warrior1991 - no disrespect to Nova, but I agree with you.
Neither C nor E is supported very well.
I can make a case for and against both with equal strength for each option. Not good.

• Dissecting the question

Question 6 asks mostly about the words after "yet."

Yet in this case is a contrast word, a conjunction that means but nevertheless.
"Yet even as we are conscious of our victory, we feel that we are, in a strange way, losing."

-- Who is we? Go backwards a bit:

The "people of the democratic opposition [to Communism and communism]
have the feeling that we won. We taste the sweetness of our victory . . . "

WE = former and current proponents of democracy, people who opposed and oppose Communism

• Beginning to answer why they feel they are losing: textual review

Paraphrasing what follows "yet"

Why do they feel that they are "in a strange way, losing"?
-- To whom? To the communists/Communists.
-- And to anti- and non-democratic forces. To chaos.
(First paragraph: Freedom is not enough.
Democratic institutions need to be built and to endure. The political process is now a mess.)

• More textual analysis

We looked at the text after the "Yet" sentence. That text explains why they feel that they are, "in a strange way, losing."

The paraphrase above normally would be perfectly usable,
but this question is so frustrating that we need laser-beam analysis

• Bulgaria: Communists, having won a majority democratically, will not lose their social legitimacy.
• In Romania, old-guard Communists with a newly named party "have won"
• other countries: democratic institutions are shaky, political future unclear
• the masquerade goes on. Most of this detail not very helpful. Essentially, what should be a democratic political process is not.
-- stable parties vs. too many parties; parties sound alike
-- emotional attacks about the Other Guys, who are Sinners, have replaced political discourse [gee, this is starting to sound familiar]; slogans sound similar
-- personal disputes (read: vendettas, not political disagreement) have become more important than disputes over values
-- arguments over values are fiercer than arguments over ideas.
[This "masquerade" sentence is very abstract. I think it refers back to this phrase: "freedom functioning as an object of
compromise between the major political forces on the scene." Whatever is the case, normal democratic elements are not present.]

• The answer?

Reasonable thought: We need an answer that alludes to or mentions broad anti- or non-democratic forces.
The answer probably includes Communism or the ongoing influence of communism—something along those lines.
The answer may allude to political chaos and descent into what this author thinks are NOT democratic political elements.

There is no such answer.
-- A, B, and D are absurd.
-- None of what we just looked at mentions any of the ideas in those options. We are left with C and E.

• • C or E? These answers are both pretty bad.

(C) some of the new democratic governments are electing to retain the old political parties.

• in a way, C fits with Bulgaria and Hungary, but the "old political parties" were totalitarian Communist,
not these ones with new names now present in Bulgaria and Hungary. Parts or elements of the old Communist party (which was the lone party) have regained influence.

• "retain" is not accurate and not textually supported. Retain means that you already have something and you keep it.
But the Communists went away for awhile: "The Communists" tasted their bitter defeat." (What, they got defeated but still retained political control? That notion is dumb.)

And in the two countries mentioned, the Communist or Communist-influenced parties have won elections in and will now control countries.

Implied: they just recently won. They were not in political control. As winners of the recent elections, they are not described as having won "again." They appear to have just retaken control.
Communists were defeated and went away. Now they're back in two countries. The word "reverting" (returning to a previous state) in Option E makes a lot more sense than "retain" does in C.

• This part of C makes no sense: democratic governments don't elect to retain old political parties.
People who elect the governments do so.
We are allowed to import what we know, at least a little, about democracy.
In a democracy, governments do not "elect to retain" political parties! People who vote elect to retain political parties (or not).

• dozens of groups and parties are created
How does this part fit with C? It doesn't.

• These groups are creating a madhouse. But -- it is not at all clear that the madhouse and the groups are
reminiscent of the old political parties.

(E) some of the new governments are reverting to communism.

• E is better than C in two ways: (1) reverting has plenty of textual support (explained above)
and (2) option E names communism.
But this "communism" must be a very loose definition of communism.

• Democratic politics are correctly represented.
The passive voice is effective: governments are reverting to communism. [because people are casting votes!]

