Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Nea

This is not an easy one, lets move gradually with splits.

appear Vs appeared split

We need a present tense verb.

We can eliminate D and E.

the Neanderthals appear ................................, but their .......................... indicates [This is the clue and the decision point top select present time verb appear.]

appear and indicates both are present tense verb and hence parallel.

equipped to equipped for. This is an Idiomatic split. equipped to is the correct Idiom.
So A and E are out.

We are down to B and C.

Understanding the meaning and Sequence of tense:
Something is appearing to us now, but in past(the Neanderthals).

There is a tricky and very subtle contrast, you have to understand here how often GMAT uses contrast and mix it with the sequencing of tenses, you will find 3-4 questions like this in Gmat prep question pack 1 that has a total 75 SC question.

C is unable to justify the contrast and leaves some ounce of ambiguous thought. so the selection of B over C is based on sequence of tenses, meaning and contrast, have been clearly confirms that something is in past and is appearing to us/author in the present, but it no more exists. indicates was the clue to have this decision without any ambiguity.

Ron's answer -

by default, "appear" is in the present tense, since we're talking about the way these things appear to present-day observers.

if there were a context that would place "appear" in the past, then you could use the past tense. for instance: to nineteenth-century observers, they appeared to have been equipped...
but, absent such a context, you should go with the present, for simplicity (the default assumption is that this "appears" to be the case to present observers).

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in this case, you've also got parallelism between "appear" and "indicates", two descriptions that both describe observations made in the present.
since "indicates" is not underlined, that determines the tense context. so your other observation, which is made at the same time, should be parallel to it.


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"to have VERBed" is a type of infinitive that refers to actions in a timeframe previous to the timeframe of the sentence itself. this is actually the only kind of infinitive that can do this, so it will take the same form regardless of the tense of the main clause.

so, if you write
"the students seem to have cheated"
then
* the sentence itself is in the present ("seem"). so, the sentence is talking about the way things appear to a present observer.
* according to that present observer, it seems to be the case that the students cheated at some point in the past.


if you write
"the students seemed to have cheated"
then
* the sentence itself is in the past ("seemed"). so, the sentence is talking about the way things appeared to a past observer.
* according to that past observer, it seems to be the case that the students cheated at some point earlier in the past.

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Mitch's answer

In English, we have two infinitive tenses: the present infinitive (TO + VERB) and the perfect infinitive (TO + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE).

The present infinitive expresses CONTEMPORANEOUS action (an action happening AT THE SAME TIME as the main action):
John IS proud TO BE president.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO BE president (also in the present).

The perfect infinitive expresses PRIOR action (an action that happened PRIOR to the main action):
John IS proud TO HAVE BEEN president.
Here, John IS proud (in the present) TO HAVE BEEN president (in the past).

One definition of to appear is to seem.
The intention of the SC above is to discuss WHAT SEEMS TO BE TRUE about the Neanderthals.
The Neanderthals appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle..
Here, the Neanderthals APPEAR (in other words, they SEEM -- right now, in the present) TO HAVE BEEN EQUIPPED (in the past).

As …as is idiom; and Choice A, C and D are out for the same reason

As for choice B the verb “appear” has invisible object “us” (appear to whom). As we are talking “the Neanderthals” in the present context. A present verb is required. Hence the correct answer

Hi Alexander,

Here goes the answer to your question:

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 disappearance during the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.


Neanderthals existed in the past. They do not exist anymore. But the way this sentence has been written, it suggests that they still exist. They “appear” as equipped…. This is the flaw in this sentence. We need a verb that suggests that Neanderthals are extinct.


Now let’s see the sentence with the correct answer choice:


Combining enormous physical strength with higher intelligence, the Neanderthals appear to have been equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path, but their relatively sudden disappearance during the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.


This choice corrects the verb tense error in the original sentence. Verb phrase “appear to have been equipped” correctly suggests that Neanderthals when alive were equipped to face any environmental problem. They were equipped at that time.


If choice B were worded as “appear to be equipped to face…”, it would be incorrect because again it would convey the same meaning as Choice A.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

MindFul,
Your interpretation of appear/appeared seems to be wrong. It is now that Neanderthals 'appear' equipped, it is not that they appeared quipped. In the Paleolithic age, Neanderthals were either equipped or not equipped to face the circumstances and apparently they weren't as they disappeared.

The tone of the sentence is in present tense as hence it should be appear and not appeared.

I hope I am clear. Guys please comment as well.
cheers.

The issue here is with 'appear as equipped to ..... ' . 'Appear as' indicates comparison but there's nothing to compare to in the sentence. So option B corrects that by using the correct usage of 'appear to have been equipped .....'. Hope this helps.

Dear Friends,

Here is a detailed explanation to this question-
Concepts tested here: Tenses + Verb Forms

• The perfect infinitive verb form (“to + have + past participle” – “to have been” in this sentence) is used to refer to the earlier of two actions in the past, refer to hypothetical actions, and actions that will be completed in the future.
• For referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb"- "to + draw" in this sentence) is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "drawing" in this sentence) construction.
• Information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.

A: This answer choice incorrectly uses "as equipped" to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past - Neanderthals being equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path and them appearing to have been so; please remember, the perfect infinitive verb form (“to + have + past participle”) is used to refer to the earlier of two actions in the past. Further, Option A uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "facing" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of the action "equipped"; please remember, for referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "facing" in this sentence) construction.

