amysky_0205 wrote:Even though more money was removed out of stock funds in July as in any month since October 1987, sales of fund shares in July were not as low as an industry trade group had previously estimated.

A.as in any month since October 1987, sales of fund shares in July were not as low as
B.as had been in any other month since October 1987, sales of fund shares in July were not as low as what
C.than there was in any other month since October 1987, sales of fund shares in July were not as low as that which
D.than in any month since October 1987, sales of fund shares in July were not as low as
E.than in any other month since October 1987, sales of fund shares in July were not as low as what

OA: E

ceilidh.erickson wrote:Can you tell us where you got this question? It doesn't really sound like an official GMAT problem to me. There are a few idiomatic idiosyncrasies that the GMAT wouldn't typically use: the GMAT tends to prefer "though" to "even though," and "removed from" to "removed out of."

That said, it seems that the primary distinction between D and E is in the use of "any month" versus "any other month." When you're making a comparison between one thing in a group (e.g. October) and all of the other things belonging to that group (e.g. all months), it's preferable to use "any other." Technically, October would be included in "any month," and the comparison wouldn't make sense.

That said, I find it hard to believe that an official GMAT question would allow the use of "what" in this manner, so I understand your confusion.