核心问题
Yes. It looks a bit ugly as it is. [《高中英语教科书》(必修)第三册,人民教育出版社、朗文出版集团有限公司,1998,p.37]
《高三英语》(龙门书局,1998,p.131)对上面的句子作了如下注释：
“as it is 事实上; 原样
Leave it as it is. 保持原样。
As it is, we can hardly get to the station by 6 o'clock. 事实上，我们六点钟前很难赶到车站。”
《名师随堂·高三英语》(广西师大出版社,1998,p.107)作了类似的注释：
“本句中的 as it is 可以看作一个固定词组,意思是‘就以(现在)这个样子’、‘根据现在情况看’。例如:
They agreed to buy the house as it is. 他们同意就按房子的现状买下这栋房子。I thought things would get better, but as it is they are getting worse. 我原以为情况会好转，但现在看来，情况在变坏。”
上列两书所举的第二个例子中的 as it is 跟问句中的 as it is 是一个意思吗？
词典解答
上述两书的作者把两种用法的 as it is 混为一谈了。用在句首(或从句首)的 as it is (was)与用在句末的 as it is (was)，无论在语义或用法上都是不同的。用在句首(或从句首)的 as it is (was)的前面一般要有一个与事实相反的情节，而用 as it is (was)来陈述真实的情况，通常译为“事实上”“实际上”“实际情况是”。见 as it is (was)。