A gray day has begun. The sun will not be able to show his face this morning. There are too many clouds. The lighted sky looks like it got shaken. It was shaken down and the darkest clouds fell to the edge of the sky. There are thick bluish-gray clouds along the eastern horizon and higher up the clouds slowly thin out and give way to the top part of the sky that is white with a bit of gray.

Could native born Americans pass the naturalization test that immigrants take? Here are some sample naturalization test questions. I found it on a site that talks about becoming a citizen. On the site US Citizenship.info, I found the steps to take in applying.

Find the verb phrases and identify the kind of verbs.
1. John might make a pizza for dinner.
2. You should have seen our photos.
3. The sun has just set over the treetops.
4. Have you seen the Lincoln Memorial?
5. We will wait for the commerical.
6. Joe doesn’t ride the bus.
7. Can you play chess?
8. We could have talked all nght.
9. They are not following directions.
10. Has Maggie already gone home?
11. Carol will take a plane to New Mexico.
12. Mark is not going to the barbecue.
13. I can hardly hear you.
14. We should have been practicing all day.
15. You must never open that door.
Answers

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My oldest son has been reading through an old paperback called Democracy in America by Alexis De Tocqueville. He’s halfway through and says its boring. I asked my husband about it and he said Sam needs to finish the book. I found some sites that will hopefully spark more of an interest in this historical person and his famous writing.
Presentation about Tocqueville tour of America @ Tocqueville.org.
Take a virtual tour of America with De Tocqueville through the University of Virginia.
I found some info @ LOA.org
The book, volume 1 and 2, can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg.

Let’s look at some sentences to review what we have learned. Remember that verbs either show action or state of being. Using helping verbs, we make verb phrases. Verb phrases may be separated by other words. Verb phrases follow a definite order and change form. Find the verb phrases and tell what kind of verbs they are.
I can understand your concern.
Is Mrs. Johanson going with you?
The rooms cannot be held any longer.
I haven’t seen him for an hour.
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Long ago Isaac Watts wrote a famous Christmas Carol, Joy To The World. I found the bio of Watts @ WholesomeWords.org and @ the Christian History Institute.
Here is the story of Joy To The World.
Here are words from three of the verses.
The Vienna Boys Chior version
The Upbeat unique sound of Mannheim Steamroller

The fullest telling of the Christmas story is found in the book of Luke and Matthew.
It begins with the story of the old couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were informed by an angel that they would have a child and that he would be named John. John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus, born about three months before Jesus and would prepare the way as Jesus would begin His earthly ministry.

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We can change the form of a verb. (These changes in form are used in conjugations. We will talk about conjugations in later lessons.) For example, a verb can have an s added to it as in eat, eats or run, runs. Other changes could be eating, ate, or eaten for the verb eat. Run could be changed to running, or ran. Irregular verbs which we will cover later have several confusing changes.
Find the verb or verb phrases in these sentences. Take note of the different verb forms for come and sent.
I am coming in the morning.
I came as soon as possible.
She comes by every day.
Send me the package in the mail.
The new part was sent to me.
I am sending Jeff with the neighbors.

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Our dictionary defines the word obscure as not clear or distinct, not easily understood and then gives an example of an “obscure figure in the fog”.
Here are some great examples from Youtube. I found two old recordings from famous people. Their voices are obscured when compared to our modern technologically advanced recordings.
An obscured reading of the poem America by its author, Walt Whitman from 1890:

Thomas Edison used a wax cylinder to make a recording to business associates.

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Verb phrases with two or more helping verbs always keep a definite order. Most helping verbs can combine with other helping verbs but will not combine with all of them. Look at the examples below which are good combinations.
is being said, has been said, will be said, could have been said, may have said, had been said.
Now arrange the following helping verbs with the word in parentheses into a verb phrase. One of the helping verbs will not combine and must be left out.
Example: was, have, may (gone) = may have gone – was will not combine in this group.
1. am, will, being (fired)
2. been, could, does, have (learning)
3. might, do, have, been (sleeping)
4. must, were, be (discovered)
5. be, has, should (sold)
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