单选题 Next month Britons will have yet more smartphones to choose from, when devices from Wiko, a two-year-old French company, go on sale. Wiko hopes that its phones, which in France start at around 70 Euros, will be as popular across Britain as at home. In 2013 nearly 7% of French first-time smartphone-buyers chose a Wiko. In early 2014 the firm claims to have been the second-biggest vendor in France.
Wiko is not alone. In both rich countries and poor ones, cheaper smartphone brands are making inroads . Demand for costly phones, mainly in developed economies, is slowing, but that for less expensive devices is booming. People who will buy their first smartphones today perhaps care less about the brand and more about price than the richer, keener types of a few years ago. They are likely to pay less for a nice new smartphone than they did for their shabby old phone, because the cost of making smartphones has decreased.
The declining cost of making phones means that buyers are getting more for their money. Two years ago the median price of a smartphone was $325. Last year it was $250. This year it may be $200. The cheapest phones will become cheaper still.
All this is great for smartphone-buyers everywhere. It is less good news for the market leaders, Apple and Samsung—the only vendors making much money. Apple may evade being influenced by its operating system and apparently exceptional brand, although it has lately been selling cheaper iPhones. Samsung, which dominates the market for phones running on Google"s Android operating system, may be more vulnerable.
Granted, Samsung makes cheaper devices as well as dearer ones, and it can afford some slimming of its margins. But its problem, Mr. Jeronimo, a researcher from Internet Data Center, says, is that it carries lots of costs, in research and development and in marketing, that cheaper rivals do not.
Samsung is doubtless wise to this. Hence its attempt to push beyond the smartphone, into smart watches and wristbands, connected domestic appliances and the business market. The weather of Mobile-phone brands is variable: ask Ericsson, HTC, Motorola and Nokia—the previous successful brands. Samsung has spent buckets of gold building its name. It will not want to be replaced by the Wikos of the world.

单选题 From the first paragraph, we learn that ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第一段。根据Wiko hopes that its phones, which in France start at around 70 Euros...可知，Wiko智能手机的起始销售价格很低，可判断其生产低端智能手机，故B项为正确答案。A项“Wiko已经主导了英国市场”与题意不符，文中讲的是Wiko将于下个月进军英国市场，故排除。C项“Wiko计划与英国当地智能手机制造商进行合作”和D项“英国人对Wiko表现出了极大热情”属于无中生有，文中并没有交代。

单选题 What does the phrase "making inroads" (Para. 2) probably mean?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 含义题。根据题干关键词定位到第二段。短语所在句子的大意为：不管在发达国家还是在贫穷国家，廉价智能手机品牌都______。由下一句的but that for less expensive devices is booming(而对廉价机的需求正在迅猛增长)可知，廉价智能手机有很好的市场，故C项“繁荣”为正确答案。A项“下降”，B项“面临挑战”，D项“破产”均不符合题意。

单选题 What makes Apple avoid being affected by cheaper smartphones?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词定位到第四段。由段落中Apple may evade being influenced by its operating system and apparently exceptional brand可知Apple依靠自己的操作系统和独特的品牌可以免受影响，故D项为正确答案。A项“Apple研发了比别的品牌更为廉价的智能手机”与文中所陈述事实相反。B项“美国政府将采取措施资助Apple”并没有体现在文中。C项“消费者喜欢Apple胜过任何其他品牌”也没有出现在文章中。

单选题 Facing cheaper brands, Samsung feels worried because it ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据第五段中But its problem... is that it carries lots of costs, in research and development and in marketing, that cheaper rivals do not可知C项为正确答案，选项中的invest more为carries lots of cost的同义替换。A项“Samsung已经失去了廉价智能机的市场份额”并非文中内容，属于主观臆断。B项“Samsung没有廉价智能手机”与本段中Samsung makes cheaper devices as well as dearer ones不符。D项“Samsung不得不与其他品牌合作研发廉价智能机”在文中找不到相关信息。

单选题 What can we infer from the last paragraph?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。根据题干关键词定位到最后一段。根据Samsung has spent buckets of gold building its name. It will not want to be replaced by the Wikos of the world可推断，Samsung不会坐以待毙，必将采取措施予以反击，故B项为正确答案。A项为现在完成时，意为“HTC、摩托罗拉和诺基亚在廉价智能手机方面取得了巨大成功”，说的是目前的状况。与原文中previous矛盾。C项“Samsung已主要转向了智能手表和智能手环”与Hence its attempt to... smart watches and wristbands不符。D项“廉价智能手机将很快失去目前成功的市场”与文章主题矛盾。