My answer is
(A). It took me 01:12.
(A) "As evidenced by" = "As is evidenced by" = "As clearly shown by" = "As is clearly shown by".
It is a good idea to treat "As (is) evidenced by" as an idiom. Read more at
https://www.merriam-webster.com/diction ... enced%20byThere is really nothing wrong in (A). For GMAT questions, though, it is always a good idea to eliminate other options.
(B) Essentially "as the evidence", which does not make sense.
(C) There are at least three issues.
1. "the evidence of records" can simply be "the records"
2. "as shows the evidence..." should be "as the evidence ... shows". No reason for inversion.
3. "records surviving in ancient Babylon and China" leaves readers the impression that those records survived in ancient Babylon and China. But do they continue to exist later?
(D) "as the surviving records show the evidence of ancient Babylon and China" indicates that ancient Babylon and China does exist. It has nothing to do with solar eclipses records.
(E) Wow, another "as evidenced". It has to be compared with (A) carefully.
In (A): by surviving records from ancient Babylon and China
In (E): by records that have survived in ancient Babylon and China
As discussed in C3, those records that have survived in ancient Babylon and China may cease to exist beyond ancient times. In addition, (A) is more succinct.
Reject (E) and Choose (A).