cat > asdf.txt <<EOF
    a b
    c d e
    f g h i j
    EOF
    cat asdf.txt | awk '{print $1}'
    cat asdf.txt | awk '{print $2}'
    cat asdf.txt | awk '{print $(3-1)}'
    cat asdf.txt | awk '{print NF}'
    cat asdf.txt | awk '{print $NF}'