大全987－193或者885－S1－5，时态问题

Byron possessed powers of observation that would have made him a great anthropologist and that makes his letters as a group the rival of the best novels of the time.

(A) makes his letters as a group the rival of

(B) makes his letters as a group one to rival

(C) makes his letters a group rivaling

(D) make his letters as a group the rival of（D）

(E) make his letters a group which is the rival of

答案用排除法做固然是E，但对其时态有疑问，为啥不是与would have made 对应，同样用would have made, 而在这儿用 make,即使是大家讨论的说这儿是would make的省略形式，好像也不通啊？

想到一个解释，是不是因为and 连接两个动作，表先后，所以前面一个动作用的是完成时，而后面用的是前面一个动作的进一步，即一般时态，所以是would make呢？ 请NN指教！

我怎么觉得应该选E呢。。