Answer:
Thirty-five states approved it before the 1979 deadline.
Step-by-step explanation:
The evidence from the text supports the idea that the ERA came very close to ratification is that thirty-five states approved it before the 1979 deadline.
This is because, according to the excerpt, the ERA( Equal Rights Amendment) was ratified by thirty-five states in the next ten years which was just three more states short of making it valid and for it to become a law.