In the following question, a part of the sentence has

Solution

The highlighted part of the sentence is incorrect. We should use the simple past tense if the event/action is completed in the past (suggested by the use of 'yesterday'). So, the verb 'have been made' (present perfect tense) is incorrect and 'were made' (simple past tense) would have been correct in its place. Options (a) and (d) are eliminated because they are not opposite in meaning to the highlighted phrase. Option (b) is eliminated because a helping verb should be used before the past participle verb 'made' to make the verb passive as 'cursory efforts' cannot be the subject performing action, but can be an appropriate object for the verb 'made', implying that someone made cursory efforts. Option (e) is eliminated because it is in the present perfect tense. Therefore, among the given options, the phrase in option (c) is the correct choice. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.