【明報專訊】The Smarties have gone to Rio de Janeiro (里約熱內盧), Brazil, to participate in the Olympics. Don't ever forget the mischievous one! He always reminds the Smarties of his talent!

“ MoMo: Another four-year period has gone! This gives me a good chance of renewing old friendships. ”

“ Dr Panda: The arena is magnificent! ”

“ Security guard: Stop! None of you looks like the photo on his or her pass. ”

“ Pat: Why has my hair become long and black in my photo? ”

“ Bill: Someone has painted it! It must be Eason! ”

“ Dr Panda: Now we look just as we should! ”

■English highway﹕-nouns and articles

Olympic spirit

The Olympic Games are aimed at promoting the Olympic spirit and building a better world. The Olympic spirit upholds peace, friendship, solidarity and fair play. These are all uncountable nouns. However, "friendship" can be either countable or uncountable.

e.g. It was the judge's job to ensure fair play between the two teams.

e.g. To show their solidarity, all in the class joined the drama competition.

■Quiz

Fill in the blanks with the uncountable nouns provided.

(answers on next text)

advice / information / happiness / help / knowledge

1. You may always call me if you need any __________.

2. There is always a lot of __________ on the internet.

3. Bill gave me some good __________ on my problem.

4. We cannot always attain __________ by spending money.

5. Like books, our experiences give us __________.

■Glossary

participate (+ in) (v) 參與

mischievous (adj) 調皮的

magnificent (adj) 宏偉的

solidarity (n) 團結