"a close imitation of" is correct and commonly used in written English.
You can use it when describing something that closely resembles or mimics something else. Example: The painting was a close imitation of Van Gogh's famous 'Starry Night', with its swirling brushstrokes and vibrant colors.
In design and intention, the +1 button is a close imitation of Facebook's Like button, which appears both on Facebook's site and on pages across the Web as a way for users to share content with friends with a single click.
On the road, the Cobalt SSSC is a close imitation of the much more expensive BMW 3 Series (if, that is, the 3 Series cost $20K and came with front-wheel drive) that we've experienced.
I have tried a Casio keyboard (the CPS-300) that provides a closer imitation of a piano's possibilities, but even the most sophisticated of electronic pianos is hard put to match the supple expressiveness of its acoustic ancestor.
With regard to the definition of plagiarism, the three most popular answers (in terms of descending popularity) given by students were: "Copy and paste, without acknowledgement of the source you took your material from" (N = 37); "Plagiarism is a close imitation or form of cheating" (N = 16) and "The uses of work/research of others without citation, thus making it appear as your own work" (N = 9).
In the second half of the program, Mr. Rosenberg ripped through Reinhardt and Grappelli's "Minor Swing" with the violinist Mark O'Connor, who demonstrated in passing that he could do a pretty close imitation of Grappelli, but for the most part kept it in check.
Actually, it does, or a close imitation called 4Motion that works almost exactly the same way.
In such close imitation of a dressmaker's dummy, the mannequin draws attention to the creation, rather than the wearing, of the clothes.
In later odes, particularly The Progress of Poesy (1757), Gray successfully sought close imitation of the original Pindaric form, even emulating Greek rhythms in English, while developing ambitious ideas about cultural continuity and renewal.
Thus plagiarism not only includes the word-for-word copying of another piece of work, but close imitation of it also.
The American Heritage dictionary defines plagiarism as: "the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work".
It's a much closer imitation of the High Line, built upon disused industrial railway track and outfitted with greenery, wifi, performance spaces and even an outdoor gym.
