Imagine walking around a corner and coming face to face with an exact likeness of yourself. For many celebrities, this puzzling experience is something they have encountered at Madame Tussauds, the world-famous wax museum.
Founder Marie Tussaud was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1760. Her mother was a housekeeper for a doctor, Philippe Curtius, in Bern, Switzerland. It just so happened that the doctor was also a skilled wax modeler1, so he passed on the skill to Tussaud. When Doctor Curtius passed away in 1794, Tussaud inherited2 his wax model collection. She would take the collection on a tour of Europe lasting over three decades before finally settling down in London. That was where the first Madame Tussauds wax museum opened its doors in 1835.
Today, there are Madame Tussauds museums all over the world, with branches in Berlin, Bangkok, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong, just to name a few cities. Celebrities from Michael Jackson to Jackie Chan all have had their famous faces cast in wax and put on display. Some entertainers may desire a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but they really know they have made it when they run into themselves at Madame Tussauds.
wax n. 蠟
We molded the wax into different shapes in art class.
我們在美術課上將蠟塑造成各種不同形狀。
* mold vt. 塑造
face to face 面對面
I have to talk to you face to face, instead of just over the phone.
我需要和你面對面談談，而不光是講電話。
puzzling a. 令人困惑的
Cindy found David's explanation extremely puzzling.
辛蒂覺得大衛的解釋很令人困惑。
encounter vt. 遇到，遭遇
Judy encountered a lot of problems when she started the program.
茱蒂展開這項計畫時遇到了許多問題。
pass on... / pass...on 傳遞……
Sally will pass the information on to her supervisor.
莎莉會把這項訊息傳達給她的上司。
settle down 安頓下來，定居
Mandy is very likely to marry Mike and settle down in Germany.
曼蒂很可能會嫁給麥克，然後在德國定居。
cast vt. 澆鑄；投下（票、影子等）
The palm tree cast a long shadow across our garden.
那棵棕櫚樹在我們家的整個院子上投下了長長的影子。
on display 展出
Mary's artwork was on display at the museum.
瑪莉的藝術品在博物館展出。
modeler n. 製造模型者
inherit vt. 繼承
字尾 -ness 的用法
本文 "Imagine walking around a corner and coming face to face with an exact likeness of yourself." 中的 likeness 表『相似，相像』，其字尾 -ness 表『性質，狀態』，可置於形容詞之後構成名詞，常見的字有 loudness（喧鬧，吵鬧）及 illness（病；患病狀態）等。例：
The girl's likeness to her mother was striking.
（這女孩面貌酷似她的母親。）
Bill was mad at the loudness of the children next door.
（對於隔壁孩子的喧鬧，比爾火冒三丈。）
It took Tim several years to recover from his serious illness.
（提姆花了好幾年的時間才從重病中復原。）