• we are not given enough info in the passage to decide whether this small-c communism
in its majority equals a government that "has reverted" to communism.
-- In that sense, this answer is problematic.
-- Small-c (as well as big-C) communism is a whole political system, not just a political party

• true, the governments are not reverting to communism in the sense of "totalitarian dictatorship" and "very little freedom." (mentioned in first paragraph)
-- How do we assess a parliamentary democracy with a Communist/communist majority?
Can we go a little further and assume that a communist party in majority would institute communism in a loose sense?

• Strategic decision

Go back. To whom are "they" losing?

The answer is not clear if we look at the choices.

Here is the correct answer, though it is not an option:
members of the democratic opposition fear that they are losing to forces that will or could destroy new democracy, forces such as
(1) resurrected or refashioned Communists/communists whose parties are winning elections, and
(2) non- or anti-democratic forces in general.

We have to say, "The correct answer is not here. I must decide on a different basis."

Time to get strategic.
Which is worse:
C) governments that elect to retain old political parties [read: communist parties!]? (Option C should at least say people who elect . . .)
OR
E) uncertainty about what "reverting to communism" means?

On the GMAT?
I'd pick C.
Based on one word alone: parties.
They have textual support and are discrete, limited nouns.
Right after the sentence in question, the names of two
two political parties are mentioned. The word "parties" is mentioned again.

In answer E and generally, small-c communism = a whole political system.
The passage does not discuss a whole political system in operation in the present. There is no hint of a highly planned economy or of totalitarian structures that Communism entailed and
that are described in the first paragraph.

I would not waste any more time on this question.

This particular question is not good.
I don't blame you for feeling frustrated. This question's official explanation is a non-answer.
Hope that helps.
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Hope it helps
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Gladiator59 SajjadAhmad GMATNinja generis

Please post the descriptive answer for Q-6. I marked E as it was better than others. However, I see that C is correct

My take on Q-6







No talk about old governments in the last passage. Incorrect


This is nowhere inferred.We are not doubting the capability of the new governments.


They are not electing to retain the old political parties , but are trying to copy the approach of communism. This is why I rejected C.


This is nowhere inferred.Incorrect


We can say this as new governments approach seems as if they want to stick to the communism.

IMO E should be the answer.

Please help.
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Hope it helps



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I actually read this before posting. What is the source??Can you post the explanation from that source??
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warrior1991

When i wrote "Official Explanation" i basically posts from that particular source from which i have taken the question. This question was taken from Nova GMAT and explanation also belongs to Nova GMAT.
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generis - with every answer you write, my respect and affection towards your posts climb greater height. Did that rhyme? Had to trade off a few grammar rules to make it so I hope it does.

Thanks for that detailed post!
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No, it does not. The explanation provided here is very vague and superficial. Q6 is inference question and most of the takers falter in inference questions only. Please provide a detailed explanation with the reason of eliminating E

Cbirole , this question has no satisfactory answer.

I understand that your post is not directed at me, but if my post above is not a "detailed explanation"
that contains the "reason for eliminating E," I am not sure what to think.

If you read my post, I concluded that we must infer
that C is the answer from the words that follow the sentence at issue.

I explained why.

In that post, here, is there something in particular that you do not understand? Or with which you have a specific issue?

Would you please be specific about any question that you may have?
I cannot figure out what you are asking simply by looking at re-quoted material.
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In fact, we thought that the march from a planned economy to a market economy would take place within the framework of the bureaucratic system, and that the market within the Communist state would explode the totalitarian structures.



1. The author originally thought that the order of events in the transformation of communist society would be represented by which one of the following?

(A) A great political shock would break the totalitarian monopoly, leaving in its wake a civil society whose task would be to change the state-controlled market into a free economy. [INCORRECT]
(B) The transformation of the economy would destroy totalitarianism, after which a new and different social and political structure would be born. [HOLD this option]
(C) First the people would freely elect political representatives who would transform the economy, which would then undermine the totalitarian structure. [Not Mentioned anywhere]
(D) The change to a democratic state would necessarily undermine totalitarianism, after which a new economic order would be created. [INCORRECT]
(E) The people’s frustration would build until it spontaneously generated violent revolution, which would sentence society to years of anarchy and regression. [Extreme option, not mentioned anywhere]

Hi, can someone help me understand Q) 4 and Q) 5 (i) "negotiating the empty space"?

