Both Alexander Gerschenkron And Jerry Hough View The Former Soviet Union GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Both Alexander Gerschenkron and Jerry Hough view the former Soviet Union as an "anomalous" nation in certain fundamental respects. Gerschenkron sees the Soviet Union as deviating from the expected European pattern of industrialization, while Hough emphasizes how the Soviet Union differed from the standard type of bureaucratic organization. Despite this difference in orientation, both authors share a similar theoretical approach.

First, both authors react in their works to specific explanations already existing in their fields. Gerschenkron responds to the prevailing belief that all countries pass through stages of industrialization similar to that of England's industrial growth and that states must possess certain specific prerequisites before they can industrialize. Hough reacts to the notion that only a bureaucracy that embodies the conventional American image of organization can operate efficiently. This idealized American image, known as monism, sees efficiency as maximized when bureaucrats perform only those duties passed down to them from a central authority.

Second, both Gerschenkron and Hough also attempt to use their work to supplement the existing explanations prevailing in their fields. Gerschenkron expands W. W. Rostow's industrialization model by defining a causal factor, the "degree of economic backwardness," that he believes impacts, among other things, the speed and structure of a country's industrialization. In a similar vein, Hough concludes that the centralized, monistic model of organization must be expanded if it is to enable efficient administration. He uses the Soviet experience to show that overlapping bureaucratic duties can sometimes promote organizational efficiency.

Ultimately, Gerschenkron and Hough succeed at their similar tasks; not only do both authors provide enough evidence to document the anomalous nature of the cases they investigate, but they use their anomalous cases to increase the explanatory range of the existing theories without altering those theories beyond recognition.

“Both Alexander Gerschenkron and Jerry Hough view the former Soviet Union”- is a GMAT reading comprehension exercise. Candidates need to be highly proficient in GMAT reading comprehension. There are four comprehension questions in this GMAT reading comprehension section. The purpose of the GMAT Reading Comprehension questions is to evaluate candidates' comprehension, analysis, and application skills. Candidates who are actively preparing can benefit from GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solutions and Explanation

1. Which one of the following statements captures the author's main point in the passage most accurately?

(A) Both Gerschenkron and Hough successfully manage a similar theoretical venture in their respective books.
(B) Both Gerschenkron and Hough respond to prevailing theories in their respective domains in their study.
(C) Both Gerschenkron and Hough highlight the peculiar aspects of the former Soviet experience using evidence from the Soviet case.
(D) The expansive nature of Gerschenkron and Hough's writings can be attributed to their attempts to disprove accepted theories in their respective domains and replace them with more accurate explanations.
(E) With regard to the particular central tenets of their research, works of Gerschenkron and Hough are similar.

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements would both Gerschenkron and Hough be most likely to agree with?

(A) The focus of scientific study of the former Soviet Union should be on industrialization patterns or bureaucratic organisation techniques.
(B) The industrialization model of economic W.W. Rostow can be made more comprehensive by adding the factor of economic backwardness to it.
(C) All nations go through periods of industrialization similar to those that England went through in its early stages of development.
(D) The explanatory scope of present theories can be expanded through empirical study into abnormal cases.
(E) The goal of empirical research should be to challenge ideas by emphasising contradictory cases.

3. Which of the following is specifically mentioned as proof to show a particular use for which Gerschenkron used his work?

(A) Gerschenkron responded to the widely held opinion that states do not need to possess any necessary conditions in order to industrialise.
(B) There were differences between Gerschenkron and Hough in terms of the precise orientation of their respective works.
(C) In order to demonstrate how centralised authority aids in promoting bureaucratic efficiency, Gerschenkron described the monistic representation of bureaucratic organisation.
(D) Gerschenkron showed how a nation's level of economic backwardness is influenced by how quickly it industrialises.
(E) Gerschenkron added a fresh component to an earlier theorist's industrialization model.

4. In the second paragraph, the author discusses the idea of monism in order to

(A) Provide evidence for the claim that the former Soviet Union's industrialization and development process differed from the typical European pattern
(B) Disprove the idea that Hough offers a different definition of bureaucratic efficiency
(C) Show that Hough's work challenges the conventional belief that an efficient bureaucratic organisation must adhere to the American idealised image
(D) Provide evidence to back up the notion that Hough portrays the former Soviet Union's bureaucratic structure as similar to that of the majority of industrialised countries
(E) Demonstrate that the former Soviet case exhibited many characteristics of the idealised American model of bureaucratic organisation.

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