a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog...?

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Does "a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog, perhaps separated from its owners" mean "a wearied security guard argued with residents who (the residents) were desperate to check on their apartments like a dog (to check on its doghouse) , (and the dog was perhaps separated from its owners )"?

Context:

At Qihang Jiayuan, a forest of 30-story apartment buildings, a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog, perhaps separated from its owners, ambled anxiously along the glass-strewn boulevard.

Many residents said they would stay with relatives in other parts of the city, but Wang Jinxue, 55, a laborer from nearby Hebei Province, said he was unsure where to go because the blasts had destroyed the company dormitory where he lived.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/world/asia/tianjin-china-explosions.html

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[+3] - dlowan - 08/13/2015No, it's just a bit of description of the scene....giving atmosphere, I suppose. "As" here is not implying that the people are like the dog, it is used to say that the dog was ambling...

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@oristarA,

No, it's just a bit of description of the scene....giving atmosphere, I suppose.

"As" here is not implying that the people are like the dog, it is used to say that the dog was ambling along the boulevard at the same time as the people were arguing with the security guard. Both are part of the scene of desolation I suppose.

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

No, it's just a bit of description of the scene....giving atmosphere, I suppose.

"As" here is not implying that the people are like the dog, it is used to say that the dog was ambling along the boulevard at the same time as the people were arguing with the security guard. Both are part of the scene of desolation I suppose.

So it says that the desperate residents are like a homeless dog wandering in a deserted street?

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@oristarA,

No. The writer isn't likening the residents with the dog. The writer is including the dog as part of the grim scene he's describing.

1 Reply

@InfraBlue,

InfraBlue wrote:

No. The writer isn't likening the residents with the dog. The writer is including the dog as part of the grim scene he's describing.

I think the problem is that the writer describes "a dog... ambled anxiously (along the glass-strewn boulevard)."

My dictionary tells me that the word "amble" refers to "walk leisurely."
One can walk leisurely, or anxiously, but not both leisurely and anxiously. Wink

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@oristarA,

Your difficulty with this is to do with the word "as".

Here, it only means "while", or "meanwhile/ at the same time".

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@McTag,

Is that clear?

example:
As we came in the front door, the burglar was climbing out of the rear window.

(just realised: it can mean "because" as well as "while/ just as", so the context will be your guide.)

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

Your difficulty with this is to do with the word "as".

Here, it only means "while", or "meanwhile/ at the same time".

Both "as" and "ambled anxiously" contributed my difficulty of understanding the sentence, and the latter still remains unanswered. Smile

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@oristarA,

You are being too obsessive compulsive about ambled. It just means the dog was wandering aimlessly.

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@oristarA,

Quote:

the latter still remains unanswered.

You are right to point out that it is unusual for "ambled" and "anxiously" to be used together. I wouldn't do it. If someone is ambling, he's usually carefree, and has plenty of time.
Here, "ambling" is not a good description of the gait of an anxious dog. The journalist who wrote that should go back to journalism school. Smile

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@McTag,

(Thumbs-up)

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a wearied security guard argued with residents desperate to check on their apartments as a dog...?

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