Option C: The present passive are worn is incompatible with the past-tense meanings conveyed by were and since antiquity.

Option D: The wording alleged as having is unidiomatic. The preposition as is not conventionally used to link the verb to allege with the content of the allegation.

Option E: The present passive are worn is incompatible with the past-tense meaning conveyed by since antiquity.

The correct answer is B.

Please note that I'm not the author of this explanation. I'm just posting it here since I believe it can help the community.

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

-- 'to be' is not correct. We're describing the past here.

(B) alleged to have been worn

-- Looks good. Keep.

(C) that are worn, it was alleged

-- 'are' is not correct. We're describing the past here.

(D) alleged as having been worn

'alleged as' is unidiomatic -- should be 'alleged to'

(E) that are worn, allegedly

-- 'are' is not correct. We're describing the past here.

Answer is B.

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.