... put them back in a cupboard lower down.

[Rover_KE]

If she had put them lower down in the same cupboard, the writer would have said "She had time to take things out of a cupboard, look at them, and then put them back lower down in the cupboard".

Or '... put them back on a lower shelf in the cupboard'.

 

[YAMATO2201]

To kadioguy.

I think the posts numbered 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, and, 12 have cleared up your confusion. Please forget my analysis. ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

Alice was falling. "She had time to take things out of a cupboard, look at them, and then put them back in a cupboard lower down."

She took them from one cupboard, looked at them as she continued to fall, and then put them back in a second cupboard which was lower down than the first.

If she had put them lower down in the same cupboard, the writer would have said "She had time to take things out of a cupboard, look at them, and then put them back lower down in the cupboard".

I see. Yes, I didn't think of a second cupboard. That makes more sense.

So if it means in a cupboard [which was] lower down, then I would think this is even more reason to think of lower down as adjectival, not adverbial, since it describes the position of the cupboard more than the putting. I don't know. I suppose you could probably analyse it in different ways.

Again, let's wait for an expert answer because it's likely that I'm completely wrong.