19:54 May 29, 2011 |
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters | |||||||
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| Selected response from: Martin Riordan Brazil Local time: 12:22 | ||||||
Grading comment
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SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED | ||||
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4 +6 | doorway |
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4 | recessed doorway |
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Discussion entries: 5 | |
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recessed doorway Explanation: I think your interpretation is correct - it is a recessed space which give access to a door. Depending on the architecture of the building, the recess could be a meter or more, and, if this is at night, with poor lighting, this space could be completely dark, in shadow, or at least seem so to someone walking past on the street which is better lit. Two people could easily fit into a meter-wide space. It seems clear to me that this is the scene the author wants to create. |
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doorway Explanation: Nothing really odd about the language here: it's a perfectly normal, natural EN expression, and doorways come in all shapes and sizes. Perhaps not a metre deep, but doors that open directly onto the street do often have quite a deep recess — sometimes, it is needed simply to accommodate the few steps that are sometimes there to lead up to the entrance. If two people flatten themselves back against the door into the shadows, they need not necessarily be seen. Depends of course, too, on whether or not this is a residential doorway or perhaps some kind of commercial premises — say an emergency exit; in which case, it might be quite a big space, as emergency doors open outwards, and regulations sometimes require the recess to be deep enough for the doors to open within it (so they don't fly out onto the street and hit passers-by!) -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 33 minutes (2011-05-29 20:27:39 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Well, I just wasn't sure quite what the reason was for your posting this as a terminology question — since there doesn't seem to be anything particularly hard to understand about this very everyday term? So I assumed you must have thought there was something unusual about it... |
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Notes to answerer
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