How is Ezekiel's reputation described as changing after the 1980s?

Concept: In a reading-comprehension item the answer is fixed by the passage itself, never by outside knowledge about the writer. When the stem asks how something is described as changing across a time boundary, the passage marks that change with a contrastive signal — a but or however, or a move from a named earlier period to “more recently”. The wording on either side of that signal is exactly the before-state and the after-state being asked about.

Application: The stem sets the boundary at the 1980s, so look for the one sentence that names a period. The passage closes with: “Up to the eighties Ezekiel was considered the foremost among Indian English poets but more recently he is being seen as highly inconsistent poet.” The contrastive but splits this sentence in two: before the boundary the standing is “foremost among Indian English poets”; after it, “more recently”, the standing is “highly inconsistent”. The change asked about is therefore that he came to be seen as a highly inconsistent poet.

Cross-check: measure each stated change against what the passage actually says.

• He became increasingly popular — the passage reports no gain in readership after the eighties; the only movement it records across that boundary is a fall in critical estimate, not a rise in popularity.

• He was no longer read in literary circles — the phrase “he is being seen as” is present-tense critical attention, so the poetry is still being read and judged; the passage never says it left circulation.

• He was considered the most influential poet of his time — the passage attaches “foremost among Indian English poets” to the period up to the eighties. That is the before-state, not the change that follows it.

Result: After the 1980s Ezekiel’s reputation is described as having shifted to that of a highly inconsistent poet.