One of the few ancient peoples to flourish in a tropical rainforest,

Question

One of the few ancient peoples to flourish in a tropical rainforest, the Mayans  seem as dependent on their freshwater storage systems for survival,  because after these were drained by a drought between 800 and 950 CE, the Mayan civilization collapsed and its people dispersed.

A. seem as dependent on their freshwater storage systems for survival,

B. seem to have been dependent on their freshwater storage systems for survival,

C. seem as dependent on their freshwater storage systems in order to survive,

D. seemed as dependent on their freshwater storage systems in order to survive,

E. seemed to have been dependent on their freshwater storage systems in order for them to survive,

Source - Ready4Gmat
Verb-Tense Series

shameekv1989 · Answer

One of the few ancient peoples to flourish in a tropical rainforest, the Mayans seem as dependent on their freshwater storage systems for survival, because after these were drained by a drought between 800 and 950 CE, the Mayan civilization collapsed and its people dispersed.

A. seem  as dependent  on their freshwater storage systems for survival,  -> as dependent is lacking another as for comparison - Incorrect

B.  seem  to have been dependent on their freshwater storage systems for survival,  - Correct, they seem to have been dependent on something in the past

C. seem  as dependent  on their freshwater storage systems in order to survive,  -> same as in A - Incorrect

D. seemed  as dependent  on their freshwater storage systems in order to survive,  -> same as in A - Incorrect

E.  seemed  to have been dependent on their freshwater storage systems in order for them to survive,  -> Mayans seem (even in present) to have been dependent on .. in the past - Incorrect

yashwardhan · Answer

A - missing a comparison marker (as...dependent as), similarly C and D also out
B - Correct
E - seemed is incorrect (should be seem)... and "in order for them to survive" appears to be redundant.

Abhi077 · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Reading through the sentence, we can tell right away that the original contains an error. For "seem as" to work the author needs to be making a comparison between two things, and no such comparison exists in the sentence. Any choice that uses the phrase "seemed as" or "seem as"—(A), (C), and (D)—can be safely discarded. 
In choosing between (B) and (E) we should note that the additional past tense in (E), "seemed," is confusing, because the passage is about our current understanding of ancient Mayans. 
This means that choice (E) is incorrect, leaving choice (B) as the best option.

The correct answer is Choice (B).

dryice715 · Answer

for B seem to have been-> is have been indicates that the action continues until now? which is absurd. could anyone explain this?

One of the few ancient peoples to flourish in a tropical rainforest,

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One of the few ancient peoples to flourish in a tropical rainforest,

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