1 . In 2008, I traveled to a remote region in southwest China to tell the story about the Nu River. The word “Nu” means “angry” in Chinese. Here many ________ lived in the mountains along the narrow river. There were ________ bridges over the river and most people from the villages had to ________ it by zip lines (滑索).

I went to a place closest to a town on a market day. When I got there, a stream of people was already crossing over the ________ waters of the river. They did it ________ or in pairs. Some of them even went with ________ in their arms, such as chickens and pigs. I even saw a goat.

With a camera around my neck, I hooked onto the return line and moved forward until I ________ midway above the river. The waters did look angry below me.

Hanging over the river, I ________ people crossing until those waiting to return home became very ________ . I pulled myself back to the roadside to let them pass, and then hooked onto the line again for another try. Suddenly, I saw a group of people were heading toward the zip lines with a ________!

“What’s the angle? “I asked myself, as I ________ my position. I wanted the river waters in the picture but that was not easy to do. Before I could check all the ________ they tied a rope around the cow, hooked it on the line, and gave it a push. Kicking its legs in the air, the cow ________ the steep line above the angry river.

I reached the line’s end just as the cow closed in. For a second, my camera was in the cow’s face. The view was ________ —completed by the angry river below.

Nowadays, these zip lines have been ________ by modern bridges and government housing projects have been designed to encourage the people to move down to the riversides.