B: Correct. This answer choice correctly uses the perfect infinitive verb form (“to + have + past participle” – “to have...equipped” in this sentence) to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past - Neanderthals being equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path and them appearing to have been so. Further, Option B correctly uses the simple present tense verb "appear" to refer to information that is permanent in nature. Additionally, Option B uses the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb" - "to + face" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of the action "equipped".

C: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses "as equipped" to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past - Neanderthals being equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path and them appearing to have been so; please remember, the perfect infinitive verb form (“to + have + past participle” – “to have...equipped” in this sentence) is used to refer to the earlier of two actions in the past.

D: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses "as equipped" to refer to the earlier of two actions that concluded in the past - Neanderthals being equipped to face any obstacle the environment could put in their path and them appearing to have been so; please remember, the perfect infinitive verb form (“to + have + past participle” – “to have...equipped” in this sentence) is used to refer to the earlier of two actions in the past. Further, Option D incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "appeared" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; please remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past.

E: Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb "appeared" to refer to information that is permanent in nature; please remember, information that is permanent in nature is best conveyed through the simple present tense, and the simple past tense is used to refer to events that concluded in the past. Further, Option E uses the present participle ("verb+ing" - "facing" in this sentence) to refer to the purpose of the action "equipped"; please remember, for referring to the purpose or intent of an action, the infinitive verb form (“to + base form of verb") is preferred over the present participle ("verb+ing" - "facing" in this sentence) construction.

Hence, B is the best answer choice.

To understand the concept of "Simple Tenses" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~1 minute):



To understand the concept of "Infinitive" vs "Present Participle" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

IMO D
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 disappearance during
the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt
to some environmental change led to their extinction.

(D) appeared as equipped to face any obstacle the
environment could put in their paths,-->"red" seems to be consistent in past tense

And the "relatively sudden disappearance" implies that Neanderthals is no longer "appear"but "appeared".

The idiom is "appear to be" not "appear as".

Appear as - may exist in the following sentence: It appears as if/as though I was wrong

Usage of appear according to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

You've got to appear (to be) calm in an interview even if you're terrified underneath.
To people who don't know him he probably appears (to be) rather unfriendly.
Things aren't always what they appear to be.
[+ to infinitive] She appears to actually like the man, which I find incredible.
There appears to be some mistake.
[+ (that)] It appears (that) she left the party alone.
It appears to me (that) (= I think that) we need to make some changes.
FORMAL It would appear (that) (= It seems that) nobody on board the aircraft actually had a licence to fly it.
[+ adverb or preposition] It appears as if/as though I was wrong.
Everything was not as it appeared - secret deals had been done.
I know how it must appear, but it's not really as bad as it looks.
"Has he left?" "It appears not/so."

I think its B..
Just checked OG 12..the OA is also B..

Here is the explanation

A As equipped indicates that Neanderthals still
appear this way; equipped should be followed
by an infi nitive form instead of a
prepositional phrase.

B Correct. The verb tense clearly indicates
that the current evidence is about
Neanderthals in the past.

C As equipped does not indicate that
Neanderthals appeared this way in the past;
while individual Neanderthals may well
have followed diff erent paths, this sentence
is about the single evolutionary path taken
by Neanderthals as a species.

D Present-tense appear is needed to parallel
present-tense indicates and to reinforce that
this is current evidence about Neanderthals
in the past; as in C, paths should be singular.

E For facing is an incorrect substitution of a
prepositional phrase for an infinitive.

I was able to narrow down B & E because of the past tense meaning. I incorrectly selected E. The OG says "for facing" E.

Thanks,
Al

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 disappearance during the Paleolithic era indicates that an inability to adapt to some environmental change led to their extinction.

(B) appear to have been 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,

I would like to bring up a second difference:

That between appear and appeared. In the case of E appeared is in the past tense and does not match the present tense of indicates. For that reason I would choose B over E. To answer your question about idioms, I would rarely use equipped for... anything. the better idiom is equipped to do something.

Thanks Shraddha...it does help. Can you comment on my question regarding:

..."for facing" is a [for verb-ing] vs [to verb] modifier. I think of it as "for what" vs " in order to" - In choice B, the Neaderthals were equipped in order toface any obstacles in their path

Hi Alexander,

Yes, your analysis about "for verb-ing" and "to verb" is correct. The former shows some relation between the main verb and the "for verb-ing" while the latter is used to show the purpose of the previous action.

However, as I have already mentioned in my above post, even if in Choice B, use of "to face" is correct, it has a very glaring verb tense error. The verb tense error is graver than the "for verb-ing" Vs. "to verb". Hence, we reject Choice B right away.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi e-GMAT,
Why E is incorrect ? Is it because of 'for facing' in place of 'to face' only or the verb 'appeared' instead of 'appear' is also responsible?

I chose B over E because of the first reason but I'm not sure about the second one.

Please explain.

Hi bagdbmba,

Thanks for posting your doubts here.

Choice E is incorrect for two reasons:

1. Use of past tense verb "appeared" is incorrect. This is so because this tense denotes that the Neanderthals in the past only appeared to be equipped... It has got no bearing in the present. However, this is not the intended meaning. This sentence presents some general facts about Neanderthals. So the information must be written in simple present tense to denote that universal fact.

2. Yes, "for facing" is also incorrect here as it fails to present the intent of being equipped.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Difficult question. In order to correctly answer this question, I think one needs to know about 'perfect infinitive'.

I would like to add that 'paths' is also wrong here. Because it means every neanderthal had his or her own path:)