Building large new hospitals in the bistate area would constitute a wa

Building large new hospitals in the bistate area would constitute a wasteful use of resources, on the basis of avoidance of duplicated facilities alone.

(A) on the basis of avoidance of duplicated facilities alone
(B) on the grounds of avoiding duplicated facilities alone
(C) solely in that duplicated facilities should be avoided
(D) while the duplication of facilities should be avoided
(E) if only because the duplication of facilities should be avoided

Experts please throw some light on the answer of this question.in subjunctive mood,in the if part modal verb should is used then how can would be used in then part?

please help.

Thanks

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but if only because just means that we're about to introduce a reasonably (but not particularly) good reason for something.

isn't 'if' and 'because' redundant in E? Moreover E is looking very awkward. Can someone explain how to deal with such question when the right option looks the most awkward one

If only because will seem a little weird if you haven't seen it before. The best thing to do here is to understand how it is used (here and here).

Hi Verbal Expert, I find this question extremely vague and even after spending 10 minutes trying to understand the answer options, I could make out the only difference between OA and the other options is the idiomatic phrase 'if only'. Could you please help me with more areas of how I can eliminate the other answer options. Also, do such questions come in the GMAT?
I would really appreciate your help! Thanks in advance!

Hi VeritasKarishma AjiteshArun

In choice C, "in that" is used. I have learnt in some official question that "in that" means "because", and, hence, I chose choice C.
Building large new hospitals in the bistate area would constitute a wasteful use of resources, solely in that duplicated facilities should be avoided

I still could not decipher why choice E is right and why choice C is wrong. Secondly, how choice E is an displaying "If X, then Y" condition.

Kindly share your thoughts over this question.

Let's forget about idiomatic usage for now and focus on the intent of the sentence.

Building large new hospitals will be a wasteful use of resources.
Why?
Because of a principle.
What is the principle?
"Duplication of facilities should be avoided"

That is, we should not duplicate facilities. The process of "duplication" should be avoided. No point providing the same facility at multiple points in an area. Instead, invest in providing different facilities in that area. Ok.

What do option (A), (B) and (C) say? They say that the principle is that "duplicated facilities should be avoided".
So a facility that is a duplicate of another (say a hospital exactly like another hospital) should be avoided. Does this mean that patients should avoid this hospital? Perhaps.

Hence, (A), (B) and (C) do not make a lot of sense.
(D) is also incorrect in its use of "while". (E) is correct.

Hi thereisaFire,

I agree with KarishmaB's explanation. I would try not to take a call on the basis of the if only because/solely in that split.

Hello thereisaFire,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, "in that" and "because"do not mean the same thing; “in that” is used to reflect an intrinsic property and “because” is used to indicate a cause-effect relationship.

Option C alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase “solely in that duplicated facilities”; the construction of this phrase incorrectly implies that building large new hospitals in the bistate area would constitute a wasteful use of resources only because facilities that have already been duplicated should be avoided; the intended meaning of the sentence is that building large new hospitals in the bistate area would constitute a wasteful use of resources, if for no other reason than the fact that the duplication of facilities should be avoided.

Further, Option E does not use the "if X then Y" construction; it uses the idiomatic construction "if only because", which means "if for no other reason". Thus, the intended meaning involves a cause-effect relationship, meaning "because" is the correct usage.

To understand the concept of "Because" vs "In That" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~2 minutes):



All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Dear AjiteshArun
I also narrowed to C and E. A and B present misplaced adverb at the end "alone", and D begins with contrast "While". What I cannot comprehend is why many call "E" conditional?

Past "Would" and present "should be avoided" depict what type of conditionals?
When we use 2nd conditional to represent future unreal the stricture as following,
If I were... I would .. - Past + Past - O.k.

Thanks beforehand.

Hello BLTN,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in Option E the "if" phrase is a conditional marker that conveys the meaning "even if there is no other reason".

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

@KarishmaB Could you please share your POE for this particular question. I would like to know the grammatical concept behind eliminating each option

GMATNinja

Need your help to better understand this one!