Passage A
◆Important Words and Expressions◆
brutish［ˈbruːtIʃ］adj.unkind and violent兽性的，野蛮的
e.g. 1.The idea of men beating each other senseless for pay seemed brutish to her.
人们为了赚钱而无谓地斗殴，在她看来是野蛮的。
2.She is rather a killer particularly cruel and brutish.
她真是一个非常凶残而又野蛮的杀手。
grim［grIm］adj.looking or sounding very serious严酷的，阴暗的
e.g. 1.Her expression was grim and unpleasant.她表情严肃，看上去很不开心。
2.He himself had changed into a grim old dog.他本人已变成一个严肃的老家伙。
3.British justice of the time was grim and unflinching.英国当时的法律是严酷的。
devastate［ˈdevəsteIt］vt.to completely destory a place摧毁
e.g. 1.They intended to devastate the town at one stroke.他们企图一举摧毁全城。
2.A fire or flood can devastate any precious paper documents completely.
一场大火或者一场洪水足以使珍贵的纸质资料全部摧毁。
perpetual［pəˈpetʃuəl］adj.continuing for a long period of time without interuption永久的，长期的
e.g. 1.I thought her perpetual complaints were going to prove too much for me.
我想我再也受不了她无休无止的抱怨了。
2.He is on a perpetual search for truth.他毕生都在寻求真理。
a flood of大量的
e.g. 1.He received a flood of letters from angry constituents.
他收到来自愤怒的选民洪水般涌来的信件。
2.There was a flood of complaints from the press about the bad language used in the
special TV show.报界纷纷指责专题电视节目中使用粗俗的语言。
devote…to致力于……
e.g. 1.He devoted his life to benefiting mankind.他一生致力于造福人类。
2.We should devote ourselves faithfully to our profession.
我们应当忠诚地献身于我们的职业。
fall apart崩溃，土崩瓦解
e.g. 1.He fell apart after years as a prisoner of war.当了多年的战俘，他崩溃了。
2.This book was too old and soon fell apart.这本书太旧了，很快就散页了。
◆Explanations of Difficult Sentences◆
1.She said:“These stories present worlds full of cowed populations,tyrannical governments,post⁃nuclear,devastated,war⁃torn landscapes,corrupt elites,weaponized viruses and other associated horrors that ask how we would function in extreme situations,and test what it means to be human.”
•她写道：“这些故事描绘出一个人人自危、政府专制，经受过核爆炸的世界，那里寸草不生、饱受战乱、满目疮痍，充斥着腐败的社会‘精英'，生化武器以及与之相关的恐怖事件，这一切都在拷问着我们如何才能在如此极端的环境中生存，并检视出人性的含义。”
•…full of cowed populations…and other associated horrors后置定语修饰worlds。…that ask how we…定语从句修饰horrors及前面描述的世界景象。
2.In the American comic book story Batman:the Dark Knight Returns（later filmed）,the caped crusader returns to a dystopian Gotham City populated by fearful citizens and run by corrupt politicians and gangsters.
•在美国连环画册《蝙蝠侠：暗夜骑士归来》（后来改编成同名电影）中，这位身披斗篷的战士回到了“反乌托邦”式的哥谭市，那里到处是惊恐的市民，整座城市笼罩在腐败的政客们和暴徒们的统治之下。
•populated by…and run by…过去分词作定语修饰Gotham City.