Reading Comprehension
Walking with long steps on purpose, Barack Obama appears to have arrived to visit an elementary school he attended as a boy.But wait.It's not real Obama.The US president is back in Washington DC.
So who is this guy?He's Ilham Anas, 34, a teen-magazine photographer who has taken advantage of his striking resemblance to Obama and turned it into his own brand of celebrity and wealth.
Since his sister told him in 2007 that he looked like the then-presidential candidate, Ana's face and big smile have been seen on Southeast Asian TV and the Internet, appearing in the advertisements of medicine and other products.He has also shown up on his nation's television-talk show.Anas' resemblance to the president has turned his life around 180 degrees.He's even written an autobiography Because of Obama.
Anas is the first to admit that he's an impostor(冒牌貨).But he'll also tell you that he's in incredible demand.“I've got so much work I can't handle it all,”he said.
But when his sister first mentioned the resemblance, he dismissed it.Then a colleague at the magazine asked him to pose as Obama in front of a US flag.He also refused.“I'm a photographer, not an object for the camera,”he said.
As soon as he accepted the idea, his career took off.The married father of two children is rarely home these days.Recently a group of reporters followed him on a tour of the elementary school Obama once attended.Anas sat in the classroom where the president studied.He spoke a few lines in English.The moment he opened his mouth, however, the differences became apparent.“Obama is a baritone(男中音),”Anas said.“I'm not.I sound like a little boy.”He is also shorter than the president.But he makes up for that by practising Obama's typical actions.Before public appearances, he spends hours in front of the mirror posing, gesturing, flashing that smile.
Anas said he hasn't changed his appearance much for the role.He wears his hair just like he did in high school.But he did shape his eyebrows to look more like those of the president.
He used to dislike looking into the mirror because of his average appearance.Now he no longer considers himself as an average guy, but a superstar.
Now, he hopes that Obama will win a second term in the White House.“The longer he's in office, the longer my fame will last,”he said.