One day an out of work mimic(滑稽演员) is visiting the zoo and attempts to earn some money as a street performer. As soon as he starts to draw the crowd，a zoo keeper grabs him and drags him into his office. The zoo keeper explains to the mimic that the zoo's most popular attraction，a gorilla(大猩猩)，has died suddenly and the keeper fears that attendance at the zoo will fall off. He offers the mimic a job to dress up as the gorilla until they can get another one. The mimic accepts.
So the next morning the mimic puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd comes. He discovers that it's a great job. He can sleep all he wants，play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mimic. However，eventually the crowds tire of him and he tires of just swinging on wires. He begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his. Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience，he climbs to the top of his cage，crawls across a partition(隔离物)，and dangles from the top to the lion's cage. Of course，this makes the lion very angry，but the crowd loves it.
At the end of the day the zoo keeper comes and gives the mimic a raise for being such a good attraction. Well，this goes on for some time－the mimic keeps taunting the lion，the crowds grow larger，and his salary keeps going up. Then one terrible day when he is dangling over the angry lion he slips and falls. The mimic is terrified.
The lion gathers itself and prepares to attack. The mimic is so scared that he begins to run round and round the cage with the lion close behind. Finally，the mimic starts screaming and yelling，“Help me，help me！”But the lion is quick and attacks. The mimic soon finds himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion and the lion says，“Shut up，you idiot！Do you want to get us both fired？”
小题1:The mimic visits the zoo to________.
A．take care of the dying gorilla
B．beg some money from the zoo keeper
C．ask for a job there
D．perform and earn some money there小题2:The zoo keeper offers the mimic a job to act as the gorilla because________.
A．it is more expensive to hire a real gorilla
B．the real gorilla died but the keeper does not want to lose its visitors
C．he likes the mimic's performance
D．he wants to help the mimic who is out of work小题3:What does the mimic feel about the new job at first?
A．He likes it because he has enough freedom in the job.
B．He likes it but he prefers to working as a mimic.
C．He doesn't like it for people do not respect him.
D．He doesn't like it because he gets little pay.小题4:The mimic climbs to the lion's cage because________.
A．he finds it more interesting to climb the cage
B．he wants to play with the lion
C．he wants to attract the attention of his audience
D．he has never seen a lion before小题5:What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．The mimic and his job
B．The mimic and his success
C．The actor and the mimic
D．The mimic and his animals
小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:C
小题5:A
题目分析：本文叙述了一位滑稽演员因为失去了工作，就去动物园想通过表演来挣钱，这时他被动物园的管理员看中，给他提供一份扮演大猩猩的工作，他被锁进笼子里自己感觉这个工作很适合自己，他也得到了一些奖励。
小题1:细节理解题。根据One day an out of work mimic(滑稽演员) is visiting the zoo and attempts to earn some money as a street performer.他想去动物园那里表演挣一些钱，故选D。
小题2:细节理解题。根据a gorilla(大猩猩)，has died suddenly and the keeper fears that attendance at the zoo will fall off.因为大猩猩死了他们不想失去观众，故选B。
小题3:细节理解题。根据He can sleep all he wants，play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mimic.他感觉这个工作有自由，故选A。
小题4:细节理解题。根据Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience，he climbs to the top of his cage，crawls across a partition(隔离物)，and dangles from the top to the lion's cage.他想吸引观众的注意，所以他爬到了笼子的顶部，故选C。
小题5:主旨大意题。根据全文的内容可知主要叙述了滑稽演员与他的工作，故选A。
点评：主旨大意题主要是测试考生对一篇文章或一段文字的深层理解程度及在速读中准确把握文章大意的能力，一般针对某一语段或某一语篇主题标题或目的设题。做这类题，关键在于抓住文章要旨。