Both black boxes from a passenger plane crash in southern China last month that killed 132 people are being analyzed by U.S. experts at a government lab in Washington, D.C. 

The National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB) said it is helping its Chinese counterparts download information from the flight data recorder. The American agency said it was doing the same for the cockpit(驾驶舱) voice recorder(CVR). Both may have been damaged by the impact of the crash. If the information on them can be recovered, it could tell why the China Eastern Boeing 737-800 went into a sudden nosedive from about 8,800 meters (29,000 feet) over a mountainous region on March 21.

The crash left a 20-meter-deep huge hole in a mountainside, destroyed the plane completely and set off a fire in the surrounding forest. More than 49,000 pieces of plane debris were found. It took 2 days to find the CVR, which would pick up voices and other sounds from microphones worn by the pilots and another stationed over their heads. Another 4 days later searchers recovered the flight data recorder, which constantly records information of speed, altitude and the performance of key systems on the aircraft. And it was buried 1.5 meters underground.

U.S. accident investigators arrived in China to assist the investigation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China(中国民用航空总局). The NTSB team is taking part because the plane was manufactured in the United States. Chinese officials have said a preliminary(初步的) investigation report would be completed within 30 days of the crash. 

The 737-800 has an excellent safety record and the Chinese airline industry has had relatively few mishaps in recent years. Before last month’s accident, the last fatal crash of a Chinese airliner occurred in August 2010, when an Embraer ERJ 190-100 operated by Henan Airlines hit the ground short of the runway in the northeastern city of Yichun and caught fire, killing 44 people. Investigators blamed pilot error.

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1.Why did U.S. experts want to recover the information on black boxes?

A To investigate the real reason of the crash.

B To find ways to fly over mountainous area.

C To exchange information with Chinese.

D To sell more flight data recorders.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据文章第一段最后一句的 “it could tell why the China Eastern Boeing 737-800 went into a sudden nosedive...”可知，美国专家研究该黑匣子的目的是了解飞机突然俯冲撞向地面的原因，即飞机失事的原因。故选A。

2.What information does the cockpit voice recorder hold?

A The reason of the plane crash.

B The pilots’ voice and other sounds.

C The flight speed and altitude data.

D The location of the plane debris.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据文章第三段第二句“It took 2 days to find the CVR, which would pick up voices and other sounds from microphones worn by the pilots and another stationed over their heads.”可知，CVR主要记录飞行员的声音以及其他声音。故选B。

3.What does the underlined word “mishaps” probably mean?

A Battles.

B Threats.

C Accidents.

D Performances.

解析：选C。C 词义猜测题。根据该句的前半部分“The 737-800 has an excellent safety record and the Chinese airline industry has had relatively few...”可知该机型一直有较良好的安全记录，并且中国航空业也很少发生“mishaps”；再结合后一句中的“Before last month’s accident”可推断，mishaps应该表示“事故”，古选C。

4.What caused the terrible plane crash of 2010 in China?

A The engine failure.

B The sudden fire.

C The lack of runway.

D The pilots’ mistakes.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据文章最后一段的“Before last month’s accident, the last fatal crash of a Chinese airliner occurred in August 2010...”以及最后一句“Investigators blamed pilot error.”可知，是由于飞行员的操作失误才导致了空难。故选D。