步伐: pace, (measured) step, march...
渠道: irrigation ditch, channel, means...
要不然: otherwise, or else, or...
旱: drought...
牵扯: to involve, to implicate, to be interrelated...
米: rice, meter (classifier)...
草率: careless, negligent, sloppy, not serious...
赞叹: to exclaim in admiration...
咽: to swallow...
行李: luggage...
