【山东省济宁市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共 16 小题，计 24 分）
阅读下面短文，从每小题 A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答 案D。
No one knows exactly when jazz was invented, or by whom. But it is said that it began in the early  1900s.
Jazz was a new kind of music, for America and the world, and New Orleans was its birthplace.
Who were the jazz pioneers? Most were blacks. This music was not written down, and at first only blacks played it. It was hard for white musicians to learn the new style. But soon they, too, were playing jazz.
The popularity of this music spread. From New Orleans, it traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago, then to Kansas City and New York. By the 1920s, there were many jazz musicians, both black and white. Many of them were famous. One man was better than the rest. His name was Louis Armstrong.
Louis Armstrong was a born musician. He was not only talented but also hard-working. He also had a good sense of humor and a big, good-natured smile. These personal qualities were valuable in his rise to fame. After he became famous, he traveled around the world. It seemed that everyone wanted to hear Louis play. But life was not always easy, especially at the beginning.
Louis Armstrong was born in 1900 in New Orleans. His father never went to school and his mother could hardly read. When Louis was still a kid, his parents separated, and Louis lived with his mother. How hard their life was can readily be imagined. And yet Louis smiled through everything. He later wrote, “My whole life has been happiness. Life was there for me and I accepted it. Whatever happened has been beautiful to me. I love everybody.”
What can we know exactly from the first paragraph?

A．Who invented jazz.

B．When jazz was invented.

C．Where jazz was invented.

D．Why jazz was invented.

The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 2 refers to（指）____     ____.

A．New styles.	B．Jazz pioneers.
C．Black musicians.	D．White musicians.

What made Louis Armstrong become the best jazz musician?

A．His family background.

B．His talent and hard work.

C．His good sense of humor.

D．His big, good-natured smiles.

Which of the following best expresses Louis Armstrong’s attitude (态度) to life?

A．He laughs best who laughs last.

B．Failure is the mother of success.

C．When you smile, the world smiles ba ck.

D．Without music, life is a journe y through a desert.

What is the passage mainly about?

A．The development of jazz.

B．The influence of jazz on Americans.

C．The achievements of Louis Armstrong.

D．The development of jazz and its best musician.