【明報專訊】Pat: I have just attended a course about nutrition and health. I have realized that my eating habits were really unhealthy.

Bill: Did your course instructor give you any advice?

Pat: He said that I consumed too much sugar.

Bill: That's true! You drink a lot of iced lemon tea every day. I bet you may get diabetes in a few years if you don't change your eating habits.

Pat: Is it that bad? I will try to get rid of bad eating habits. French fries, chocolate, cheese... They will disappear from my shopping list from now on. He also told me to do more exercise and try some new sports, but I have a lot of work to do.

Bill: You should still spend some time on exercise. You will be muscular and charming if you exercise regularly.

Some nouns are uncountable. They are not used with ''a/an'' or numbers. Nor are they used in the plural.

˙Examples of countable nouns:

habits, french fries

˙Examples of uncountable nouns:

nutrition, health, advice, sugar, tea, diabetes, chocolate, cheese, exercise, work

There are also nouns that could be used as a countable noun or an uncountable noun. The meaning may change in different contexts.

e.g. We don't have much time left.

I have been to Paris several times.

■Gear up

Fill in the blanks.

(1) We have a lot of _____________ (problem) to solve.

(2) Please buy some _____________ (bread) for me.

(3) I need some _____________ (sleep).

(4) She is dealing with a lot _____________ (stress) this week.

(Answers on next text)

■Glossary

attend (v) 參與

nutrition (n) 營養

diabetes (n) 糖尿病

get rid of sth (idiom) 擺脫

[Smarties' Power English 第266期]