153. At the time of the Mexican agrarian revolution, the most radical faction, that of Zapata and his followers, proposed a return to communal ownership of land, to what had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards.

(A) land, to what had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards
(B) land, a form of ownership of the pre-Columbians and respected by the Spaniards
(C) land, respected by the Spaniards and a pre-Columbian form of ownership
(D) land in which a pre-Columbian form of ownership was respected by the Spaniards
(E) land that had been a pre-Columbian form of ownership respected by the Spaniards

Solution:

Redundancy + Awkwardness

The sentence is in past tense and the talk about pre-Columbian form of ownership talks about something further in past. Hence, ‘had’ is needed. Thus, B, C, and D can be eliminated.
A is wordy in “to what had been”.
E is the best choice.

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