In its most recent approach, the comet Crommelin
passed the Earth at about the same distance and in
about the same position, some 25 degrees above the
horizon, that Halley's comet will pass the next time
it appears.

(A) that Halley's comet will pass
(B) that Halley's comet is to be passing
(C) as Halley's comet
(D) as will Halley's comet
(E) as Halley's comet will do

Is it E?

OA is D

E was my guess too.

can someone explain why its D.

Thanks!

Neeshpal, you did well to identify the same as idiom and eliminate A and B. Next, answer choice C changes the original intent of the sentence, since Crommelin did not pass the Earth where Halley's comet is currently located; instead, Crommelin passed the Earth in about the same position as Halley's comet will pass the Earth. The problem with answer choice E is that, by including the helping verb will, the primary verb pass is already inplied. Thus, answer choice E actually "reads" the comet Crommelin passed the Earth at about the same distance and in about the same position as Halley's comet will do pass the next time it appears. Thus, the verb do is both unnecessary and is not parallel to the verb pass.

The correct answer is D.