MadLib Monday 1: 10/5/09

I'm starting a new weekly feature called "MadLib Monday."  In it, I will include a MadLib activity based on a passage from a book and a close-up picture of some part of the cover of the book I used for the MadLib.  At the end, try to guess which book I used for the passage and picture.  Let's begin our first MadLib Monday.

As a quick review, the present participle of a verb is the verb + -ing (e.g., walking, choosing); the past participle of a verb is typically the verb + -ed/-en (e.g., walked, chosen); if a verb is irregular, its past participle is the form you would use after have (e.g., have sung, have hit); if nothing is specified for the verb, use the base form with no inflection (e.g., walk, choose); the possessive noun is one that has either 's or s' (depending on whether it is singular or plural); and if nothing is specified for the noun, you can use either a singular or plural form.  If you need more of a review, a helpful resource is the English Club website.

1.  time of day
2.  title of a government position
3.  verb (present participle)
4.  noun
5.  adjective
6.  verb (present participle)
7.  noun
8.  pronoun
9.  noun (singular)
10.  title of a government position
11.  place
12.  adjective
13.  adjective
14.  adjective
15.  adjective
16.  adjective
17.  noun (singular)
18.  verb
19.  noun
20.  adverb
21.  title of a government position (use the same one you used for #2)
22.  body part
23.  noun (plural)
24.  noun (use the singular version of what you used for #23)
25.  verb (past participle)
26.  amount of time
27.  verb
28.  verb (past participle)
29.  verb
30.  noun (possessive)


After you've made your list, scroll down below the picture (which is a close-up of the cover of the book I am using for today's MadLib Monday feature) for the passage.

In the passage, use the list of words you came up with to fill in the numbered blanks:

"It was nearing ___1___ and the ___2___ was ___3___ alone in his ___4___, reading a ___5___ memo that was ___6___ through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of ___7___ behind. ___8___ was waiting for a ___9___ from the ___10___ of ___11___, and between wondering when the ___12___ man would telephone, and trying to suppress ___13___ memories of what had been a very ___14___, ___15___, and ___16___ week, there was not much ___17___ in his head for anything else.  The more he attempted to ___18___ on the ___19___ on the page before him, the more ___20___ the ___21___ could see the gloating ___22___ of one of his political ___23___.  This particular ___24___ had ___25___ on the news that very ___26___, not only to ___27___ all the terrible things that had ___28___ in the last week (as though anyone needed reminding) but also to ___29___ why each and every one of them was the ___30___ fault."


Can you guess the book used for this week's MadLib Monday?

The answer will be posted for everyone to see in next week's MadLib Monday, but feel free to provide your answer in a comment to this posting before then.

Happy reading!