Ragtime is a fast and complex kind of music that was popular around the beginning of the twentieth century.Scott Joplin is now considered to be the most important American ragtime composer (作曲家) and piano player.During his lifetime，Joplin only enjoyed a brief period of professional success in the early 1900s.However，his work had an important，lasting effect on audiences，as well as other composers.

　　When ragtime first appeared in the late nineteenth century, it was considered a low form of cheap entertainment，not a serious musical movement. Then in 1899，Joplin wrote a ragtime song called Maple Leaf Rag.The song showed Joplin's creative blend (融合) of African­ American rhythm and more established European­American musical styles.It was a huge success and helped to make ragtime popular with the general public.Maple Leaf Rag was the first instrumental composition to sell over one million copies of sheet music.It was also the first music by an African American to find a large audience among European Americans.

　　Although the general ragtime style already existed before Joplin began composing，his work attracted a lot of attention from other ragtime composers of his time.Songs like Maple Leaf Rag influenced these composers mostly because they were very popular with the public. And many of them started to add similar fast and complex rhythm to their music.Later，composers came to appreciate the high quality of Joplin's music，which has continued to capture (引起) the imagination of many composers and musicians up to the present day.For example，many later jazz musicians were influenced by Joplin's complex African­style rhythm. Jazz，in turn，went on to influence many more popular music styles.These include the blues，rock and roll，soul，and even hip­hop.As a result，many music historians now list Joplin's work as an early basis of all modern popular music.

　　【语篇解读】　本文是说明文。美国黑人作曲家斯科特·乔普林创作的拉格泰姆音乐作品对美国音乐产生了巨大影响。

　　1．What do we learn about ragtime?

　　A．It originated in Europe.

B．It was started by Joplin.