同学你好，该知识点来自沪江网校《英语零基础直达大学六级【全额奖学金班】》的课程，想要更系统的学习，欢迎进入课程学习。不仅可以和更多的同学一起学习，而且还有老师、助教随时的学习指导和知识点解答哦。

同学你好~
这整段短文说的都不是过去的事情，而是一种风俗，应该用现在时态。

It was expected that they were hungry
They are expected to be hungry可以直接这么表达

The following early morning
这里可以改成Early the following morning

They went on helping them to find the dead to find return way.
They go on helping the dead to find their way back. 这样表达，way back 回去的路

People were watching the lanterns disappeared slowly until the sun rose.
disappear用原形，watch sth do，比如
They watched the bus disappear into the distance.
他们注视着公共汽车消失在远方。

This was a moving spectacle really.
This可以改成It，不强调离得近。
really改成very，放到moving前面。

祝同学学习进步~