Exercise 11C, page 1 - English File Studetn's book, pre-intermediate, Oxford

1 READING & LISTENING

Cordelia and Ciara

Thomas and Toby

Niamh and Luisa

a

Look at the photos. One of them is of identical twins, but two of them are of complete strangers. Which one do you think is of twins?

b

Read about the project Twin Strangers and check your answers.

Two women recently met by chance at Bremen University, in Germany. One was English, and one was Irish, and they were both on Erasmus scholarships. Nothing unusual there, except for one thing. The two girls look identical. Their hair is the same colour and length, they're the same age and size, and when you see them together, in the photo they put on social media, you would think that they were identical twins. In fact, Cordelia Roberts and Ciara Murphy are unrelated. It seems that it is not uncommon for people who are unrelated to look almost identical. Niamh Geaney, from Dublin, and two friends were so interested in trying to find their 'twins' that they set up an online project called Twin Strangers. Very quickly, Niamh found a remarkably similar-looking stranger who lived just a few miles away. It's perhaps not so surprising, as both young women look typically Irish, with dark hair and very pale skin, but then Niamh found another lookalike – Luisa Guizzardi, who is from Genoa in Italy!

Adapted from the British press

Glossary

Erasmus scholarships
a programme which allows
students from the European
Union to study in another country

c

Read the text again. Who set up the website? What was surprising about one of the 'twins' that Niamh found?

d

11.16 Journalist Maggie Alderson decided to try the website for herself. Listen to her talking. Did she find a 'twin'? How did she feel about the experience?

e

Listen again and answer the questions.

1 How does Maggie describe her appearance?

2 What was her first reaction when she saw her 'twins'?

3 Who in Maggie's family did one woman look like?

4 What did her husband think of one of her 'twins'? Did Maggie agree?

5 How did she change her profile?

6 What did Maggie's brother think of the woman who she put on her Facebook page?

7 In what ways does Maggie look like this woman?

8 Have they been in contact with each other?

f

Talk to a partner.

1 Would you like to try the website? Why (not)?

2 Do you know any identical twins? Can you tell the difference between them?

3 Do you know anyone who looks very like you?