Bunuel wrote:
Although Ms. Bakara had previously emphasized that she could not speak for other Black people, she ventured to do so on this one occasion because she firmly believed that many minority people, likely most, would agree with her.
(A) do so on this one occasion because she firmly believed that many minority people, likely most, would agree
(B) speak on this one occasion since she firmly believed that many minority people, likely most, would have agreed
(C) so speak on this one occasion due to her firmly believing that many minority people, even most, would likely agree
(D) do so on this one occasion because she firmly believed that many minority people, if not most, would agree
(E) do so on this one occasion since she firmly believed many minority people, and even most, would likely agree
Here we have three cause and effect conjunctions - since, because, due to.
- 'Due to' in option(C) should modify noun, which is not exactly happening in this case, so ditch (C)
- 'Since' is mostly used to define or denote time period. It focuses on the result unlike 'because' which focuses on reason; so here for the same reason ditch (B) and (E)
Now we are left with (A) and (D):
+ On comparing, "she firmly believed that many minority people,
likely most,..." with "she firmly believed that many minority people,
if not most,.." later one makes sense when read in context of the whole sentence and hence I choose (D) over (A).
Hence,
Opt (D)