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What the Author Wanted is a free printable Grade 2 English worksheet on identifying the main purpose of an information text, aligned to Common Core standard RI.2.6. It prints 8 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 4 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.

What the Author Wanted

RI.2.6

NameDate

Tick the right answer.

1.A text describes what a fire engine carries. What is it mainly doing?
  • A.Telling a story
  • B.Describing
  • C.Giving an opinion
2.Which title tells you the author will explain a cause?
  • A.The Tall Building Song
  • B.My Day at the Tower
  • C.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
3.A text is titled "How a Camel Survives". What question does it answer?
  • A.Where can I buy a camel?
  • B.Who owns the camel?
  • C.How does a camel survive in a desert?
4.A text says a polar bear can overheat if it runs too far. Why include that?
  • A.To warn you not to run
  • B.To make the text longer
  • C.To show just how well insulated it is
5.Why would an author give a number like "eighteen hundred litres"?
  • A.To make the fact exact rather than vague
  • B.Because numbers look important
  • C.To fill up space
6.How can you tell an information text from a story quickly?
  • A.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
  • B.It always has pictures
  • C.It is always shorter
7.A text ends "which is why new buildings are made to sway". What is the author doing?
  • A.Describing a building's colour
  • B.Explaining why something is done
  • C.Telling a joke
8.What does an author of an information text mainly want to do?
  • A.Entertain you with characters
  • B.Rhyme every line
  • C.Answer, explain or describe something

LessonPrint · RI.2.6 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Author Wanted

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Describing
  2. 2.Why Tall Buildings Do Not Fall Over
  3. 3.How does a camel survive in a desert?
  4. 4.To show just how well insulated it is
  5. 5.To make the fact exact rather than vague
  6. 6.It gives facts you could check, and has no made-up characters
  7. 7.Explaining why something is done
  8. 8.Answer, explain or describe something

More practice for RI.2.6

Say why the author wrote it and what they wanted to explain.

Teaching this next? What the Author Wanted to Do is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 2 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.2.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.