Hello Varun

I assumes you didn't read generis earlier response here in below link

https://gmatclub.com/forum/from-romania ... l#p2220561


My response in below link

https://gmatclub.com/forum/from-romania ... l#p2220331

Thanks and regards
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what is the source of this passage?

Its Nova's GMAT



Regards
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Could you please explain why Option A is wrong for Question 4?

Kindly read my response in below link

https://gmatclub.com/forum/from-romania ... l#p2220331

Hope it helps
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Can sb help me with Q4, its really hard to understand…..

As I know this is an application question


Explanation
This is an application question. These are like extension questions, but they go well beyond what is stated in the passage. In this case we are asked to interpret the author’s comments from a cynic’s perspective. Because application questions go well beyond the passage, they are often difficult, as is this one.
Hint
A cynic looks at reality from a negative perspective, usually with a sense of dark irony and hopelessness. Don’t make the mistake of choosing (E). Although a cynic is likely to make such a statement, it does not address the subject of the passage—political and economic systems. The passage is not about human nature, at least not directly.
Thanks SajjadAhmad

However, how can we…..

Yet, even as we are conscious of our victory, we feel that we are, in a strange way, losing. In Bulgaria the Communists have won the parliamentary elections and will govern the country, without losing their social legitimacy. In Romania the National Salvation Front, largely dominated by people from the old Communist bureaucracy, has won. In other countries democratic institutions seem shaky, and the political horizon is cloudy. The masquerade goes on: dozens of groups and parties are created, each announces similar slogans, each accuses its adversaries of all possible sins, and each declares itself representative of the national interest. Personal disputes are more important than disputes over values. Arguments over values are fiercer than arguments over ideas.

How can we infer from this “end of the paragraph” that it’s a fair description of many democratic political systems???

Why cannot (A)&(E) be the correct answer???



For (A),we can see traces from


In Bulgaria the Communists have won the parliamentary elections and will govern the country, without losing their social legitimacy. In Romania the National Salvation Front, largely dominated by people from the old Communist bureaucracy, has won.

the society is still in the throws of (suffer from/challenge with)the old totalitarian(communist) structure.


For (E),we can see traces from


each accuses its adversaries of all possible sins, and each declares itself representative of the national interest. Personal disputes are more important than disputes over values. Arguments over values are fiercer than arguments over ideas.

suggest implicitly that its about “baseness of people”


Or maybe the tone isn’t cynical enough to be the correct answer???

“A cynic does not address the subject of the passage—political and economic systems.”
…..so what will a cynic address to???

3. From the passage, a reader could conclude that which one of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward the events that have taken place in communist society?

(A) Relieved that at last the democratic order has surfaced.
(B) Clearly wants to return to the old order….incorrect
(C) Disappointed with the nature of the democracy that has emerged……correct
(D) Confident that a free economy will ultimately provide the basis for a true democracy.
(E) Surprised that communism was toppled through political rather than economic means.

For Q3,its plausible that (C) be the correct answer, since we can see traces from the first sentence of para3 ”The opposite happened” which means that the ideal democratic system in fact doesn’t exist and we can infer from those words the author show in the passage that the author is indeed“disappointed with the nature of the democracy”


But about (B),why it cannot be the correct answer??? “communist society clearly wants to return to the old order”
I choose this option at first, and then found it to be the wrong answer…

I try to write down my thinking as below


in para2we have freedom, but we still have not achieved the democratic order.(is still in progress to democratic order, so we can infer that they’re still in the old order)

in para3,the author states that
the democratic system is, in fact, losing.In Bulgaria the Communists have won the parliamentary elections and will govern the country, without losing their social legitimacy. In Romania the National Salvation Front, largely dominated by people from the old Communist bureaucracy, has won.
hence from this, doesn’t the author’s attitude is toward communist party rather than democratic, so the author’s attitude clearly wants to return to old order(communism) ?????

Can sb tell me why II& III is correct??

About “mistaking the order”, is it that in para2, the author said
its better for democratic show precedence over freedom, and then in the beginning of the para3 mention “the opposite happened” immediatelyso the order get mistaken???

for III, we can see the sentences from the end of para4--- and each declares itself representative of the national interest, however, how can we simply from this sentence to declare that it is a difficulty involved in creating a new democratic order in eastern Europe????