【明報專訊】Pat and Bill are preparing tonight's dinner. They are buying the ingredients in the supermarket.

“ Pat: What shall we cook? Shall we make some fruit salad? ”

“ Bill: How about some chicken spaghetti too? ”

“ Bill: Hey, stop! ”

“ Pat: Why? ”

“ Bill: I've just read from the Internet that this type of canned food is contaminated with a virus. ”

“ Pat: What? Is this true? ”

“ Dr Panda: No, it's a news story published in 2013. It's safe for consumption. ”

“ Bill: Sorry! ”

◆Know more

The Internet is an archive so old news articles are always available. Some information is always true. We can share this kind of information even after the publication date. However, some news is only true for a short period of time. If we share it long after the publication date, others may misunderstand that the news is fresh and this may lead to confusion. We should always double check the dates or do an image search to check how long an image has been circulating.

■English highway﹕information

Facts about something or someone. It is an uncountable noun and often followed by ''about''.

e.g. (ˇ) I found a lot of information about K-pop on the Internet.

(╳) I found a lot of informations about K-pop on the Internet.

■Glossary

contaminate (v) 污染

consumption (n) 食用

archive (n) 檔案庫

circulate (v) 散佈

[Smarties' Power English 第260期]