Bunuel wrote:
Until recently, athletes who had received remuneration for any activity that has a link to their athletic prowess is barred from the Olympics.
(A) that has a link to their athletic prowess is
(B) with links to their athletic prowess has been
(C) linked to their athletic prowess were
(D) linked to their athletic prowess was
(E) with a link to their athletic prowess is to be
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
This question involves an error of tense as well as an error relating to noun-verb agreement in number. The phrase ‘until recently’ in the beginning of the sentence indicates that what is stated in it relates to the past. While the predicate in the first clause of the sentence ‘who had received’ is in the past perfect tense, the predicate in the second subordinate clause ‘that has a link’ is in the present tense, and is wrong.
The main clause of the given sentence is “ Until recently, athletes ..... is barred from the Olympics”, in which the subject is the plural noun ‘athletes’ but the predicate is the singular verb ‘is’. This is another error in the given sentence.
Thus, the given sentence has two fundamental grammatical errors, and (A) is not the answer.
The subject of the main clause ‘athletes’ is in the non-underlined portion, and cannot be changed. So, the predicate of the main clause has to be a plural verb.
Scanning the choices quickly for the predicate alone, we find the versions ‘has been’, ‘were’, ‘was’ and ‘is to be’. Of these, it is only ‘were’ that is a plural verb, and (C) should be the answer.
When we read the full sentence substituting (C) for the underlined portion, we get a grammatical, clear, exact and unambiguous sentence.
So, we can confidently confirm (C) as the answer. _________________