GMAT Reading Comprehension – Many Historians Consider the Marshall Plan one of the United States

Reading Passage Question

Many historians consider the Marshall Plan one of the United States’ major foreign policy successes of the last century. Behrman argues that the financial support provided by the United States was largely responsible for the recovery of the participating European economies aer the Second World War. He credits the “multiplier effect” with generating four to six additional dollars of European production for each Marshall Plan dollar distributed. Farmers, shopkeepers, and manufacturers would purchase equipment and materials through their national banks, which would then submit a request for Marshall Plan funds. Upon approval, the U.S. supplier would be paid from the Marshall Plan, and the national bank would retain the local currency, which could be used for infrastructure repair and other national recovery efforts.

However, other scholars are more critical. Although Ferguson concedes Behrman’s economic analysis, he disputes Behrman’s claim that the Marshall Plan was crucial to Europe’s recovery by outlining the many other programs and policies that were already in place. Ferguson identifies the political impact of the Marshall Plan as the most significant result; the citizens of Western Europe saw the United States as assisting them through the difficult process of economic restoration and strengthened their connections with their transatlantic ally. LaFeber and other revisionist historians are even more critical, describing the Marshall Plan as economic imperialism, a way to bind Western Europe’s economy to that of the United States and to assist the recovery of U.S. industry, which had to return to producing domestic needs through several years of manufacturing armaments and military supplies, rather than as a mechanism for the restoration of the Western European national economies.

“Many historians consider the Marshall Plan one of the United States"- is a reading comprehension passage with answers for the GMAT. Candidates must have a strong understanding of English GMAT reading comprehension. This GMAT Reading Comprehension section contains two comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are intended to assess candidates' abilities to comprehend, analyse, and apply information or concepts. GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions can help candidates actively prepare.

Solution and Explanation

1. The passage suggests that Ferguson would be most likely to agree with which of the following claims about the “multiplier effect”?

A) It was unlikely to have generated the returns for the European national economies that Behrman claims.
B) It may have been helpful to the European national economies, but it was not the most important outcome of the Marshall Plan.
C) It was the most controversial aspect of the Marshall Plan, generating intense resistance from those countries that chose not to participate.
D) It was a crucial part of the Marshall Plan, being substantially responsible for the recovery of participating Western European economies.
E) It was designed primarily to assist the recovery of industry in the United States, despite its benefits to Western European national economies.

2. Which of the following statements best describes the function of the last sentence in the passage?

A) It provides evidence that might undermine the viewpoint of the historians mentioned in the first sentence.
B) It resolves the conflict over the efficacy of the Marshall Plan introduced in the first paragraph.
C) It clarifies some of the reasons the Marshall Plan is generally considered to have been a success.
D) It qualifies a claim made earlier in the passage about return earned on each dollar spent by the Marshall Plan.
E) It supports a claim made earlier in the passage about the importance of the Marshall Plan to the economic recovery of Western Europe.

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