I couldn’t decide which one to use, and where to use: simple tense vs. perfect tense

The two questions in my grammar book:

1)"Many people claim —— sundaes and many towns around the world
pretend —- birthplaces of ice creams.

A) to have invented / to be

B) to invent / to have been

answer: A

2)It is quite common for a historic high-rise building — into a
residental building.

A)Having been converted

B)To be converted

answer: B

Could you explain?

Answer

Just as a follow-up to A.Brēza’s reply, I would add:

1) Many people claim to have invented sundaes and many towns around the world pretend to be birthplaces of ice creams.

have invented:

The context is in the past (sundaes already created), but the claim was made and is still ongoing; hence the perfect tense is used.

to be:

The towns are currently pretending (yesterday, today, tomorrow) that they are the birthplace, which is not a one-time action like the creation of sundaes. “Pretend” is followed by to be because it is a catenative verb (?) in this context.

2) It is quite common for a historic high-rise building to be converted into a residential building.

Despite the use of the adjective “historic,” the context of the sentence is not about/in the past; therefore, having been converted would be incorrect because we are not talking about something completed but about a common practice today in the renovation of buildings.

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Mabon Time , Answer Author : krasnau

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