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Following a Long Explanation is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on holding a multi-stage explanation together, aligned to Common Core standard RI.2.10. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 7 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Following a Long Explanation

RI.2.10

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Launching a Lifeboat

When a boat is in trouble, a call goes out to the lifeboat station. Pagers sound. The crew are volunteers, so they stop whatever they are doing and drive to the station. Most arrive within six minutes. They pull on drysuits and lifejackets and climb aboard. The boat slides down a ramp into the sea and the engines start. At sea, the crew look for a flare, a light, or a shape in the water. Once they find the boat, they take the people off first and the boat second. A lifeboat can right itself if a wave rolls it over.

  1. 1. Put these in order: the boat slides down the ramp, pagers sound, the crew pull on drysuits.
  2. 2. How are the pagers connected to the launch?
  3. 3. Summarise this text in one sentence.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

Inside a Fire Engine

A fire engine carries everything a crew might need, because there is no time to go back for anything. It holds about eighteen hundred litres of water. That sounds like a lot, but a hose can empty it in under three minutes, so the crew connect to a hydrant as soon as they can. Ladders are carried on the roof. The longest can reach a third-floor window. Inside are cutting tools for road accidents, breathing sets for smoke, and a thermal camera that finds a hot spot through a wall. The engine is red so that it is seen. The siren is for when being seen is not enough.

  1. 1. How is the tank of water connected to the hydrant?
  2. 2. What does the crew do once the tank is running low?
  3. 3. Summarise this text in one sentence.

LessonPrint · RI.2.10 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Following a Long Explanation

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Pagers sound, the crew pull on drysuits, the boat slides down the ramp. 2. The pagers tell the volunteer crew to come, so the boat can be launched. 3. A pager call brings volunteers to the station, they suit up, launch down a ramp and take the people off a boat in trouble.
  2. 2.1. The tank runs out in under three minutes, so the crew connect to a hydrant for more. 2. Connect to a hydrant. 3. A fire engine carries water, ladders, cutting tools, breathing sets and a thermal camera, because there is no time to fetch anything.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.2.10 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.