Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[fw]

How does the second �as� in the last sentence in the passage below work?
Is it used in the same way as #1 below, modifying the word(s) �(a form of) Americanization�?
1. Life as we know it would be impossible without water.

Or does it work otherwise?

With globalization may also come the eradication of traditional values, and the dominant cultures of the world threaten to make local cultures the same as them. In attempts to become �modern,� developing countries in Asia often copy the trends of those in the West. Jeans and T-shirts have now replaced traditional dress in many countries. Hamburgers and pizza have overpowered local cuisines, and Hollywood films are often dubbed in native languages from Bangkok to Zanzibar ! Some have criticized the concept of globalization as being a form of Americanization as Starbucks replaces local coffee shops and the omnipresent arches of McDonalds make the hamburger and French fries the preferred dinner for young people around the world.
(Source: an entrance examination of a university in Japan)

[suesummers]

Hi,
I feel that it is not modifying the fact but it is emphasizing the fact of Americanization.
_________________
Centennial College Rocks!

[fw]

suesummers wrote:
"it is not modifying the fact but it is emphasizing the fact of Americanization"

By "it," which do you mean, the "as" in #1 above, or the "as" in the original sentence I cited, or both?

[suesummers]

Evidently the sentence that was about Amercanization.
_________________
Centennial College Rocks!

[redset]

In [1] as means 'the way' - life the way we know it, or how we understand it.

In your second example as is used as an ongoing background action:

As I was walking down the street, my phone rang - my phone rang while I was walking down the street.
John read the newspaper as he drank his coffee - while John was drinking his coffee, he read the newspaper too.

So in the sentence from your quote, it's saying that Starbucks and McDonalds are spreading their influence around the world, and while this is happening people are claiming that globalization is basically Americanization. As the corporations' influence spreads, people start to criticize it.