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Impressive as the achievements of Western technological science are, there is no denying that they have been bought at a price, which includes increased nervous strain and destruction of the Earth's natural riches.

1.In this sentence, I guess "as" means equal of the next phrase... Is it right?

2.and I can hardly understand the relevance of the two phrase(impressive~are,there~riches)..someone told me I can think 'a/ad as S V' as 'though S V a/ad' I want to know the reason why I have to understand like this way..,.not literally

Damkerng T.
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user36174
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  • It is a concessive structure. Although the achievements are impressive, they have a downside: nervous strain and a degraded environment. – TimR Jun 06 '16 at 13:22
  • Delicious as this chocolate cake is, I will eat only a little of it because the icing is very buttery and high in calories. – TimR Jun 06 '16 at 13:24
  • See also: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/90838/is-this-type-of-sentence-an-inversion. – Damkerng T. Jun 07 '16 at 23:55

1 Answers1

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(as) {adjectival phrase} {as} {subject} {predicate}....

The initial "as" is optional.

As fast as this train goes, we will still arrive late.

Fast as this train goes, we will still arrive late.

Placing the adjective at the beginning of the sentence gives it great emphasis, such that we can paraphrase:

Agreed, this train is very fast...

The second part of the sentence states a contradictory fact set in opposition to the concession, so that we can paraphrase:

Agreed, this train is very fast -- but we will be late nonetheless.

TimR
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