This question is based on Subject-verb agreement and Tense.

There are two verbs in the underlined portion – changes and has been called. The subject of the first verb is “the conventional wisdom”; the subject of the second verb is “the overwhelmingly positive reputations.

Since the first subject is singular, the verb must also be singular.

Since the second subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.

The first part of the sentence conveys a universal truth, and so, it must be in the simple present tense.

The second part of the sentence makes a statement about a situation that extends from the past to the present. So, it must be in the present perfect tense.

In Option A, the singular verb “has seldom” does not agree with the plural subject “the overwhelmingly positive reputations”. So, Option A can be eliminated.

Option B also contains the same subject-verb disagreement as Option A. Furthermore, there is a mismatch of tenses. A universal truth cannot be expressed in the present continuous tense. So, Option B can be eliminated.

In Option C, the word order is different, but the same subject-verb disagreement is present. So, Option C can also be eliminated.

In Option D, the plural verb ‘have changed’ does not agree with the singular subject “the conventional wisdom”. So, Option D can also be eliminated.

In Option E, consistency of tense and subject-verb agreement have been maintained. Therefore, E is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.
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VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

With so much of the sentence underlined, your primary job here is to determine your actionable decision points. Verbs tend to be a great place to start, and here you have two major points of differentiation that regard to verbs:

1) changes vs. is changing vs. have changed at the beginning of each choice

2) has seldom vs. have seldom at the end of three choices (and in cases like this you'll likely find that same verb elsewhere in the sentence for the other choices)

Since you can find elements of singular-vs.-plural in each decision point, treat this as a subject-verb agreement problem to start. For decision point #1, go back and find the subject of "to change." Here "regarding the effectiveness..." is a participial modifier describing "wisdom," so your subject is the singular "wisdom." Since wisdom is singular, you can eliminate (D) which uses the plural "have."

For the second decision point, go back and find the subject of "has seldom." Again note the presence of several modifiers: "of the members of a select group of a few" and "most notably Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt" are all modifiers expanding on the subject "reputations." Since "reputations" is plural, you must use the plural "have." At the ends of answer choices (A) and (B) you'll see the incorrect singular "has," so you can eliminate those choices. And then in the middle of choice (C) you'll see "seldom has the..." committing the same error, so you can eliminate (C).

Choice (E) uses proper subject-verb agreement throughout and is therefore correct.
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