I am curious about the answer to this question as there is no mention of the retention of old political parties and it's impossible to infer it from the text provided?

William, thanks for posting. I am offering my opinion here not as the publisher or author of this test question. The author's solution does not offer enough explanation either.

- I eliminate A because it says "old governments are still ..." whereas we know from the passage that the old governments are replaced.
- I also eliminate E because the first paragraph clearly mentions "the death of communism -- is taking place", which means that there is no going back to the dead ideology.
- I eliminate B, even though the first part of the sentence "some parts ... are not strong enough" is tempting, because of the phrase "...as a single federation". There is nothing in the passage that suggests the former communist countries had existed as a single federation

I am left with either C, or D.

Since the passage clearly mentions that "we are in a moment of transition", and in the third paragraph "whose institutions were created in great pain", I can confidently surmise that new parties have been created to replace the communists. So I eliminate D.

C is not explicitly mentioned, but it is the one that is the best match to answer the question.

Hi, I've saw your explanation.
But I still think the option C states too much detail which wasn't delivered in the whole passage.
Or there's a sentence suggested this way and I miss it?