英语听力精选进阶版 6475（在线收听）

I love going out with my mate Jerry. People stare at him with admiration. Some even ask for his autograph. But Jerry isn't famous. He just bears a resemblance to someone who is: the actor Daniel Radcliffe. Yes, Harry Potter himself! And it has a magical effect on people!

I told Jerry he should be a lookalike model. That's what Pauline Bailey did. She decided to replicate Marilyn Monroe's image after she was told she bore a likeness to the star.

Bailey says: "I bought books and started reading about Marilyn. I realised we had a similar upbringing, so I had an affinity with her. Then people started saying when I went to places that I looked like her. I didn't realise you could make a living out of it."

Now the blonde model gets jobs through a specialised agency. She jumps out of cakes, allowing men to live the fantasy of meeting the late goddess of the silver screen.

But not everybody profits from the lookalike business. Iranian actor Mahmoud Basiri claims his likeness to a famous person cost him eight years of earnings. He happens to be the spitting image of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was told in 2005 that he could only work with the leader's agreement.

So will Ahmadinejad ever give his consent to the actor to play him? Don't hold your breath - Basiri specialises in comedy!

But overall, a resemblance to a popular artist is a good thing, isn't it? The biggest challenge must be to keep the illusion going – for example, by gaining or losing weight if they do. Nonetheless, Pauline Bailey thinks it's important to keep a sense of yourself. She says: "I'm very much an individual person, away from Marilyn. I think you could lose yourself very easily being someone else all the time and lose your own identity".

I asked Jerry if he thinks impersonating Daniel Radcliffe professionally could go to his head. I worried that all the adulation might change him and make him leave me behind. "No way," he said. "We do everything together."

What about you? Which celebrity would you like to be the spitting image of?

Quiz 测验

1. What does the Marilyn Monroe impersonator feel about her?

Pauline Bailey feels an affinity with Marilyn Monroe.

2. Which strange task does Pauline Bailey perform as Marilyn Monroe?

She jumps out of cakes.

3. Why is Basiri unlikely to play in a serious drama?

Because he specialises in comedy.

4. What risk do lookalike models need to be aware of, according to Pauline Bailey?

Losing their own identity.

5. Which expression means 'to allow someone to do something'?

To give your consent.

Glossary 词汇表

to bear a resemblance to (someone) 具有（和某人）相似的长相

lookalike 长相酷似…的人

to replicate 复制

to bear a likeness to (somebody) 具有（和某人）相似的长相、外表

affinity 亲近感

the silver screen 银幕

to happen to be 恰巧是

the spitting image of (someone) 相貌酷似（某人）

don't hold your breath 别指望了

to impersonate 扮演

to go to (someone's) head 冲昏（某人）头脑

adulation 恭维，奉承