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Read Closely and Quote is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on reading a Grade 5 text well enough to quote it accurately, aligned to Common Core standard RF.5.4. 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.

Read Closely and Quote

RF.5.4

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Mill: Mr Whately's Account

I did not close the mill. The mill closed. For eleven years I put my own money in. In 1979 I sold my house and moved into the office above the weaving floor, and nobody knew that but my accountant. People say I should have told them earlier. I have thought about that more than they have. If I had said in January that we might not last the year, half the workforce would have left by February, and then we certainly would not have. I held on until the day I could not pay them. Then I told them. I have been told this was cowardice. I would call it arithmetic.

  1. 1. Quote the phrase in which he names what he has been accused of.
  2. 2. Quote accurately the words in which he defends his silence.
  3. 3. How long did Mr Whately put his own money into the mill?
  4. 4. What did he do in 1979?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Mill: Ivy Sallow's Account

We knew by the thread. You cannot work a loom for twenty-two years and not notice when the good cotton stops coming. From about the March, it was the cheap stuff, and it broke. So we knew something. What we did not know was how long we had, and that is the part I mind. I could have been looking. My sister found work in Derby that spring and asked me twice. I said the mill would see me out. He stood on a crate on the Friday and told us. Somebody asked how long he had known. He said he would rather not say. That was the answer, really.

  1. 1. What told the workers something was wrong?
  2. 2. How long had Ivy worked a loom?
  3. 3. Quote accurately the words in which Ivy states her grievance.
  4. 4. Quote the exchange that closes the account.

LessonPrint · RF.5.4 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Read Closely and Quote

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. "I have been told this was cowardice." 2. "If I had said in January that we might not last the year, half the workforce would have left by February, and then we certainly would not have." 3. Eleven years. 4. Sold his house and moved into the office above the weaving floor.
  2. 2.1. The good cotton stopped coming and the cheap thread broke. 2. Twenty-two years. 3. "What we did not know was how long we had, and that is the part I mind." 4. "Somebody asked how long he had known. He said he would rather not say."

More practice for RF.5.4

Read Grade 5 text fluently and expressively, self-correcting where needed.

Teaching this next? Fluency That Carries Meaning is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

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Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RF.5.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.