Proponents of the Equal Rights Amendment argue for its necessity if on

Let me add yet another dimension to this tangle. Normally the expression ‘if only” is used to express a subjunctive desire or wish as in --- If only I were Bill Gates, I would donate half my earnings to charity, --- or --If only we had the means to control the rain gods, we would not suffer drought etc, etc; Mostly these are hypothetical fancying and unachievable in the normal course.

But in the context, four of the choices carry this phrase, which IMO is weird; unfortunately, the only other choice 3 is still more muddied because of the improper placement of the restrictive adverbial modifier ‘only’. For choice 3 to mean something worthwhile, we need to drop the word ‘only’ outright.

Among the rest of the four choices, 1 and 5 can be easily dropped on subject- pronoun number disagreement alone. Between 2 and 4, the construction is convoluted in choice 4, leaving only 2 as the best of the available choices. So one may see why we are forced to take B as somewhat correct.
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I think its right,

1.if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than it is --usage of IT IS is making a pronoun and comparison error here, average salaries for women is being compared with men' salary but with wrong pronoun
2.if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than those --Correct
3.because average salaries for women are only considerably lower than those --removal of If only changes the meaning of the sentence
4.if only as a result of the fact that salaries for women are still considerably lower than those --As as result of the fact is making the sentence wordy
5.if only because women's average salaries are still considerably lowerh than it is --wrong way of comparison between Men's Salary and Women's Salary.

https://www.englishforums.com/English/Be ... g/post.htm

Apparently it is idiomatic. I have never heard anyone use "if only because" in a sentence though.

I'm with cipher on this one...nice explanation. I'll make a quick comment here about option 3.

3.because average salaries for women are only considerably lower than those --removal of If only changes the meaning of the sentence

I agree that there is a meaning difference when changing "if only" with "because", but the meaning is still very logical with "because". There is a bigger meaning issue with "only" in the sentence. Adding "only" in the sentence creates illogical meaning. Women's salaries are "only" lower than those for men? Does that mean that their wages are higher than those of aliens? Robots? That word "only" ruins the meaning of the sentence.

KW
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Proponents of the equal rights amendment argue for its necessity if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than it is for men with comparable jobs and work experience.
1.if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than it is
Subject Verb agreement issue

2.if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than those
Correct answer,with correct meaning

3.because average salaries for women are only considerably lower than those
are only makes the sentence confusing because the meaning is altered.

4.if only as a result of the fact that salaries for women are still considerably lower than those
Change in meaning

5.if only because women's average salaries are still considerably lowerh than it is
Subject Verb Agreement issue

Between C and D.

D as it conveys the intended meaning.

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Between b and d - but I would choose b because it's more concise, hence more appropriate

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+1 for (B)

Proponents of the Equal Rights Amendment argue for its necessity if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than those (average salaries) for men with comparable jobs and work experience.
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KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

The sentence compares salaries to salaries, but it takes a shortcut toward the end and refers back to salaries as it. Salaries are plural and it is singular, so (A) and (E) are out of consideration. Of the remaining options, (C) stands out as significantly different, but by replacing if only with because and by moving only so that it describes lower, (C) actually contradicts the meaning of the original sentence. Finally, because in (B) is far more succinct than as a result of the fact that in (D). So, (B) it is.
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Hello Bunuel
I can't seem to quite comprehend what function the if only serves in this sentence and how the meaning is affected if it is removed.
Could you please help me out?

Thank You

Can someone please explain what is the subject verb agreement issue here?

Hi Sahana98,

We're not looking at an SVA error in A and E. Instead, those options use the singular pronoun it to refer back to the noun ...salaries.

A. if only because average salaries for women are still considerably lower than it is

E. if only because women's average salaries are still considerably lower than it is
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Hello Sahana98,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, there is no subject-verb disagreement here; rather, it is a case of noun and pronoun disagreeing in number - A and E refer to the plural noun "salaries" with the singular pronoun "it".

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team
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