Passage A
◆Important Words and Expressions◆
tricky［ˈtrIki］adj.not to be trusted；having concealed difficulty狡猾的；复杂的
e.g. 1.He's a tricky customer.他是个狡猾的顾客。
2.I'm in a rather tricky position；can you help me out？我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
subsidy［ˈsʌbsədi］n.a grant paid by a government to an enterprise that benefits the public补贴；津贴；奖金
e.g. 1.The unit's subsidy fell from 50 percent of cost to 17 percent.
单位补贴由占成本的50%下降为17%。
2.Food subsidy programs have other costs.粮食补贴方案还要付出其他代价。
simulate［ˈsImjuleIt］vt.create a representation or model of模仿，模拟
e.g. 1.The wood had been painted to simulate stone.木头上刷了漆以至于看起来像块石头。
2.The scientist developed one model to simulate a full year of the globe's climate.
这名科学家研制了一个模型来模拟地球全年的气候。satire［ˈsætaIə］n.witty language used to convey insults or scorn讽刺
e.g. 1.The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.
那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
2.Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。
haunt［hɔːnt］vt.follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to时常萦绕心头n.a frequently visited place常去的地方
e.g. 1.Memories of the past haunt her.她总是想起过去的事。
2.The college library is a favourite haunt.大学图书馆是人们喜欢的地方。
dignify［ˈd IgnIfaI］vt.raise the status of使高贵；使显赫
e.g. 1.Tragic literature dignifies sorrow and disaster.悲剧作品使悲伤和灾难得到了升华。
2.I wouldn't dignify this trash by calling it a novel.这部劣等作品我是不会美称为小说的。
potent［ˈpəʊtnt］adj.having the power to influence or convince有效的，强有力的；有说服力的
e.g. 1.The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
2.He was once a potent ruler.他曾经是有权势的统治者。
hunch［hʌntʃ］n.an impression that something might be the case预感，直觉
e.g. 1.I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
2.I had a hunch that the plan would end in success.我有预感那项计划会成功。
make up for补偿，弥补
e.g. 1.Hard work can often make up for a lack of ability.努力工作经常可以弥补能力的不足。
2.Her beauty can't make up for her stupidity.她的美丽不能弥补她的愚蠢。
first and foremost首要的；第一
e.g. 1.He was a singer，but first and foremost a scholar.他是个歌手，但他主要是一位学者。
2.He's written many different kinds of things,but he's first and foremost a novelist.
他写过许多不同性质的东西，但他首先是位小说家。
tap into利用，开发
e.g. 1.Tap into the innate power behind what makes your business unique.
找出使你的企业与众不同的背后的内在动力。
2.To learning English well,we need to tap into the American and European culture.
要想学好英语，大家需要进一步了解一些欧美文化。
◆Explanations of Difficult Sentences◆
（1）Just as income from Les Mis helped to keep the RSCafloat in the 1980s,so War Horse enables the NT to balance its books in the years of George Osborne's austerity.
•就像在20世纪80年代，《悲惨世界》所带来的收益挽救了“皇家莎士比亚剧团”，《战马》也让国家大剧院有能力在乔治·奥斯本的紧缩政策下实现账簿的平衡。
•Just as…so…引导方式状语从句，可译为“正如”或“就像”。
e.g. Just as bitter medicine cures sickness,so unpalatable advice benefits conduct.
忠言逆耳利于行，良药苦口利于病。
（2）Audiences still gasp at the ingenuity of the Handspring Puppet Company who give the horses,through their bendy,bamboo frames,an articulated,individual life.
•观众对南非木偶剧团的独创性惊叹不已，他们利用弯曲柔韧的竹结构，整合出一匹匹活生生的马。
•在这个句子中，who引导定语从句修饰the Handspring Puppet Company。through their bendy，bamboo frames在从句中作状语，表方式。
（3）But equally remarkable is the moment when a simulated first⁃world⁃war tank,signaling the cavalry's demise,rolls ominously towards the audience.
•同样地，一辆意味着骑兵部队消亡的模拟一战坦克，杀气腾腾地冲向观众，也成为令人注目的又一大亮点。
•整个句子倒装。when引导定语从句，修饰the moment。
（4）Nor does it possess the vivid realism of Sebastian Faulks's novel Birdsong,with its portrait of the subterranean lives of sappers.
•剧中也没有塞巴斯蒂安·福克斯《鸟鸣》对底层工兵地下生活的描绘中所表现出的鲜明的现实主义色彩。
•这句话以否定词Nor开头，所以句子倒装。
e.g. Nor did he let the disease stop him from living the kind of life he has always dreamt about.疾病没有使他放弃过上梦想中的生活。
（5）In this case,it is that of a human's passionate love for a horse,which was most famously exploited by Anna Sewell in her Victorian novel Black Beauty.
•在这部戏中，则体现为一个人对一匹马炽热的爱，这正如安娜·休厄尔在其维多利亚时代小说《黑骏马》中所很好展现的那样。
•在这句话中，which引导非限定性定语从句，修饰a human's passionate love for a horse。