> pre-prepared list

Maybe they were too lazy too say 'a previously prepared list' or 'a list prepared prior to ..'. But neither of those really makes sense in the context. What they really meant is that there are 'finished programming modules' which one merely has to choose from a list in order to design one's own worm. Conciseness, it seems, was not the best option here :-)
If nothing else, their use of alliteration is really quite splendid.

> 'Refugee' ship flounders

'To flounder' also had a connotation meaning swaying, bobbing, pitching, tottering etc. right? What's wrong with that?