BBC随身英语:Playing the Queen 饰演英女王

Margaret Southcoat has been working as a professional impersonator of the Queen for 13 years. As Britain prepares to celebrate 60 years of the Queen's reign, she says her diary has never been busier. The actress has a full schedule of events where she will be fooling people into believing she is the real thing.

Elizabeth Richard is another professional look-alike whose uncanny resemblance to the Queen has led to her portraying the monarch at many press events. Her attention to detail includes wearing clothing that closely mimics that of Her Majesty, including elegant dresses, jewellery and hats.

Earlier this month, another counterfeit Queen sparked a frenzy at a shopping centre in Shanghai. Crowds flocked to try and get a glimpse of the substitute sovereign, but after a double-take they soon realised she was a fake. But the knock-off version still provided an amusing photo opportunity for everyone.

With so many enthusiastic fans of the Royal Family around the world, these dead ringers are able to keep the fascination with the Royal Family very much alive. So if you saw someone who looked like the Queen, would you be able to tell the difference?

Quiz 小测验 1. What is another title given to someone who works as a professional look-alike?

an impersonator, a mimic

2. What phrase is used to describe an extraordinary physical likeness to someone else?

uncanny resemblance

3. What word is used to describe the level of excitement in the crowd?

frenzy

4. True, false or not given: to double-take means to have a delayed reaction to a situation?

True

5. Which of these are informal terms to describe someone who looks identical to someone else? a dead ringer, an impersonator, a substitute, a knock-off

a dead ringer, a knock-off
 

Glossary 词汇表 making the most of最大程度的利用 impersonate冒充，模仿 look-alikes样貌相似者 out in force出动 actress女演员 fooling愚弄 uncanny resemblance惊人的相似 portraying饰演 attention to detail对细节的关注 mimics模仿 counterfeit假冒产品 sparked a frenzy引起轰动 substitute替代品 double-take再看了一眼，仔细看了一下 fake冒牌货 knock-off仿冒品 dead ringers酷似的人 tell the difference看出不同之处