2 . In May 1869, John Wesley Powell, a former Union Army major who had lost most of his right _________ in the Battle of Shiloh, led 10 _________ in launching four heavy wooden boats loaded to the gunwales with 10 months of supplies.

Three of the boats were made of oak, more suitable for cruising lakes than busting through rapids (急流). None of the men were _________ boatmen. The one-armed captain of the crew had maps with gaps in them. _________, it was the grandest expedition (探险) since Lewis and Clark. Over 500 rapids and 1,000 miles of _________ currents awaited them.

Though Powell had boats custom-made for the _________, they were heavy. He recruited men who knew how to _________ in the wilderness but had never navigated (横越) a river. He packed so much food that it _________ sank the boats from the start.

Much of the journey was spent _________ boats damaged while portaging around rapids and carving new oars out of driftwood. Food was lost or spoiled, game was scarce, and Powell went inland to __________with the Indians for food. The expedition spent days in __________ water and 115-degree heat. Three men deserted the cause along the way. The crew slept on boulders and __________ wet clothing the next morning. And most of the time, they had no idea what lay ahead. But at the end of the arduous journey, they had successfully __________ the challenges and mapped a wilderness previously labeled as “territory unknown.” As the West expanded, Powell’s maps would be __________.

Beauty is in the living of life, in looking beyond the challenges to the __________ of the small moments we achieve — sometimes against all odds.

3 . Water is one of the most important things for life on Earth. What happens ________ you suddenly can’t get this precious liquid?

Mark, an expedition (探险) guide from Shropshire, in the UK, ________ this for himself while ________ along the Zambezi River for two months. When he reached the gorge (峡谷) at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, the area became much more ________ to travel through. Mark guessed that it would take a month to get to the other side of the gorge, and with no other people for miles around, he was beginning to ________ food: After two weeks of trying to pick his ________ through the gorge, Mark decided to find another ________. On his ________, he could see another river heading into the Zambezi.

________ at 4 am, Mark climbed out of the gorge with two—litter water bottles. But after three hours of walking, he ________ ran out of water. He was on the edge of a cliff (悬崖). He could see the river far below him.

He examined the cliff and saw a few tree roots to hold onto, so he decided to make an attempt at climbing down. When he reached a ledge(岩架), he became ________ due to his thirsty, hunger and tiredness. It was not until a few minutes later that he came to himself. Even so, Mark kept pushing himself down the cliff for nearly an hour until he came to the ________. He had to sit there for an hour, cooling down and drinking water.

While few of us are likely to experience this kind of extreme dehydration (脱水), around four billion people experience a ________ of water at least one month of the year. Mark was lucky. After resting for a week, he was able to ________ his journey. Although his experience was a ________ in patience, it also taught him how important water is.